Do you have panhandling kids there a la Portland, Oregon? (Pittsburgh: credit card, houses)

[groar]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Nope (well, not unless the G20 is in town).

yep. or some other event which draws the crusties, like a big punk show.

this was a destination town for those kids for a short time a few years ago but it's pretty much petered out. they travel a lot though, so you never know when you'll see a couple.

[Fiddlehead]

Hmmm...except for the first post on hardcore druggies, which are far too common everywhere these days, the response matches my suspicions.

I always wonder why such layabouts seem to have to head to the West Coast to assume their parasitic lifestyle? And of course, it has to be in the coolest, hippest places. From what I have heard of Pittsburgh, it has a lot to offer, but it just doesn't have the poseur cache. When I see them playing homeless with some ill-fated puppy on a rope, I want to give them a swift kick with a Doc Martin in the nondreadlocked end. And I am otherwise a bleeding heart tofu muncher.

Yet another reason to love the Burgh, IMO.

[BrianTH]

These sorts of people (which have many antecedents) have always gone to California for the milder weather. Even the Northwest isn't so bad (at least the winters are relatively mild).

Edit: Oh, and Pittsburgh isn't entirely poseur-free. It is just that our poseurs tend to be employed.

[mhustle]

We don't have a lot of youth like that except sometimes in Oakland and Squirrel Hill with guitars or just signs, but why is no one mentioning the notorious panhandling problem in this city? All over Downtown, Oakland and Squirrel Hill are middle-aged people who make a living with cups in their hands? I mean, it's everywhere on the main streets. You can't walk into Rite Aid on Atwood or Giant Eagle on Murray without running into someone. The guy outside Lulu's! The lady who claims to have every affliction ever outside Citizens Bank on Murray. The uncountable people downtown who have been doing the same shtick for like 10 years . . . God, they almost passed a law making it illegal to ask for money on the street, but it was poorly worded and would have made businesses illegal, and scrapped it in the end -- but the point is, it's so epidemic.

I am extremely surprised no one has brought these up.

[Urban_HillBilly]

^That "spare some change" guy hits me EVERY SINGLE time I walk out of Giant Eagle on Murry. Which is every day since I pretty much buy my food a meal at a time.

Anyways, Pittsburgh doesn't have nearly as bad as a panhandling problem as out west. It is bad out there. I mean, every corner in places like Denver or San Fran it is non-stop. I hate those furry phish hippies. Those furry, dreadlocked things that all look the same and all say, "bro" 3 times every sentence.

The only thing is, where there are a lot of furry phish hippies the buds tend to be a lot more potent.

[Tirade]

There's a group of college-age panhandlers that show up in Oakland and sometimes the South Side when the weather is warm. As someone mentioned, though, they aren't very aggressive. They tend to just sit around with signs while they chat with their friends.

It's not fair to count the kids in Squirrel Hill who play music on the sidewalk with the professional panhandlers. They're just a bunch of high school kids who play for fun when school isn't in session. It's a harmless hobby, and they aren't begging or looking to leech off anyone else.

[Benzman66]

You see a lot of BUSKERS with their cups out from time to time too.

And then you have the panhandlers on the South Side. The guys who hang out with the cups at each CoGo store or along the avenue, and then you can't forget Pearl, the black lady who pretends she is disabled and uses a walker with a cup attached for some extra pity.

Yep, lots of panhandlers (and don't forget the homeless folks living under the bridges and near the rivers, about 3000 to be exact)

[Tiger Beer]

Buskers are a great attraction...should be more of them. In my opinion.

Yeah, Portland is filled with the, 'spare changers'. I met a guy from california....met him in Korea later as an English teacher. He always talked about that as a lifestyle choice. He'd travel up the California coast...than just 'spare change' people as he got off the bus. It seemed to be more 'in the culture' somehow out west. He seemed to think of it as not any different than any other thing someone would do. He wasn't homeless either, just a habit he had, so he said.

San Francisco....is the WORST with that stuff. I remember once being on Market Street...constantly having people ask for spare change anyways...I went into Wendys Restaurant to eat, and a little bit of refuge. I had four different people come in and ask me for change while IN the restaurant and while eating!

Interesting...as I've been in so many 3rd world countries in the last 10-15 years...and I still think of San Francisco as the place I have got hit up for spare change more than anywhere else in the world.

[wino54]

Buskers are cool.

My response to bums when they ask for money - "My dog ran away to Siberia"

They don't know what to say and think I'm crazy. They leave me alone.

[Bong477]

I would get asked for money by at least one person many days when I walked outside in Oakland from the hospital to the retail areas on Forbes or Fifth. There were also often panhandlers on the ramp from Oakland to Blvd of the Allies going home, especially on nice days.

Compare that to Baltimore where I often get asked for money in the lobby of the hospital itself (as well as walking to my car, in front of my house, at the grocery store, etc). When I lived in Norfolk it was pretty frequent too although not quite as bad as Baltimore.

It's a problem in many cities, Pittsburgh is no exception, but I found it to be less than what I've experienced elsewhere on average.