Submitted by HRJafael t3_108h5vq in WorcesterMA
Comments
thatguyonreddit40 t1_j3spqrr wrote
I really don't understand what people think will happen if you clear homeless away. Like they just magically end up housed?
DGBD t1_j3t5fe4 wrote
Everybody wants to live in a cheap, shitty tent behind a Walmart. The issue is that most people who have houses don't also have cheap, shitty tents. The ones that get them immediately set up behind Walmart.
By removing their cheap, shitty tent you're removing the incentive to be homeless. They'll return to their 4 bedroom houses in the suburbs, and us normal folks will be able to shop at Walmart without having to look at them, which let's face it is the real tragedy.
By the way, I'll be running in the next Republican primary, I hope I can count on your vote.
MuthrPunchr t1_j3u5kpx wrote
“You’ve got my vote” - some dumbass Republican
Phrag t1_j3uttx0 wrote
It's keeps them from organizing. If you let a camp sit long enough, it may become somewhat stable. The people living in it might get resources that they would otherwise have access to. It might even been seen as a partially good thing by some of the locals with housing. This is potentially beneficial for everyone except the cops, who will have a harder time moving them when someone influential enough wants them moved. So you have the massively wasteful, dehumanizing, and likely unconstitutional system that exists now, because it makes cops' jobs easier in theory.
masshole4life t1_j3wm60w wrote
lots of people make decisions based on emotions and don't think things through at all. for exhibit a just look at our prison system. so much hot air blowing around about being tough on crime and don't drop the soap, and not a single one of the cretins who think this way are worried about the inmate's looming release date and how he will make his way in the world once he becomes our neighbor.
emotional bigmouths are one of our nation's major hurdles in achieving "greatness".
oceansofmyancestors t1_j3tc3iv wrote
Never forget when the city of Worcester loaded a bunch of homeless people into busses and taxis and drove them to Springfield and dumped them there without any warning. None of them had any connection to Springfield, and nobody knew they were coming.
Kpop2258 t1_j3vydfd wrote
Is that true? I heard about Nevada dumping their homeless in CA but I didn’t think it happened here
oceansofmyancestors t1_j3w1xif wrote
Yep. The mayor flipped his shit and it was on the local news. It was a homeless shelter in Worcester that was overcrowded, and this was their solution.
Springfield also takes a disproportionate amount of refugees. So the state just dumps them there because cost of living is cheaper. But there’s less resources and less jobs as well.
The state also stiffs Springfield a lot. One example is bussing. Springfield has a weird system where they jumble up the kids from all over the city and place them in schools that aren’t necessarily the closest to their homes. The state is supposed to pay for the cost of bussing everyone but they don’t actually pay.
hXcPickleSweats t1_j5m9flb wrote
They do this all the time. It likely only made the news that time because of the mass being moved. If you're in a homeless shelter you are at their will or you loose your roof and bed and sometimes more. If they want to move you an hour away, it's that or the street. You don't have a say when your homeless or in need like that.
oceansofmyancestors t1_j5ml24m wrote
I think the issue was that they didn’t inform anyone in Springfield. They were overwhelmed, so they took people who had no ties to WMass and just dumped them. Never contacted a shelter here. Just basically told these people to eff off.
rrsafety t1_j3tpiru wrote
Sheesh, everyone knows you can’t be messing near wetlands.
[deleted] t1_j3screw wrote
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RevengencerAlf t1_j3t73n4 wrote
As far as I can tell the clearing of the camp happened months before this and was not even initiated by either wal-mart or other company that apparently did some clearing as well.
They also would have needed zero permission to clear the camp if they wanted to. Wal-mart could have, at any time, notified the people in that camp that the were trespassing and then either had them arrested or had them formally evicted depending on how the camp fell within state law residency.
This seems to me more like they just figured that once they left, if the land was cleared they wouldn't come back, and the clearing was only illegal for environmental reasons, not anything related to the camp.
rrsafety t1_j3tqegg wrote
Correct
OldKingsHigh t1_j3sz4xn wrote
Why would the homeless camp be a smokescreen? What benefit would that be?
I see two options,
A: The trees were removed to deter the homeless from returning by removing the woods they were hiding the camp in.
B: The homeless were removed to make way for the trees to be removed and work to be done in this area.
I don’t see any way the homeless camp benefits Walmart or the property owner.
Eric_Fapton t1_j3wswd0 wrote
Why don't we have federally funded places ANYONE who is facing a housing problem can go and live while they get back on their feet. We have plenty of space, we have the billions of dollars to build these places in every state. In my mind, they would look much like a college campus. For less than 1% of our military budget, we could have these places in every state so that none would ever have to sleep on the street.
I live next to Greenhill park and there are always at least a few people living in tents in the woods here along the trails. I came across one gut while walking my dog, and he started to apologize to me. Not only that, but I responded with, “It's as much your right to be in this park as mine, you have nothing to apologize for.”
New-Vegetable-1274 t1_j3yvsig wrote
We had such facilities during the dust bowl and the depression. FDR instituted a handful of programs that housed and fed people and put them to work on infrastructure across the country. It was part of the new deal there was WPA, the CCCs the TVA and others. None of that would work now, nobody wants to work. As a nation we've become conditioned to a lot of something for nothing and that is ingrained in the psyches of people across the economic spectrum from EBT cards to corporate bonuses. I think temporary assistance isn't enough. I think in addition to housing and food it should also include a useful education. It would require one adult family member to get a real degree not some useless liberal art degree or to learn a trade. The US pisses away so much money on so many things with zero returns on it's investments. It's time to invest in America.
whatdoiwantsky t1_j3tm09b wrote
Late summer 2022 I was leaving Lincoln Square Target looking for my car. I saw an older man near a car on the ground semi-conscious. He couldn't get up on his own and I didn't want to risk lifting him. I called the cops and detailed the situation. Worcester PD dispatch pushed back several times sending emergency services. I could not believe it. I literally yelled at them: this man needs help! Do your job and please help me help this man!! Then they let it slip, that the area has a lot of junkies. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!! I had to fight to get this man help. I got an umbrella from the car to block the sun from his face. Since he was laying there so long waiting for help. He was such a kind old guy. He even joked when he heard me tell the cops he was elderly that he was in fact only 70. Eventually fire truck and cruisers arrived. I left after they actually started doing something. They said I was a nice guy. I was so upset over this.
[deleted] t1_j3ygsn6 wrote
First time with WPD?
For real though, Worc cops are USELESS. They're pussies who won't do shit unless they're literally dragged kicking and screaming. All while each stealing 6 figures of your taxes. Sorry that happened, but sadly that is current state of our police.
UtopianLibrary t1_j4ddiew wrote
That whole area has gone downhill. They are building housing there to house the the unhoused people hanging out there all day though. It’s a complex situation because some of the folks can be dangerous - someone who was high and rambling nonsense followed my mom to her car once, and she hasn’t been back since it scared her. That doesn’t mean the police should just not address emergency situations there though. It’s inhumane.
New-Vegetable-1274 t1_j3y8coi wrote
The number one reason Walmart doesn't want homeless camps on their properties is that they offer free overnight parking (camping) for motorhomes and truckers because those folks are a big part of the Walmart customer base. Truckers and travelers like the convenience and free accommodations. Walmart doesn't want to provide overnight security but there have been problems across the country because Walmart also seems to attract homeless camps.
[deleted] t1_j3yh234 wrote
So basically the entry fee for sleeping in a damn parking lot is if you actually have a truck?
Oy vey.
delaneydeer t1_j4err07 wrote
Walmart in Worcester does not allow overnight parking
[deleted] t1_j3vo3in wrote
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doublesecretprobatio t1_j3wlbhm wrote
> I feel like the people against the removal of vagrant/junkie camps don't have to deal with those people daily. Using public transit and public spaces is terrifying a few times a month because of junkie vagrants. It's not fair for the general public being forced to deal with filthy homeless all fucked up and making scenes on the bus or in public spaces. I cannot use my local shopping plaza because of the vagrants soliciting and threatening me at every door. That's not very fair to myself and other taxpayers that feel the same. I used to feel bad for them and used to help those when I could. I quickly learned that the population isn't friendly, honest, mature or care about anything but getting high and stealing. It was spending time trying to help them when I started feeling like I do. I'm not even mad they use drugs. I think people that choose to use drugs need to pay their bills first and not waste welfare resources for those in need. As long as a person isn't draining society because of their actions, they're free to do as they please. I know my opinion isn't going to be popular here so here's more, We (Americans) need to end the taboo around suicide and death. Let's offer ethical euthanasia to those that want to end their life and recidivist drug addicts. I'd imagine a lot of addicts use dope with the end game killing themselves, so let's help them help themselves. I certainly wouldn't be writing this post if I had that option.
holy shit.
[deleted] t1_j3yg8ze wrote
Indeed. If anyone here is reading that and unironically agreeing, I genuinely pray for your eternal soul. And I'm not even religious, but this way if thinking is how you get front row seats straight to Hell.
[deleted] t1_j3vqgw6 wrote
TLDR, you think poor people are all addicts out to kill you or have psychotic breaks 24/7, all while calling them junkies and filthy and that they should euthanize themselves.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is how to be a sociopath with zero empathy or actual real life experience around the homeless.
[deleted] t1_j3x4mis wrote
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[deleted] t1_j3w8lm8 wrote
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rbcarter101 t1_j3x0i5t wrote
Literally every comment in your moderation log is just you being rude. Chill out.
jpm01609 t1_j3t91tz wrote
pullleez give me a break
xenolingual t1_j3te2l2 wrote
Break yourself off by your bootstraps
NovelNo87 t1_j3sm174 wrote
Camps are still nearby, they just moved some tents to the park near the Blackstone museum and further down the bike path in the other direction across the river from Imperial. Probably wouldn’t be there if police hadn’t cleared out the other camp in the woods off providence street last year where they weren’t in anyone’s way anyway. The city needs new policy because they seem to think homeless just disappear if you drive them away and confiscate their stuff.