Safest location to be homeless…

[rotten]

In your opinion where's the safest location in the US to be homeless besides a shelter?

 

[daysnumbered]

In a rural area maybe? With that being said, I guess that depends on that specific area also. It would be better to live in a place where it stays a temperate temperature all year around too.

 

[Loaf of bread]

Some cities, states and countries (particularly the usa) are hostile to homeless people socially and legislatively. Interested to hear if any cities or countries are particularly kind to homeless people?

 

[lionetta12]

In your opinion where's the safest location in the US to be homeless besides a shelter?

There are homeless forums for the US that could be helpful to read. There's new laws that have been implemented in certain counties and states that are not homeless friendly. I think Florida made it illegal recently to sleep outside. I did not see any homeless people except for 1 when I was there recently and I was there for a week for vacation. I saw a lot of abandoned homeless camps that had been destroyed and had no people around it anymore. From what I understand, a lot of homeless people go to California during the winter like LA and San Diego, but I have no clue what their laws are at the moment and if the laws are being implemented by the police there or not.

 

[idelttoilfsadness21]

I know some parks are, but it's definitely the woods unfortunately or at least a forest where you are away from high ground and being around the city, as it's a danger zone :((

 

[rotten]

There are homeless forums for the US that could be helpful to read. There's new laws that have been implemented in certain counties and states that are not homeless friendly. I think Florida made it illegal recently to sleep outside. I did not see any homeless people except for 1 when I was there recently and I was there for a week for vacation. I saw a lot of abandoned homeless camps that had been destroyed and had no people around it anymore. From what I understand, a lot of homeless people go to California during the winter like LA and San Diego, but I have no clue what their laws are at the moment and if the laws are being implemented by the police there or not.

Where I'm at they recently made it illegal to be homeless. I'm not sure how they are going to manage that. But many are saying it seems like they are just going to start hauling people off to jail.

 

[lionetta12]

Where I'm at they recently made it illegal to be homeless. I'm not sure how they are going to manage that. But many are saying it seems like they are just going to start hauling people off to jail.

Yeah, that's why they are ruining homeless camps now in some places in the US and are being hostile to homeless people. I don't recommend Arizona either, they have been driving the homeless camps away there too and being hostile to anyone sleeping on the street or in the camps, you can google what they did to "the zone" in Phoenix. Apparently the cops take and ruin the posessions, tents, backpacks of homeless people now too.

 

[ShatteredSerenity]

I'm on the West Coast and there's a huge homeless population in almost every city.

I live in the Seattle area and I don't understand how homeless people here survive through the cold and rainy winter, but they're out there year round. There are a lot of support services downtown.

Portland, Oregon might be worth looking into. It's one of the most liberal cities in the US. I stayed in a tent in the woods there about 20 years ago and it was convenient because they had good public transporation. Not sure how it is these days.

There are a bunch of smaller cities in Southern Oregon and Northern California, for example Eugene, Oregon or Redding, California. They are large enough to have some support services but set in a smaller community.

San Francisco and the greater Bay Area has been overrun by homelessness in recent years. When I was there briefly last year I didn't see many tents, and I suspect they've been cracking down. I would be afraid to be homeless there because it can just feel rough.

Los Angeles has the biggest homeless population on the West Coast by far. I spent 6 months there last year and there were homeless people everywhere. The city does frequent sweeps to crack down on encampments, but they put people in hotels before clearing the encampment. It's such a huge and sprawling megalopolis that you could easily relocate to another part of LA or neighboring city if any issues arose. If I were to become homeless, I'd probably head to LA.

Texas cities like Austin, Ft. Worth, or Houston might also work out for some people. Texas as a whole is conservative, but the cities are more liberal. It might be a better place to get out of homelessness compared to expensive West Coast cities. However I've read articles about poor people who moved from California to Texas for lower cost of living and more support, then they moved back because California had more services.

 

[CogitoMori]

Heavily blue states. They have a lot more resources to try to take care of and help people. The red states leech aid from blue states as well.

 

[Rocinante]

Salt Lake City, New Orleans, Jacksonville. Buses within walking distance, very touristy so you can busk for money. Hang around bars at night if you're bored.
Any state with good weather and social programs is fine. Avoid getting a ticket to Hawaii since they'll stop you at the airport and send you back.

 

[dontwakemeup]

When I was homeless and slept in my car, I slept at Walmart parking lot. There were always trucks around. I felt safe there. I would suggest but I never tried these places if you have a car. Rest stops for truckers. If you don't have a car then I would start calling different nearby cities and see if they have shelter openings. I used the gym, and libraries during the day to hang out at.

Hopefully that helps you.

 

[lionetta12]

Where I'm at they recently made it illegal to be homeless. I'm not sure how they are going to manage that. But many are saying it seems like they are just going to start hauling people off to jail.

Also if you have a car, you can spend 14 or so days on per BLM land/bureau of land managment land camping for free I think, depending on state, you just have to move every couple of weeks to a new "camp site". I know in California there's some land that you can stay on for longer than that and it's the same for some of Arizona. You don't really need a car for it I think, but would recommend it due to bugs and scorpions or a good solid tent. Some of these places do not have good public transport connection either nor much stores around.

 

[Redacted24]

From experience, Hawaii is reasonably safe and climate friendly year round