Downtown Vagrancy - On the rise?

[Gaspar]

I know the weather is a contributing factor, but something else is going on. I highly doubt that all of these people are Tulsa natives, as Conan mentioned our UER is fairly low and mortgage defaults are not unusually high. 

Perhaps we are providing some resource(s) in that area that they value? 

[Breadburner]

They have been run out of somewhere else......

[sgrizzle]

Surely you thought to call EMS for the guy having seizures, right?

All the other homeless people had already pulled out their Android phones and called.

[Conan71]

All the other homeless people had already pulled out their Android phones and called.

[shavethewhales]

I hang out in DT on Friday nights and I thought I was the only one to notice the big increase in the homeless. Last weekend I had at least half a dozen people beg me for money. There were crowds of them around the bus station, which is unfortunately close to Fassler Hall. I saw them in on virtually every street as I drove out of DT as well.

Honestly, it's making me not want to go downtown anymore. Most of these people are fairly benign, but every now and then you get that slightly rouge character who steps pointedly in your way when he asks for change and looks like he's sizing you up. I feel like I've come pretty darn close to being mugged a few times over the last month downtown, but if I feel they might be aggressive I shrug them off aggressively myself and practically jog away.

I guess I'll stick to BWW's and the South Tulsa pubs until it gets cold out. Hopefully that will do something...

[TheArtist]

 No there really is definitely a difference downtown recently.  Before I had no problem with the situation, now it really could hurt my business.  It IS harming my business. I just left the shop tonight and there were about 10 homeless people right across the street from my shop.

[CoffeeBean]

I passed a guy yesterday afternoon relieving himself on a tree right outside Billy's on Main.  It was 4:30 p.m.  Brazen. 

[dbacksfan 2.0]

All the other homeless people had already pulled out their Android Obama phones and called.

FIFY

[Red Arrow]

I passed a guy yesterday afternoon relieving himself on a tree right outside Billy's on Main.  It was 4:30 p.m.  Brazen. 

As an ex-volunteer fireman, better a tree than a fire hydrant.

[Gaspar]

I hang out in DT on Friday nights and I thought I was the only one to notice the big increase in the homeless. Last weekend I had at least half a dozen people beg me for money. There were crowds of them around the bus station, which is unfortunately close to Fassler Hall. I saw them in on virtually every street as I drove out of DT as well.

Honestly, it's making me not want to go downtown anymore. Most of these people are fairly benign, but every now and then you get that slightly rouge character who steps pointedly in your way when he asks for change and looks like he's sizing you up. I feel like I've come pretty darn close to being mugged a few times over the last month downtown, but if I feel they might be aggressive I shrug them off aggressively myself and practically jog away.

I guess I'll stick to BWW's and the South Tulsa pubs until it gets cold out. Hopefully that will do something...

We went to a concert at the Cain's last week and were approached close to the door by a very large man saying "you have to give me money to get home."  He obviously saw that my wife was a bit alarmed, and got closer, so I laughed and told him politely "I'm sure you want to pick someone else to talk to."  He backed off, and one of the Cain's employees got in his face and told him to GTFO.

I used to have an office down at 15th and Denver int the early 00's.  Homeless traffic was always bad in the summer time.  In the winter most of them took a bus South.  They're snowbirds.   

Baltimore was the only place I frequented that had a real year-round and regular population of homeless panhandlers.  At the time (late 90s) Baltimore provided them with 3 hots and a cot, and didn't really pester them for panhandling or "performing."  They got a reputation for being the most progressive city when it came to the treatment of homeless.

There was a guy I knew named Charlie who was in charge of trees and landscape for the city of Baltimore.  He used to joke about perfecting new genetic strains of common shrubs & trees that were urine tolerant.  It's been a while since I've had business there, but I heard the problem had got much worse after they decided to provide housing vouchers, causing a huge influx of new homeless to travel to Baltimore in hopes of getting free houses.

My cousin and his wife live up near Denver now and at the last reunion told us that the homeless population there has skyrocketed since the legalization of pot. Where many of these folks used to panhandle or perform to sustain their various habits, now they just sit around and get really high.  Last year he and his family moved farther out into the suburbs, but now the homeless population has moved there, as well as the resort communities.

I'm all for the legalization of pot (or any other personal choice).  If folks want to limit themselves through chemicals, that should be their choice.  The problem comes when you make such activities legal in one community, but not in all communities. You naturally get a disproportionate population influx, of folks that seek that chemical.  It will be interesting to see how it begins to shape politics and production in that state.

Ah, if I only owned a Frito-Lay distributorship in Denver.

[Townsend]

I used to have an office down at 15th and Denver int the early 00's. 

Closest QT to the blood services.

[Gaspar]

Closest QT to the blood services.

Bingo!  . . . and if you ever frequent that QT you will notice lots of fragrant folks using the Red Plasma Services Visa cards to purchase their liquid refreshments and cigarettes.

[TheArtist]

Bingo!  . . . and if you ever frequent that QT you will notice lots of fragrant folks using the Red Plasma Services Visa cards to purchase their liquid refreshments and cigarettes.

They allow people that smoke to give blood?     

[BKDotCom]

They allow people that smoke to give blood?    

nutshell:  you're eligible to donate plasma if you don't have any communicable diseases and you can pass some basic physical

http://www.biolifeplasma.com/current-donors/health-nutrition.html

• * Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages the night before and the day of your donation, and at least four hours after your donation.
• * Avoid smoking for at least 30 minutes after the completion of your donation.

Heck, sounds like you can smoke up while donating.

Smoking and donating blood is also A-OK

The American Red Cross and other major blood-bank institutions generally don't prohibit you from smoking cigarettes before donating blood. But some blood banks advise that you not smoke immediately after giving blood. If you smoke right after donating blood, you'll increase your risk of fainting or becoming dizzy,

[Conan71]

In college, it was a race to see how quick you could start drinking after donating during a blood drive.  Cheap date.