Why So Many Homeless/Panhandlers in Ocala (Port St. Lucie, The Villages: home, gated community)

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

There is a homeless camp a block or so away from my house in a wooded area, across from Walmart here in SW Ocala. Then some cars in the Walmart parking lot with people living in them. The people panhandle at the entrances to Walmart Parking lots. Actually I'm surprised its not much worse in Ocala, and across the state considering the climate.

I moved to Florida from Portland Or. Where currently there are some 6000 living on the streets at election time. Homeless everywhere and then some. Its that way on the West Coast from San Diego to Seattle. From tents on streets and sidewalks to Homeless camping in neighborhoods, alongside freeways, panhandling all over the place. With the new laws being put into effect in Portland the homeless are going to have to go to shelters, or designated camps with agencies to help them. Clean up the areas where homeless took over, and prevent it from happening it again.

Perhaps Florida is going to have to face up to the fact, that the issue of homelessness is in Florida and deal with it.

Walmart is known to provide space at the far end of their parking lots for RVs, campers, and vans to park overnight. They have no electric hookups or wastewater facility - it's intended as just a temporary overnight parking option, similar to a rest stop on the highway. There are folks who will travel across the country, parking at one Walmart and then another, the whole trip. It's an interesting thing but those folks aren't actually homeless, nor do they pretend to be. They're just kind of "travelers."

[FloridaRetired2020]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

There is a homeless camp a block or so away from my house in a wooded area, across from Walmart here in SW Ocala. Then some cars in the Walmart parking lot with people living in them. The people panhandle at the entrances to Walmart Parking lots. Actually I'm surprised its not much worse in Ocala, and across the state considering the climate.

I moved to Florida from Portland Or. Where currently there are some 6000 living on the streets at election time. Homeless everywhere and then some. Its that way on the West Coast from San Diego to Seattle. From tents on streets and sidewalks to Homeless camping in neighborhoods, alongside freeways, panhandling all over the place. With the new laws being put into effect in Portland the homeless are going to have to go to shelters, or designated camps with agencies to help them. Clean up the areas where homeless took over, and prevent it from happening it again.

Perhaps Florida is going to have to face up to the fact, that the issue of homelessness is in Florida and deal with it.

Great points Jimrob1 and with the housing being predicted to be another 2008 mess, a lot more will end up on the streets.

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[WakeUpAmerica]

I am researching Ocala to move here in the next few years. The homeless issue is concerning to me and may sway my decision. Is it just pan handling? Are they violent and the reason for crime? Maybe our wonderful Prez should help these people instead of illegals, ooops I mean migrators and funding other countries problems.

[dontaskwhy]

If you need crime statistics, City-Data has that information readily available in a different section/forum. Despite some of the horror stories, there isn't rampant crime being committed by these folks here in Ocala. Most of these folks stand at street corners asking for donations with handmade signs. No worse than any other city I have visited recently. Just my $.02 worth.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by WakeUpAmerica

I am researching Ocala to move here in the next few years. The homeless issue is concerning to me and may sway my decision. Is it just pan handling? Are they violent and the reason for crime? Maybe our wonderful Prez should help these people instead of illegals, ooops I mean migrators and funding other countries problems.

Perhaps you need a Civics refresher. The POTUS cannot solely establish a national protocol to deal with homelessness.

[dontaskwhy]

Originally Posted by WakeUpAmerica

....I mean migrators....

I think the term you are looking for is immigrants

[norman_w]

The shelters in Broward Co Ft Lauderdale are rehab industry based. They can be there all day, sleeping, taking classes on aa. They're not allowed to get a job. So they ask for money. The state pays so much to the house per person. So nothing is available for non drug rehab homeless.

[dudenamedric]

Originally Posted by WakeUpAmerica

I am researching Ocala to move here in the next few years. The homeless issue is concerning to me and may sway my decision. Is it just pan handling? Are they violent and the reason for crime? Maybe our wonderful Prez should help these people instead of illegals, ooops I mean migrators and funding other countries problems.

Not sure if you're still around as your post is a couple months old, but I wouldn't let the homeless issue sway your decision to move here if you want. Unless you're hanging around downtown or near the bus station, you won't come across too much. You'll see panhandling outside of Walmart and places like that, but that's about it.

However, I don't think Ocala is that great of place to move to at this point. Maybe in the next few years it'll be better, but for now it's getting to be way too expensive and way too congested. Ocala seems to want to be the next Orlando but without any of the cool stuff lol. The city keeps trying to attract people but the roads and everything can't really support the increase as well as the city would like.

[alsidw]

Was thinking of moving from Port St. Lucie due to overcrowding but being retired and a senior the crime problem in Ocala is appalling and a turn off. Ocala has too many run down houses and guys hanging out on street corners. Thank you but no.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by alsidw

Was thinking of moving from Port St. Lucie due to overcrowding but being retired and a senior the crime problem in Ocala is appalling and a turn off. Ocala has too many run down houses and guys hanging out on street corners. Thank you but no.

This might be news to you but - all cities have crime, and homeless people, and run-down houses, and guys hanging out on street corners. All cities have bad neighborhoods.

All cities ALSO have great neighborhoods, and areas that aren't "neighborhoods" at all but districts where there are shops and other commercial buildings, where most people, if they live there at all, don't live in houses - they live on the floors above the stores, or in houses in clusters behind the main commercial and retail areas.

Port St. Lucie has homeless people too. And crime. And run-down houses.

Ocala is a pretty big place. There are LOTS of different neighborhoods and districts, spanning a pretty significant square mileage. Maybe you should try looking at the parts that don't have a lot of crime and run down houses and guys hanging out on street corners. That would be most of Ocala. What you're referring to is only in certain clusters of the city.