Des Moines city council takes steps so they don't become overrun with homeless . Reddit soy posts call to action!

I'm glad to see there's at least some push-back to this in the replies, but sometimes as an observer I have to remind myself how out-of-step this sub-reddit is with a lot of the people I talk with in DSM in the real world everyday and what most people seem to think about this problem and how to help and see change. This sub's need to infantilize every aspect of this issue is really off-putting to a lot of people who probably otherwise support a good portion of advocacy for the homeless, and these people are well meaning. Just because everyone doesn't agree with every single aspect of your ideal fix doesn't mean they don't want to see something change for the better for people.

We walk the river trails almost every day (or at least the days where it's not 95+ degrees from sun up until sun down). We see plenty of homeless people camped along the river, down on the embankments, under the bridges, etc. Most of them are respectful, mind their own business, take care of the few things they have and are exceptionally normal and polite.

But it really does harm the argument and advocacy for these folks when we have to obstinately pretend that there aren't a smaller number of the homeless people who aren't polite, don't mind their own business, and do not treat their own stuff or environment well at all. And some of those people are downright unsafe to be around. When people put blinders on like that and insist that it's a moral imperative that we have to treat every homelessness case like it's the exact same, you are driving people away from your cause by asking them not to believe their own eyes or trust their own experiences.

Recently, when we've been walking along the river there is a fellow staying along a couple of the bridges who seems to be causing a lot of trouble both towards the runners/walkers on the trails and the other homeless people who are camping nearby. He behaves erratically. He aggressively is pacing back and forth all day long screaming at people. He has two push carts stacked four-feet high with stuff, covered in plastic, and a backpack-style suitcase, and he's down there yelling incoherently to himself and cussing randomly at other homeless people and people just walking along the trails. This afternoon while walking our dog we watched him looking into a bunch of random car windows in one of the nearby parking lots, then he followed us and a couple of young women to the trails yelling incoherently.

A few nights ago on the way back from our walk we saw him swinging a bottle over the head of another homeless lady who has been around for a while and been very polite to us and basically had her cornered against a chain link fence. She did not look like she wanted him to be near her. This guy has his stuff tucked up under a hole he's dug near a retaining wall along the trail and is camping within 30 yards of a business that has kids coming and going all day. Those two people are not the same thing.

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