Poverty in Vegas
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September 1st, 2011 at 12:21:41 AM
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This reminds me of Havana in the 50's. It was a gambling mecca, people came by the
thousands on weekends. They didn't see or even realize the crushing poverty that
lay just a few blocks away from the fantastic night life that was Havana before the
revolution. Poverty
thousands on weekends. They didn't see or even realize the crushing poverty that
lay just a few blocks away from the fantastic night life that was Havana before the
revolution. Poverty
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
September 1st, 2011 at 12:31:46 AM
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Great and I am moving there in 29 days. Perhaps the large percentage of people who are unemployed are unemployable? Jobs are hard to get anywhere, and it really is more of who you know than what you know.
September 1st, 2011 at 12:37:11 AM
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Quote: NicksGamingStuffGreat and I am moving there in 29 days. Perhaps the large percentage of people who are unemployed are unemployable? Jobs are hard to get anywhere, and it really is more of who you know than what you know.
Its a matter of who you know AND what you know. There are
always jobs for people who know somebody on the inside, and
they can do the job well. Would I move to Vegas right now and
depend on getting a job? Hell no. But you're a kid, just do it. If
it doesn't work out, so what. Either way its something you'll always
remember. Have all your adventures when you're young...
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
September 1st, 2011 at 1:58:46 AM
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Thanks for that video exposing the actions of those darned do-gooders to public view. I think we should be able to use zoning laws to attack those food distribution centers that draw the dregs of society into neighborhoods. Did you see all those shopping carts being lined up? People flocking to the moneyed splendor of the Havana night life don't care about crushing poverty. Poverty crushes the poor!
September 1st, 2011 at 2:13:52 AM
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Quote: FleaStiffPeople flocking to the moneyed splendor of the Havana night life don't care about crushing poverty. Poverty crushes the poor!
The point is, Vegas is turning into 1950's Havana, laugh all you want.
I constantly read stories of how you can't go to a supermarket in Vegas
without encountering panhandlers and people selling food stamp cards.
The people living in the sewers under Vegas has tripled since 2008. Crime
is up, homelessness has skyrocketed, Vegas still leads the nation in foreclosures.
You connect the dots.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
September 1st, 2011 at 6:49:10 AM
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Quote: EvenBobThe point is, Vegas is turning into 1950's Havana, laugh all you want.
I constantly read stories of how you can't go to a supermarket in Vegas
without encountering panhandlers and people selling food stamp cards.
The people living in the sewers under Vegas has tripled since 2008. Crime
is up, homelessness has skyrocketed, Vegas still leads the nation in foreclosures.
You connect the dots.
My god how long are you going to continue claiming the sky is falling the sky is falling when you don't live here and you haven't been here recently. I have never seen panhandlers or people selling food stamp cards at the supermarket. Crime is not up. The foreclosure news is old. Get a life dude.
September 1st, 2011 at 8:34:54 AM
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I agree. There are homeless every where and there are panhandlers every where. I bet there are people living in poverty very close to where ever you live. I get pan handled in Vegas or Atlantic city or my hometown baseball game. That is how some people make there living and sadly it is how some have to survive.. Vegas is no worse than any other big city. Some how we need to create jobs to employ those that actually want to be employed. The trouble is a lot of these people want to start at the the top instead of working there way up. It is a global competive economy, the freebies and the days of getting paid for doing as little work as possible are gone I own my own company and I hear it all the time. I cannot work for that and when I ask them if they currently have a job they say no, are you getting unemployment? no, so no money is better than working for less money? Also some get so much help from the govt. that they have no desire to work they just panhandle and ect to add to what they get for doing nothing. We need to thank our govt for creating a population that thinks they are entitled to get paid for doing nothing. Money draws crime and low lifes but Vegas does not have the monopoly on that either. Try Detroit,Miami, Philadelphia ect. I will take Vegas any time.
September 1st, 2011 at 9:10:34 AM
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Quote: MrRalphI agree. There are homeless every where and there are panhandlers every where. That is how some people make there living and sadly it is how some have to survive.
I get sick and tired of seeing all the damned bums here in Portland begging all over the place.
Have they no pride?
What is even worse is watching all the do-gooder, brain-dead morons giving them money!
Have they no sense?
In a perfect world, panhandling would be a criminal offense: jail the bums: problem solved.
Twenty days hard labor ... that's the ticket.
The fact that our society allows these worthless pukes to parasitically suck our collective teat proves our empire isn't just in decline, it's plummeting to the ocean floor ala' The Titanic.
"What, me worry?"
September 1st, 2011 at 10:48:48 AM
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I tried twice to pull up the video but it's malfunctioning.
Anyway I do have to say that I have always felt uncomfortable with the amount of panhandlers that are downtown. It's not even the fact that they're there and all up and down Fremont street but they are the most aggressive I've ever encountered.
I went in to a food place there to buy a slice of pizza and a woman came into the place off the street and came up to me and asked me for money. I looked up at the guy behind the counter who appeared to be the owner, trying to give him the sense that I was looking for help with the situation but he didn't help me at all in asking this woman to leave and he actually didn't seem phased at all.
Then I went to go gamble at The Vegas Club and was sitting at a blackjack table and a bum came in from off the street and walked all the way up to me at the table and asked me for money. I couldn't believe this. I told him no and he continued, asking me to take one of my chips and throw it on the floor for him to pick up. I looked at the dealer and told him that this guy was bothering me and he didn't do anything. I had to ask for a manager and I was pissed off. Not only was I upset that this bum came in and was soliciting me but I was obviously upset that the dealer didn't do anything about it.
Anyway I do have to say that I have always felt uncomfortable with the amount of panhandlers that are downtown. It's not even the fact that they're there and all up and down Fremont street but they are the most aggressive I've ever encountered.
I went in to a food place there to buy a slice of pizza and a woman came into the place off the street and came up to me and asked me for money. I looked up at the guy behind the counter who appeared to be the owner, trying to give him the sense that I was looking for help with the situation but he didn't help me at all in asking this woman to leave and he actually didn't seem phased at all.
Then I went to go gamble at The Vegas Club and was sitting at a blackjack table and a bum came in from off the street and walked all the way up to me at the table and asked me for money. I couldn't believe this. I told him no and he continued, asking me to take one of my chips and throw it on the floor for him to pick up. I looked at the dealer and told him that this guy was bothering me and he didn't do anything. I had to ask for a manager and I was pissed off. Not only was I upset that this bum came in and was soliciting me but I was obviously upset that the dealer didn't do anything about it.
OFFICIALLY and justifiably reclaimed my title as SuperHotBlonde!
September 1st, 2011 at 11:17:53 AM
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Quote: HotBlonde
... a bum came in from off the street and walked all the way up to me at the table and asked me for money.
huevos grandes
Quote: HotBlonde
...dealer and told him that this guy was bothering me and he didn't do anything.
no huevos
I'd be pissed too. You asked for a manager? Why bother. Next play, pick up my remaining chips and walked. There are just too many places to gamble to tolerate this lack of action(or to force management into action).
September 1st, 2011 at 11:29:06 AM
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Quote: NicksGamingStuffPerhaps the large percentage of people who are unemployed are unemployable?
I will second that. The state I live in has a relatively large unemployment rate, although not quite as high where I live. However, we are about 20 people short of what we need (that's 20% short). We have pretty high standards as far as our hiring process, and frankly, many of the candidates coming in fall short of what we are looking for. Those in between jobs often get hired and find another job within weeks, causing us to be short.
Times are tough, no doubt about that, but if you are a hard worker and can sell yourself that way, you will have no problem finding a job.
"One out of every four people are [morons]"- Kyle, South Park
September 1st, 2011 at 11:30:17 AM
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Sorry. Didn't recognize you. You looked very different than your photo.Quote: HotBlondeI went to The Vegas Club and was sitting at a blackjack table and a bum came in asking me to take one of my chips and throw it on the floor for him to pick up.
September 1st, 2011 at 11:36:24 AM
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Standard greeting here in LV isn't "How ya doin'?", it's "'scuse me sir, can I trouble you for a dollar?". I get it all the time, as if they're walking along, suddenly look up and see me and immediately take the opportunity to beg. Happens nearly every time I stop for gas or fast food, every time I'm at a stoplight around I-15 anywhere close to the Strip. I'd say it's 80% white and 20% black. Never Hispanic, and certainly never Asian.
The homeless ride up to a dumpster on a 50-year-old rusty one-speed Schwinn with overloaded garbage bags hanging off it, and dig through it with broom handles with hooks on the end, then slice through everyone's trash bags for anything of value. Then aluminum cans get tossed over his shoulder for his 4-year-old toddler to squash and put into the already-bursting bags on his bike. Then on to the next dumpster.
I like the way this little girl deals with the bums.
The homeless ride up to a dumpster on a 50-year-old rusty one-speed Schwinn with overloaded garbage bags hanging off it, and dig through it with broom handles with hooks on the end, then slice through everyone's trash bags for anything of value. Then aluminum cans get tossed over his shoulder for his 4-year-old toddler to squash and put into the already-bursting bags on his bike. Then on to the next dumpster.
I like the way this little girl deals with the bums.
"Poker sure is an easy game to beat if you have the roll to keep rebuying."
September 1st, 2011 at 11:48:39 AM
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Over three trips totalling 15 days I've never once bene acosted by a bum, either Downtown or elsewhere. I've seen panhandlers on the pedestrian bridges, as well as men hawking bottled water. That's about it.
On the other hand there are more panhandlers, street vendors and squeegee guys per square kilometer in Mex City than any other place I know. On a 75 meter stretch from my office to the freeway there are seven. So maybe I'm used to much worse and don't see it.
On the other hand there are more panhandlers, street vendors and squeegee guys per square kilometer in Mex City than any other place I know. On a 75 meter stretch from my office to the freeway there are seven. So maybe I'm used to much worse and don't see it.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
September 1st, 2011 at 12:40:08 PM
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Quote: HotBlondeI went in to a food place there to buy a slice of pizza and a woman came into the place off the street and came up to me and asked me for money.
I had the exact same thing happen ten years ago, at a midwestern McDonald's. It's just weird. Some countries, you occasionally encounter beggers inside of businesses. But in the US, they don't normally get away with it for very long. Speaking of which .....
Quote: NareedOn the other hand there are more panhandlers, street vendors and squeegee guys per square kilometer in Mex City than any other place I know.
But at least the street vendors are licensed. If the DF is anything like Mexican towns I've lived in (GTO GTO and AGS AGS), they're strict as hell about those licenses, too.
September 1st, 2011 at 2:48:13 PM
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Quote: heatherBut at least the street vendors are licensed. If the DF is anything like Mexican towns I've lived in (GTO GTO and AGS AGS), they're strict as hell about those licenses, too.
No, nothing at all like that.
They've tried from time to time, but the've given up for the duration. A good thing, too, or the jails would fill up with innocent and harmless but poor people. Oh, they run them off some places, but that's about it.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
September 1st, 2011 at 3:06:51 PM
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Quote: zippyboyStandard greeting here in LV isn't "How ya doin'?", it's "'scuse me sir, can I trouble you for a dollar?". I get it all the time, as if they're walking along, suddenly look up and see me and immediately take the opportunity to beg. Happens nearly every time I stop for gas or fast food, every time I'm at a stoplight around I-15 anywhere close to the Strip. I'd say it's 80% white and 20% black. Never Hispanic, and certainly never Asian.
But you don't see this much on the Strip or Downtown, the cops
keep these people away. Watch the show Vegas Strip and they're
constantly busting bums and hookers on the Strip to keep them
away from the tourists view. Thats just what they did in Havana,
kept the poor away from the main part of town. If the homeless
were allowed to walk the Strip and beg openly in Vegas, like
they do in Portland or San Francisco, wouldn't that be a lot of
fun for everybody.
LV Journal Homeless in Vegas Article
Homeless People Live in Tunnels Under Las Vegas Video
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
September 1st, 2011 at 3:42:33 PM
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The part that gets me is the woman who said "it doesn't pay to go to work!"
Sick.
She needs to learn when you don't work you don't eat.
Here is the worst part of panhandling in America today. All these bums "asking for a dollar for a meal." Now, if they had ambition they would ask at independent places if they might sweep the parking lot or clean the can for a meal. I suppose government is partly to blame as wage laws could come into play. But either way it is just a freeloader mentality of "gimme this and gimme that."
The more and more I see of these "hard core unemployed" I see it boil down to two kinds of groups. First, people with no skills, not presentable to work in a business, and generally uneducated. They have wasted their years in school and even "training" will be of little help since they lack a foundation to learn.
The second group is people doing their 99 weeks of unemployment, refusing jobs that do not "fit" Somehow at week 101 they take some job they "just found."
Sick.
She needs to learn when you don't work you don't eat.
Here is the worst part of panhandling in America today. All these bums "asking for a dollar for a meal." Now, if they had ambition they would ask at independent places if they might sweep the parking lot or clean the can for a meal. I suppose government is partly to blame as wage laws could come into play. But either way it is just a freeloader mentality of "gimme this and gimme that."
The more and more I see of these "hard core unemployed" I see it boil down to two kinds of groups. First, people with no skills, not presentable to work in a business, and generally uneducated. They have wasted their years in school and even "training" will be of little help since they lack a foundation to learn.
The second group is people doing their 99 weeks of unemployment, refusing jobs that do not "fit" Somehow at week 101 they take some job they "just found."
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
September 1st, 2011 at 3:56:23 PM
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I hate seeing homeless people in a town where I live. Its why
I left Santa Barbara in the 80's. I couldn't walk downtown without
somebody asking for money. You don't see any of that in W MI.
I can go anywhere and there are no people begging, no signs
asking to work, no tent villages of homeless. I'm seriously considering
moving to Vegas and this is a stumbling block for me. I like to feel
good about the area I live in, and thats hard knowing the sub
culture has no place to live except outdoors.
I left Santa Barbara in the 80's. I couldn't walk downtown without
somebody asking for money. You don't see any of that in W MI.
I can go anywhere and there are no people begging, no signs
asking to work, no tent villages of homeless. I'm seriously considering
moving to Vegas and this is a stumbling block for me. I like to feel
good about the area I live in, and thats hard knowing the sub
culture has no place to live except outdoors.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
September 1st, 2011 at 4:20:58 PM
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There is also a large group of people who are quite employable, educated, but cannot find work. Yep, some work that might be offerred might be "beneath them" so they collect unemployment instead. For example, for employees who were making 40,000 or more a year, it makes sense to collect unemployement for the maximum amount rather than work for $10 / hr. In fact, since there's cost involved in driving to work, waking up in the morning, taking a shower, getting shaved, really, I'd rather collect my $400 / week than work for say a job that paid $15/hour.
In Nevada, it looks like you're entitled for base benefits which is 52% of your salary up to $400/week for 26 weeks followed by another 20 weeks (at this point).
I've never collected a dime of employment insurance in my life. My wife however, did. I think she collected $2,000 a month for almost a year in 2003 (thank you GWB), which was $3,000 in Canadian dollars at the time. She milked the system.
Alot of people feel that their state taxes over the years paid for someone else's benefits and that at some point, they should also collect.
In Nevada, it looks like you're entitled for base benefits which is 52% of your salary up to $400/week for 26 weeks followed by another 20 weeks (at this point).
I've never collected a dime of employment insurance in my life. My wife however, did. I think she collected $2,000 a month for almost a year in 2003 (thank you GWB), which was $3,000 in Canadian dollars at the time. She milked the system.
Alot of people feel that their state taxes over the years paid for someone else's benefits and that at some point, they should also collect.
-----
You want the truth! You can't handle the truth!
September 1st, 2011 at 4:26:01 PM
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Quote: NareedNo, nothing at all like that.
They've tried from time to time, but the've given up for the duration. A good thing, too, or the jails would fill up with innocent and harmless but poor people. Oh, they run them off some places, but that's about it.
Wow, I had no idea. In GTO you wouldn't last ten minutes selling french fries without a license (or, at the very least, someone in your immediate family/household who holds one). And they apparently charge through the nose for the licenses, too; they raise the rate every year or so and the local paper goes nuts about it.
But in GTO you can't smoke a cigarette in a bar without breaking the law. For a while there you couldn't kiss in public without breaking the law (they repealed it). They've got a law that says they can videotape you in the street any time they feel like it. They're big on laws there.
September 1st, 2011 at 5:10:19 PM
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Quote: heatherWow, I had no idea. In GTO you wouldn't last ten minutes selling french fries without a license (or, at the very least, someone in your immediate family/household who holds one).
No one sells fries in the street. They sell papers, trinkets, snacks (like peanuts and candy), cigarettes (very popular), cookies, bottled water and soda (diet drinks are tough to find). In the morning you find some people selling oranje juice in plastic cups.
I mean this is out on the streets, dodging cars and traffic. Msot station themselves at stop lights. But when the traffic comes to a crawl in the freeways, they wade inside among the stop-and-go cars.
Quote:But in GTO you can't smoke a cigarette in a bar without breaking the law.
In theory the law all over the country is that smoking is allowed in bars or restaurants only in areas. In practice many bars, and some restaurants, break the law as long as they can get away with it (and good for them).
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
September 2nd, 2011 at 8:28:50 AM
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Quote: NareedNo one sells fries in the street. They sell papers, trinkets, snacks (like peanuts and candy), cigarettes (very popular), cookies, bottled water and soda (diet drinks are tough to find). In the morning you find some people selling oranje juice in plastic cups.
Weird -- they're possibly the second most popular street food in GTO, after nopales. But now that I think about it, all the french fry and potato chip carts are run by the same family, so maybe they're doing something unique and I never realized.
Cigarettes on the street cost too much, in my experience. The bags of juice are neat. And curanderas selling herbs and oils and photocopied prayerbooks and such. Less widely available than the ubiquitous farmacias, but much more helpful if you have questions.
Quote: NareedIn theory the law all over the country is that smoking is allowed in bars or restaurants only in areas. In practice many bars, and some restaurants, break the law as long as they can get away with it (and good for them).
My experience is usually that the manager lets me get away with smoking until his wife shows up, at which point I pull the dumb-chino card and act like I had no idea. Working so far.
September 2nd, 2011 at 8:48:33 AM
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Quote: heatherWeird -- they're possibly the second most popular street food in GTO, after nopales. But now that I think about it, all the french fry and potato chip carts are run by the same family, so maybe they're doing something unique and I never realized.
I was speking of Mex City. I've been to Guanajuato about four times in the past few months, but all I've seen is the Holiday Inn Express, the DIF offices (right in the same place as the ISEG warehouse), and once by accident the Real de Minas hotel.
Recently, that is. In highschool I visited twice and saw all the tourist sights. You know, las momias, la alhondiga, el callejón, the flood markers....
Quote:Cigarettes on the street cost too much, in my experience.
Last time I got one a pack cost 30 pesos at the store and the sale price for singles on the street was 3, or two for 5. That's reasonable given they're providing a service. BTW it's against the alw to sell single cigarettes.
Quote:My experience is usually that the manager lets me get away with smoking until his wife shows up, at which point I pull the dumb-chino card and act like I had no idea. Working so far.
Small places are like that sometimes. Most places, though, either have a terrace or balcony for a smoking section, or will isolate a floor or sectiona nd blatantly break the law, god bless them.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
February 25th, 2024 at 3:28:30 PM
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Quote: EvenBobI hate seeing homeless people in a town where I live. Its why
I left Santa Barbara in the 80's. I couldn't walk downtown without
somebody asking for money. You don't see any of that in W MI.
I can go anywhere and there are no people begging, no signs
asking to work, no tent villages of homeless. I'm seriously considering
moving to Vegas and this is a stumbling block for me. I like to feel
good about the area I live in, and thats hard knowing the sub
culture has no place to live except outdoors.
link to original post
Many years later, this problem seems to have just gotten worse. In my town there are lots of tents near the rivers, out of sight unless you are out on a boat. There is a river path and I have heard some bother female joggers time to time. I pass 2-3 on the way home, begging at their usual traffic lights. I have heard the downtown district is worse, though have not been there enough since before the virus to see for sure. I do know McDonald's has totally pulled out of said downtown. They typically do not leave promising areas.
Meanwhile, you see out west and it looks Third World with the tents on the roads. I just wonder how people live around this. And I wonder how much of a Potemkin Village USA society is in 2024. Is Vegas still having this problem? What about anywhere else?
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
