Street vendors.

Its always been a common sight. Vendors sell everything from laundry detergent to tacos.

Where I live there is a very disproportionate amount of homeless people considering the smaller population of my town. They wind up here from more rural surroundings. All throughout COVID they were and are always here. It was odd seeing panhandlers standing by the road with facemasks. No street vendors though.

I pass through Newark NJ fairly often and there have always been guys selling water on hot days. Also seen candy, newspapers, flowers. Doesn't bother me too much. I've bought stuff from them a few times.

The homeless thing is another matter though. Growing exponentially in every "blue" state. Newark always had some people living in the streets, but a few weeks ago was the first time a saw a "tent city" with probably 20 or 30 tents and homeless walking around like the zombie apocalypse. Panhandlers at almost every traffic light. In NYC you almost can't walk down a street without having to step over people sleeping right across the sidewalk. And I saw on the news that the "squeegee men" are back. These are the guys who "wash" your car windshield while you're at a red light, whether you want it or not. They usually make it worse than it was and if you don't give them a couple bucks they'll scratch your car with the squeegee.

Earlier this year I traveled to a few cities in North Carolina. The major intersection panhandling was everywhere. I mean everywhere. You could not stop at a major stoplight without there being a panhandler with a sign and everything. Lately I am seeing the same thing in the northern Atlanta suburbs. Never saw it before. Always see it at the in-town exit ramps, etc.

As for selling water, I have seen it for the last five years or so outside of sporting events. It's a legit service. I see guys buying that $4 24 pack and a bag of Ice and selling it for a dollar a bottle. Often teenagers. Just a bit of entrepreneurship.

And it’s not a red state/blue state thing. It’s crazy bad in Texas. It seems to be worse where the weather is better. In Nevada it’s bad in the winter and eases up in the summer. West coast is bad all year.

I think it’s likely something growing in most major cities. The homeless population continues to grow - and the tent encampments also spread. It’s bizarre - and unhealthy for all near them.

In Newark - as misterorange mentioned - there have always been homeless and street vendors. Many times you will see the same dude at a specific location each day - selling newspapers or drinks.

It sucks to hear that NYC is returning to the shit of the 1970-80’s - with squeegee guys returning! These quality of life things will only drive more decent folks out of NYC. It seems that DeBlasio has set the city back 40 years during his miserable term in office!

I grew up with this guy named frankie. Anyhoo, frankie is now homeless and he sells water bottles and various kinds of roadkill.

So if you see a bedraggled lookin’ vulture with some rotting armadillo on a stick take pity on the guy and say “hey frankie, as a hairless ape I don’t eat the carrion, but I’ll take a bottled water”

frankie likes the Fiji water. And the chances are good that he won’t have drank from the bottle he sells you. Squawk!!

Vendors are common at certain intersections, panhandlers at others, and some areas either don't attract any or have local enforcement to prevent it.

I'd say flowers are the most common thing sold, after that its fruits and stuff. There's a number that sell seafood, but they are typically a little different. It's a dude on the side of the road with a truck and some coolers, they're not waiving a snapper around in the middle of traffic like the guy selling sunflowers is.

It was definitely reduced during peak lockdown, but it never completely stopped.

Every see a panhandler take a credit card? I have. They had a “swipe” card reader hooked up to a cellphone.

One of my favorites is this little disabled guy with a walker that would stand by an interstate exit everyday. Then, at the end of the day somebody would come pick this guy up in a newer model car than I was driving. I figured dude is on full disability and just getting extra cash. Clever…

The Atlanta “water boys” have been in the news a lot lately.

atlantamagazine.com

We’ve had them here in south Florida for years it’s especially bad by Miami Airport and the feeder roads to the Palmetto Expwy
And Military Trail in West Palm Beach

@Cashman

You know the skinny dude who sells candy at the traffic light when you get off 280 at 1st Street? You can see him on Google Maps Lol google.com

I first saw him years ago, looked like about 11 y.o. and his pitch was he was raising money for his school football team to buy jerseys. Now he's a grown man with a beard! Haha. A while back I saw him interviewed on News 12. He was talking about getting hassled by the cops, and he's just tryin' make a livin'. Still see him out there. He doesn't bother nobody though and not pushy about it. I bought some from him a few times if I was hungry and no time to eat.

"Every see a panhandler take a credit card? I have. They had a “swipe” card reader hooked up to a cellphone."

How insane would a person have to be to trust a homeless person with their credit card? That's even worse than trusting a strip club with your card.

As for the people that sell water, candy, flowers or whatever along the road I give them a lot of credit. They are at least working for the money and providing something of value instead of just panhandling. Not sure how many of them are actually homeless vs just trying to hustle for a few extra bucks bit either way at least they are trying to earn the money instead of just wanting a free handout. The same goes for sidewalk musicians and other street performers.

I always assumed panhandlers and a fuckton of homeless was normal everywhere until I left the Portland area LOL

Yeah its unfortunately something I've seen my whole life.

You know I’m my opinion the food trucks have some of the best food sometimes. They are pretty common in my neck of the woods. Anthony Bourdain used to love them.

Misterorange - I was thinking of that guy when I saw your earlier post! That guy is a fixture. It’s a high traffic location - so he must do better than many other street vendors in Newark.

I've had bad luck with food trucks. Quality isn't consistent and.prices can be higher than sit down restaurants.

I don't know about everywhere, but street vendors and food trucks have been a staple in Louisville for as long as I can remember. Derby Festival really brings them out, and I guess at some point many of them just decided to go all summer long.

They're fairly common down here in Miami particularly in lower-middle-class/working-class commercial areas - as others have mentioned a good # of them are selling fruits (avocados and mangos are popular since these are popular w/ Cubans; but they also sell oranges and limes and some small fruits which I'm not familiar with) - flowers are also popular; and some sell water but not as common (I'm thinking most drivers don't trust the "water" and assume/think it may just be empty bottles filled w/ tap-water).

We have some panhandlers but not as many as in years past - I don't remember but they've passed anti-panhandling laws in the past but don't recall if it's on a city or county level; and it also depends on how stringently they enforce it.

Food trucks are now in Asheville,NC

I never done a food-truck - I imagine there are very good ones but it seems they've become over-hyped in the last few years to where they wanna make it sound like a food-truck = awesome b/c it's a food-truck

I've never seen a panhandler or street vendor in my town. But they're common around Detroit strip clubs.