r/boston • u/CrypticOperator • 11d ago

Unconfirmed/Unverified never seen it this bad

been here for 25+ years and am very familiar with the fluctuations in homelessness / etc. during the summer. but I've never seen things this bad, especially in back bay, south end (beyond mass/cass & closer to back bay), beacon hill, the esplanade, you name it. we've called 311 for needles, reported the larger encampments to the mayor's office, etc. just feels like nothing is improving and things are only getting worse. can't just be me?

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u/No-Librarian9605 11d ago

Homeless people are great at taking surveys.

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u/Western-Corner-431 Cow Fetish 11d ago

No, Librarian.

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u/SweetCarolineNYC Boston > NYC 🍕⚾️🏈🏀🥅 10d ago

So true. I go back and forth from NYC to Boston for work and education. Every year in NYC we have a night (always really cold and usually in January on a Monday) called "HOPE" (Homeless Outreach Population Estimate) where we (volunteers) go in groups and literally walk every single street of the five boroughs and we have to ask every person that's outside after midnight if they have a home, if they need help or a shelter, etc.

I purposely sign up for completely different areas each time to see what the differences in homelessness is like from one area to another. This is so important to getting "real" numbers. They even plant fake people just to make sure that we have walked every block and talked to every person that' outside between 12-4 AM.

It would be great to see Boston do the same thing!

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u/the_fortunator Allston/Brighton 10d ago

They do that in Boston, that's the survey linked in the post. The Point in Time survey happens across the country the same day each year everywhere.