I’ll sign up to my comment being insensitive…it wasn’t intended that way. But I still hold that the proportion of panhandlers in Boulder is much higher than in large cities like Denver, and I propose that’s because it’s more effective here.

Finally, who is the elitist here? I never mentioned anything about homeless. You read panhandlers and immediately assumed homeless. I submit that when you ask the question “would you really choose begging on the street over steady work?” you would personally answer “no,” and that you might even go so far as saying no one would do such a thing if they could avoid it. However, you have no idea what others would do. You imagine, perhaps, that you would never base yourself to panhandle. That doesn’t mean others wouldn’t or that there is necessarily anything wrong with it. Do you really sneer at the poor unfortunate panhandlers, assuming that they do this because they have no choice at all? (It’s true that some do, just not all.)

I have personally spoken with some panhandlers on Pearl who were not homeless, but rather travelers, making their way across our great nation, on handouts. Would they really choose to beg when they could work? Sure looks like it to me.

It seems that you think this is a bad thing, something that society must never allow. I didn’t presume by my greener pastures comment that they would go find work, I assumed they’d go somewhere where the panhandling was better. You assumed that they were homeless and unable to find work. Of course, for some this may be true, I just don’t feel like applying this bias to everyone I see.

Thanks very much for your comments! I really appreciate them. I further appreciate your pointing out that I was insensitive, as again, that wasn’t my intention.

how would you like to be homeless? would you really choose begging on the street over steady work?