Saw fewer homeless downtown

I just got back from 5 nights at the d and had a great time.

Lots of people were crying about how downtown is over rub with little girls and homeless people drinking cases of beer while walking around and security was allowing it.

You are wrong.

I went out of my way to get a good look around and even talked to some of the homeless and security people there. its simply not true.

If anything security was much tougher then i had seen in the past. They dont mess around and when they want these people to move along, they are moving along or they are going to be made to move along, just that simple.

I saw the regular handful of nuts and down and outers but noe were drinking any booze nor was anyone drinking from a case of beer of booze bottle.

Witnessed 1 guy in 5 days who asked me for a buck, told him no. Another guy asked me for a quarter so me, being in sales, had to help him out by coaching him to ask for more. Why sell yourself short when you could get some paper money.

Talked to one one guy who was about 24, nice enough guy just trying to make ends meet by begging. he did a sorry job of it so I bought his sign from him and helped him design another one that would get him more money. I showed him how I sell homeless peoples signs online as urban art. You would be suprised that there is actually a market for them but there is.

Saw him in the D a couple hours later and he reported good results so we had a beer.

So you see, I didnt shy away from these people and honestly can report that fremont street seemed way safer this trip then in the past.

 

Thanks for letting us know Eddie. I'll be there is about a month and bringing my DH, so I am glad the area is cleaning up.....so I can make a solo trip again next year. lol

Interesting that you took the time to help the downtrodden. I remember Chitowngambler listening to all the stories at the Atomic.

BTW did you make it to the Atomic?

 

Just curious CousinEddie, what made you refuse the man who asked you for a dollar?

 

You're funny, Cuz.

 

I've always said that Las Vegas can be and is, many different things to many different people. For those that enjoy the downtown environment in general and taking part in the activities you mention, they will love it. To me, DT and the Strip are really like two completely different towns. DT always felt more like being in Reno for me.

Glad you had a good time and enjoyed the interaction with the locals.

 

He looked to clean, like just a regular guy walking around asking for money.

 

After hearing of the problems downtown, they could be trying to clean up the area and so are more vigilant and quicker to react to incidents in the area. I will have to see when I visit again, not sure when though.

 

I didn't see anyone crying. I saw people relating personal experiences, some of which were mildly to far different from yours.

 

It's obvious that The Fremont Street Experience powers that be read VMB!

They read the thread and cleaned up the streets. lol

Thanks for the report Cousin Eddie. Like I said, I had not seen a problem, so your findings are not surprising. I'm staying at MSS net Sunday so I too will keep an eye out on what's what.

 

Great comment! I agree. I loved the "you are wrong" part of the original comment. Obviously the other people were reporting what they saw and so, by definition, cannot be "wrong". You might not agree with their opinion or conclusion, but they are not "wrong".

 

I thought it was the little girls drinking cases of beer and the homeless wandering around harassing people..LOL I like the idea that someone is reading our posts..he he he.

 

Downtown is fine, safer than the Strip. The squeamish should steer clear on First Fridays until further notice.

For those with Tears and Downtown Fears, Big Girl Chrissie Hynde said it best.....

[YOUTUBE]OGcn15ODltA[/YOUTUBE]

 

The best one I saw last week near the Golden Gate was a guy holding a sign that said "kick me in the Balls for $20"

Wonder if he got any takers ?

 

My wife and I just returned from a weeklong vacation and I will echo Eddie's comments. We visited downtown three separate times, twice early evening, Saturday and Monday and during the day on Sunday. While we noticed homeless/bums/panhandlers, it was pretty much the same as it ever was. In fact, they tended to collect with their ridiculous signs near the East Slotzilla tower and were usually standing by a street musician. As for those claiming they are more aggressive, they were simply standing with a cardboard signs and not saying a thing. Yes, there were a couple of the regular oddballs and mumblers but no more than usual.


On another note, I noticed zero runaway types of juveniles hanging around and sitting on Fremont.

 

Short answer is yes. We saw him all around Binions and a few days later we saw the same guy take a kick to the balls on the strip for the $20. It was near PH. The damndest thing was there were a few police officers there who witnessed it and just shook their heads.

If you care to you can see the guy take the kick on several youtube vids.

This was the guy we saw. I dunno if there are others though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKlItnEt-VU