Municipalities around the country feel that the homeless have had it too easy for too long. Via NPR:
A growing number of cities want to tackle the problem of homelessness by outlawing what are known as “acts of daily living” — sleeping, eating and panhandling in public. In Philadelphia, a new rule is targeting not the homeless but those who feed them.
When Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter announced the ban on serving food in public parks last March, he said moving such services indoors was part of an effort to raise standards for the homeless.
But many advocates for the homeless are skeptical. “We do feel that communities are really, really frustrated with repeated efforts to end homelessness that have been quite unsuccessful,” says Neil Donovan, the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
“But we push back and say, you know, that doesn’t mean that you simply throw your hands in the air and make criminals out of homeless people.” Donovan says around 30 cities have restricted food sharing in some way.
