I have seen the increase in "homeless" camps in my area for the past few years. Recently, the local municipalities have begun to shut them down and take back the public space. Along the same timeline as the public getting fed up with the bum culture takeover was an incident which I felt summed up the difference between compassion from the community and abuse by the bums. The manager of a local Harbor Freight store would give them damaged products (tarps, bungie cords, etc.) to use in their camp, which was within walking distance. One Sunday morning he arrived at the store and the big circus tent that they use for their parking lot "tent sale" was gone. He walked over the camp and found that the bums had stolen the tent and had used it to cover a large portion of their camp including their sleeping tents and fire pit. He called the police to get it back and quit trying to help them. The city has always been a source of help for the homeless to get them help and off the streets, so there is no need to live this way around here unless you choose to. I have heard that there is a sub-Reddit for this lifestyle and there has been chatter on there promoting my area because there are so many resources to keep up that lifestyle, including free services, non-hostile residents, and easy money from panhandling.