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We live in Nashville and there is a pretty large homeless population here.

@Andrea: Yeah, I've noticed that in moderate temperature cities like SF and here in, Seattle,-- there are a lot of homeless people.

I've visited Philadelphia, NYC and Baltimore and I don't remember seeing a lot of homeless. Well, I think the heat and humidity is really bad to be staying outside.

I live in a fairly small sized town, especially to SF and some of the others listed. We have a quite a few homeless and I've been seeing more. In the summer, they opened extra shelters for them since it was so hot.

I live in NYC and see many homeless people every day

Not a big homeless population in SLC but there are some.

I live in NYC so most of the homeless people I see are riding the trains or on the platform. When I was pregnant (during the winter) there was a man who treated the bench I needed to sit and wait on as his home...I was so nauseous!

I feel like I see more homeless people in Manhattan than in Brooklyn, though.

When I visited Toronto I was surprised by the amount of homeless people I saw.

I live in the suburbs of Kansas City, so I don't see people living on the streets near me; but I know there is a large population in the actual city. Since public transportation is less reliable or nonexistant in the suburbs, organizations working with homeless and near homeless tend to congregate in urban areas - so you're more likely to see them there.

I've worked for a non-profit that dealt with homeless and near-homeless adolescents and young adults. So, I was surprised to learn this when I started working there and try to share it; many people who are "homeless" aren't necessarily visible in the sense that they're sleeping on the streets - they could be living in a shelter, group home, couch surfing, or sleeping in their car.

So.. you might have more folks in your area than you think!

Yup, the weather is temperate like SF so it tends to attract a lot of homeless people.

@anonysquire: there are a few, but compared to SF and Seattle (both places I lived before we moved here) there are hardly any!

suburbs of jersey and haven't seen one.

I'm not sure what's considered a lot, but at most intersections in my city there are people with signs saying they're homeless & in need of money (or beer, I think the guy with the 'can't lie, really want a beer' sign has more people give him $$ than the others. Or there is one pregnant lady that keeps updating her sign with how far along she is, I see more people give to her now that she's ready to pop).

If you don't see it, just remember that doesn't mean it isn't there. Some places it's just less tolerated & therefore better hidden. I've had what from the outside would appear upper middle class students with parents always well dressed & groomed that wore suits each day living in their cars. Homelessness is a huge problem in out country.

@mrsjazz: I live in downtown Toronto and feel like I rarely see homeless people. I'm surprised you've had a different experience.
There are two men that "live" in our neighborhood that I see regularly, they are friendly and I know them by name. Comparing Toronto to DC or NYC I feel like there are practically none.

Tampa has one of the highest homeless populations in the country -- 57 per 10,000 according to an article I pulled up. We live about 20 minutes south of Tampa and it's hard to tell in our town because they put a ban on panhandling. Tampa allows them to "sell newspapers" at intersections, so you see a lot more of them there.

Not where we live, but downtown, yes.

There's a huge homeless population in my area, but you wouldn't know it unless you lived here. There's whole tent cities out in the forest, but the local government tries really hard to make sure they're not noticable. It's one reason we want to leave our area - the city tries to cover up issues instead of dealing with them directly (homelessness is just one example of this).

None around me, but I like in a really small town. Lots in Toronto which is the closest big city.

i live in suburbia, so no. if you go 30-45 minutes to our "big city" you'll see a couple, but there is a variety of cheap/public housing options and shelters, so not too many actually live or beg on the street.

Since Vancouver is mild year round (never gets too hot, or too cold), it has a high homeless population concentrated in one neighbourhood (coined the poorest postal code in all of Canada). Prostitution and drug addition are huge issues in that neighbourhood. But even then, most homeless people there are respectful and cooperative.

I live in northern Idaho, I see the occasional stranded travelers but I have yet to see an actual homeless person. However once you cross the border and get to Spokane it seems as if you can't swing a dead cat around without hitting one! Also, I come from humboldt county and there are tons of homeless people there. Correct me if I am wrong but it seems as if there is more poverty in places that welfare is handed out like candy on Halloween.

@cyndistar3: My husband worked at the homeless shelter in Spokane, and I used to volunteer there. It's not that "handing out welfare" creates poverty, it's that if you live in a tiny town in eastern Washington and are homeless, you have no options. Probably nowhere to stay, nowhere to get a meal, nowhere to help you find a job, probably no work either. So people go to cities so they can get out of homelessness.