Union Station smells like urine, has a homeless problem, and is half deserted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t the overall odor of DC urine, weed, and engine exhaust? Union Station is just fitting in.

True.

[Anonymous]

At one point, maybe still, Port Authority had these specially designed chairs that if you relaxed too much, they would dump you off them. It was to keep the homeless people from sleeping there. I used to have a multi-hour bus layover there frequently and would get dumped out of the chair if I let my mind wander too much.

[Anonymous]

I used to take Amtrak back and forth to NY about a decade ago and it was fine. It was fine around 2018 too with decent takeout for the ride. How sad. Penn station is not great, but there is a ton of police and other security.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penn Station says hold my beer.

Yes, last week I was stunned by the number of unhoused people at Union Station until I got off the train in NY and Penn Station was much worse.

"Unhoused people"

I'm not the poster you quoted, but that is the new politically correct term to use. I didn't know either until a friend told me a few months ago.

Well, they are both unhoused and homeless. Both are true and correct.

Why would they change the term, as homeless sums it up. Or do I sound careless (I mean, uncared)?

It's double plus ungood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Union station is disgusting and an embarrassment but not much anyone can do.

Gate the doors and require a ticket or metro fare to enter

This. But progressives want homeless peeing and pooping on everything everywhere even as they make it impossible to build housing by being wailing nimbies. Time to move someplace sensible.

[Anonymous]

There is a homelessness crisis in our nation, but nobody wants to do anything about it. Instead, everywhere you look a new luxury condo/apartment complex is being built. Our country is pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a homelessness crisis in our nation, but nobody wants to do anything about it. Instead, everywhere you look a new luxury condo/apartment complex is being built. Our country is pathetic.

People want to do something about it, but the problems is that no one wants to do the tough measures required. NYC recently increased it budget to help the homeless to 2 Billion dollars to help the 80,000 homeless, most of it apparently going to NGOs and all of their bloated managers. In San Fran, the city directly operates homeless tent camps costing $60,000 per tent/year. There is plenty of money going to the problem.

They tried to forcibly remove the tents and encampments to make these people get help, but they were sued and now must have a hands-off approach. If you do not force change, it will not happen, and no one will forcibly remove these people and MAKE them go into centers to get help. Vagrancy used to be against the law. Now it is not compassionate and we don't care. Baloney. We care to get them off the streets and into safe, sanitary housing, but in most cases, they don't want to follow the rules required to obtain the housing.

As to your statement regarding the luxury condos/apartments, they have built endless housing units out of old motels and homeless shelters, and they either destroy them or say they do not want to live by the rules. There was a poster here a while back stating her husband was part of a construction team that built an amazing shelter somewhere in NOVA, and they had donations from major donors, such as Nike for shoes and clothing, local restaurants to provide food, etc. They were called back to do repairs within a few months because the sinks had been kicked off the walls, spray paint all over, toilet paper holders and stall doors ripped down, trash everywhere.

Have you looked at European cities? They have barriers in place all over their cities to discourage homeless lounging on the sidewalks and in doorways.

What is it you would like your pathetic country to do that we are not doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has it gotten worse since the pandemic? Used to work at the SEC so would go there for lunch. I can’t imagine that the restaurants and food court could survive the pandemic at all.

Yes, during the pandemic the groups of middle school field trippers are gone, retail vacancies are up. Less commuters too, so the number and ratio of unhoused is much higher. There have always been some homeless there, but tons of tourists and commuters too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Union station is disgusting and an embarrassment but not much anyone can do.

Gate the doors and require a ticket or metro fare to enter

This. But progressives want homeless peeing and pooping on everything everywhere even as they make it impossible to build housing by being wailing nimbies. Time to move someplace sensible.

Because they have deemed that ‘compassionate’.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has it gotten worse since the pandemic? Used to work at the SEC so would go there for lunch. I can’t imagine that the restaurants and food court could survive the pandemic at all.

Yes, during the pandemic the groups of middle school field trippers are gone, retail vacancies are up. Less commuters too, so the number and ratio of unhoused is much higher. There have always been some homeless there, but tons of tourists and commuters too.

Surely the vaccine passport will help the businesses recover this summer.

/sarcasm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a homelessness crisis in our nation, but nobody wants to do anything about it. Instead, everywhere you look a new luxury condo/apartment complex is being built. Our country is pathetic.

Are you kidding? There are billions of dollars poured into the ‘business’ of homelessness.

[Anonymous]

There were always homeless but there used to be a lot more non-homeless so it didn't feel as overwhelming. Since COVID fewer people are traveling or taking the metro, or coming into work at nearby office buildings and swinging through for lunch. So the ratio of homeless : non-homeless is all out of wack.

It's still such a gorgeous building though. I hope it bounces back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not so new, actually. The problem is that the rest of DC has turned into Union Station. But Union Station has pretty much always been that way.

It’s been worse the last few years and has fallen off a cliff since COVID. Believe it or not but there was a time when Union Station had high end retail and fine dining.

I remember that time, but the bathrooms were urine-soaked even then.

When was that time? I worked at a restaurant in Union Station during undergrad and it was never a retail or dining destination.

When B Smith was open, we would go to Union Station as a destination. I would go to shop or lunch. Now, I don't even think about Union Station.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Union station is disgusting and an embarrassment but not much anyone can do.

Gate the doors and require a ticket or metro fare to enter

That will kill the retail/restaurants though. Lots of people who work nearby come in for lunch/shopping (less so now with remote work, but still some).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not so new, actually. The problem is that the rest of DC has turned into Union Station. But Union Station has pretty much always been that way.

It’s been worse the last few years and has fallen off a cliff since COVID. Believe it or not but there was a time when Union Station had high end retail and fine dining.

I remember that time, but the bathrooms were urine-soaked even then.

When was that time? I worked at a restaurant in Union Station during undergrad and it was never a retail or dining destination.

When B Smith was open, we would go to Union Station as a destination. I would go to shop or lunch. Now, I don't even think about Union Station.

It was getting fancier with the oyster bar upstairs, and some of the nicer retail like Warby Parker and MM LaFleur. The pandemic is what wrecked it