News and notes from Reston (tm).

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Targetville No More? Homeless Encampment Along Sunset Hills 'Cleaned Out'

hobo.jpg We've seen it from the road. We've seen it from outer space. Now Targetville, the homeless encampment along Sunset Hills near the Target, is apparently no more.

Vigilant observer "Matthew" shared this update about the action Monday evening:

About 50 trash bags were lined up along Sunset Hills last night across from the office buildings at the intersection of Town Center Pkwy.
Not satisfied to traffic in mere rumor and innuendo, we jumped into action at Restonian World Headquarters, dispatching a vehicle (sans official license plate, sadly) to check out the report. And it's true -- the distinctively non-earth toned tarps and tents that once basked in the glow of the Target parking lot are now gone, as are the trash bags.

It wouldn't be the first time an encampment of homeless people has had to shift locales -- before locating near Target, another group frequented a now-condofied patch of woods near the library.

Anyone know what happened? Or where Targetville's denizens have moved on to? Given their proclivity for big-box retail, could there now be a K-martville in Herndon?

Posted by Restonian at 12:35 PM

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19 comments:

  1. The Bloke From Charter OakSep 3, 2009 09:53 AM
    Well I know if I were homeless I'd set up shop in the narrow strip of woods between Archstone Charter Oak and the Hidden Creek Country Club. You could sit and watch old farts in khakis and funny hats try to navigate their high-speed golf carts around the occasional sand trap while also watching a certain someone dance to random '80s dance music through his open living room vertical blinds!
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  2. I was always partial to the woods behind the Oracle building....
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  3. so where do all these poor folks go...???
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  4. It's likely the police kicked them out. When they get a lot of complaints about them they go over and chat with them. Like in the winter the police made them cover their rainbow-colored tents with black tarps so it wasn't as noticible. And the reason they're not all at the shelter is because they're alcoholics and aren't allowed to drink there so they'd rather sit outside in Targetville (or wherever they've moved to) and drink all day.
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  5. Why are there homeless encampments in the first place? Try working for a living, people!
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  6. How sad, don't people realize many of the homeless are suffering from mental disorders & alcohol is a form of self medication?
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  7. I think a few of them have taken up residence across the stree from the library, next to the police station. Maybe Reston HOA can offer them jobs working for the fall leaf pickup. Should pay well since they are asking for $270 for leaf pickup.
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  8. There are many reasons people are homeless -- many financial, some by choice, some mental, most some aspect of all...

    Remember, this issue has been around since the eve of civilization... the 30's were known for the huge hobo camps across the country...
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  9. Show a little compassion here people. I know this is a blog, and most people seem to want to show how snarky or witty they can be, but this is a very sad situation, and one that certainly doesn't deserve humor.

    These are sick people that deserve some understanding.
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  10. From the Uplands of RestonSep 3, 2009 06:58 PM
    Anon 5:22. Humor is needed, since the homeless are increasing as a result of government policy. The country as a whole is less wealthy than 10 months ago, and a very large number of jobs have disappeared. A generation looking to retire soon must work for another decade to replace the wealth lost. This is an result of many new policies and spending that are orthogonal to wealth creation.

    There was widespread government isolation and care of mentally ill individuals in the US until the 1970s. To save money, governments went with deinstitutionalisation. This reduce the numbers of mentally ill isolated from the general society, greatly increase the numbers of homeless, and was a favored policy in the Democratic legislatures of the day. The aged homeless are the echo, the unintended consequences of a superficially attractive, but ultimately callous, change in mental health policy.
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  11. From the uplands -- the courts of the day also ruled that it was "cruel" to have the mentally ill stay where they didn't want to be...these people were my clients when I did legal aid work. They wouldn't stay on their meds because they got to feeling so good they didn't think they needed them and they didn't want to feel like they were on drugs...which they were...as soon as they went off the meds, they'd lose their job, home, possessions and end up needing legal assistance. Again. It was a horrible cycle, much like welfare where there were no safety margins built in.
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  12. Obama is making them all Homeless Czars...
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  13. The Convict in the South Reston GulagSep 4, 2009 06:46 AM
    So much for affordable housing in Reston.
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  14. The Bloke From Charter OakSep 4, 2009 07:23 AM
    Convict: PSHA! I "only" pay $1,135 for a 1-BR unit! Now THAT is affordable! It only devours slightly more than half of my monthly net income, and even on occasion I bump into some local wildlife (i.e. the headache-inducing cicadas that have taken residence all around me or the HUGE fishing spider that jumped out of the shower curtain at me when I was getting out of the tub in July!) Then I can wince in emotional pain to know that my parents pay less per month for a mortgage on a 3-BR home on a 3/4-acre lot in a subdivision in PA! (Sigh!)
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  15. I see little blue pup tents in those woods. They're spread out from the Hospital directional road sign to the Town Center Drive intersection.
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  16. It's only a matter of time before the mothership Big Blue shows up.
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  17. Where's cathy hudgins and her skank ho tax-sucking reston interfaith? Abesnt as usual when the mess they create boils over, taxpayers get disgusted and complain.

    They already own and operate a homeless shelter in Reston and there's more social and subsidized housing in Reston than anywhere else in Fairfax County. In fact, Fairfax County is the landlord with the most properties in all of Fairfax county itself --- none of it paying taxes or generating any revenue --- just sucking you, the working taxpayers dry.

    The county even buys condos in places like Reston Town Center and "rents" them to freeloaders (many paying less than $100 a month for town center condo --- further ruining property values and leading condo boards to deal with the freeloaders that ends up "living" in these units.
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  18. They've been cleared out again. Saw red traffic cones in there. It could be that they're just there to redirect traffic next time there's a move.
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  19. The small tents were there yesterday afternoon.
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