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What Do You Think About \u201cVan Life\u201d in Gulfport?The Gabber Newspaper<\/p>\n
What Do You Think About \u201cVan Life\u201d in Gulfport?
The Gabber Newspaper<\/p>\n
In this week\u2019s Gabs, we asked people \u201cWhat do you think about \u2018Van Life\u2019 in Gulfport?\u201d Here\u2019s what they told us!<\/p>\n
What Do You Think About \u201cVan Life\u201d in Gulfport?<\/p>\n
\u201cVan Life,\u201d which is just another term for homelessness, is a symptom of larger forces at play. Instead of more NIMBY [\u201cnot in my back yard\u201d] whining from our fellow Gulfportians, why don\u2019t we focus on what can be done to help middle and lower class homeowners and renters? Lower trim rates, insurance reform, and housing prices in general are just a few items we can address right now. Or not. Putting a bandaid on it and complaining on facebook as much as humanly possible is clearly not helping anything.<\/p>\n
Cue the \u201clet them park in your driveway\u201d crowd in 3, 2, 1.<\/p>\n
\u2014Connie Dritsos, Gulfport<\/p>\n
I\u2019m all for it! Why not?<\/p>\n
\u2014Shelley, St. Pete (displaced from Gulfport)<\/p>\n
I own a residence in the city of Gulfport and pay taxes. I do not support overnight parking in Gulfport and the beach area at all. We are a community, as well as a tourist and local area visitor destination. Overnight parking attracts a group of people that need to seek help and support for their needs and lifestyle through social services, the Salvation Army, or park in interstate overnight parking, etc.<\/p>\n
I no longer walk in the mornings or late at night and do not invite visitors to see the area or to spend their money in the area. I have worked all my life, with quite a few life challenges, and do not rely on others to pay their taxes to support me, my needs and my lifestyle. We need to immediately stop overnight parking, warn and give tickets, and refer people to the options mentioned above. Property values are dropping and people are moving out of Gulfport. The beachfront and community safety and look are a necessity for Gulfport residences and businesses.<\/p>\n
The homeless community will continue to grow unless overnight parking is stopped. As a resident, I am begging you to quit studying the problem and do something to immediately eliminate the overnight parking, except for Gulfport residents with stickers.<\/p>\n
\u2014Hightower, Gulfport<\/p>\n
If Gulfport wants to be a tourist town the waterfront and Beach Boulevard should be a priority.<\/p>\n
It is hard to believe that an ordinance can\u2019t be passed about beach parking. How can you justify studying it for eight months? It is easy. No overnight parking unless you are a Gulfport resident. Resident stickers should be available. Tax paying residents don\u2019t want to see people living in cars and vans using public facilities loitering around at night, etc.<\/p>\n
It is easy to be kind-hearted until you step in it or realize that your property values are plummeting or you cannot even sell your property or the foot traffic diminishes at your business.<\/p>\n
\u2014Attila Zsedely, Gulfport<\/p>\n
I love Gulfport and hope to relocate there soon. Until then I visit often. I am from California and can testify as of how bad the homeless population can be. If Gulfport cannot get a Handel on this issue. We will all regret band the correction will not be pretty. Please clean it up now? Now overnight parking would be helpful. Overnight camping anywhere should also not be allow. Parking spots should be for visitors. Visitors should not be afraid to park and walk around the many businesses.<\/p>\n
\u2014Kermit Atkinson, Tarpon Springs<\/p>\n
Much ado about nothing by a very few people in the community and some on the City Council. According to Police Chief Mary Farrand, there have been a limited number of complaints and no laws have been broken. Further, pictures that were presented and shown at the City Council meeting purportedly were very dated. Shame on whomever didn\u2019t clarify the date of the pictures.<\/p>\n
What is wrong with someone, facing hard times, sleeping in their car? I would suggest that it probably bothers the person in that unfortunate position more to do so than it bothers most of the residents nearby. On another note, while I can understand not cooking on a grill in the beach lot or in Shore Boulevard parking spaces, I have to wonder if a tourist came through and opted to visit our beach for a couple hours and park their large RV home or even small one in the beach parking lot, it\u2019s my understanding they couldn\u2019t even cook in that RV to perhaps prepare a lunch and take it to a pavilion to enjoy the sites and sounds of the water while enjoying their meal. Is my understanding correct? Have we gotten that nit-picky and think that we\u2019re so bougie, that we\u2019re going to judge people in such fashions? If so, that\u2019s about as unlike Gulfport as I\u2019ve ever witnessed in my 67 years (since age 6) of calling Gulfport home. What happened to keeping Gulfport weird? What happened to live and let live?<\/p>\n
\u2014Margarete Tober, Gulfport<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s note: We ask for all answers to remain less than 250 words. Due to this, we have capped this letter at 250 words.<\/p>\n
The Gabber Newspaper publishes The Gabs weekly online and in print. Anyone can answer this question here: forms.gle\/BwzcCgsvTh7micYw5<\/a><\/p>\n We love to hear from readers with ideas for Gabs questions. Have a fun question you\u2019d like us to ask? Send it to editor@thegabber.com<\/a> with the subject line, \u201cGabs,\u201d and we\u2019ll do our best to get your question in a future edition of The Gabber Newspaper. <\/p>\n Opinions expressed in the Gabs belong only to the person answering the question; they do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or opinion of The Gabber Newspaper staff or advertisers.<\/p>\n