The National Center on Homelessness and Poverty has released another report on the meanest cities in the U.S. for dealing with homeless people. The good news is that Little Rock, once rated at the top of the heap, has managed to stay out of the Mean Top 10. You get attention for rousting the homeless from public places and other rough tactics.
Little Rock, along with several hundred other cities, is assessed in the full report, on Page 65, for the Downtown Partnership’s effort to discourage panhandling with contribution boxes for the homeless and for a homeless advocate’s criticism that the city still engages in “aggressive sweeps” to clear the homeless out of downtown. The report’s preparation undoubtedly predates Mayor Stodola’s study of use of a former Job Corps Center near downtown for a homeless day center.