Yes, this is a serious question. It may be of the chicken and the egg scenario, but it begs to be asked.
What does it take in this fucking city to have loitering laws enforced? Are there even loitering laws? Who is responsible for keeping loiterers off property? The business owners or the police?
Had to make a trip to the lovely local 7-11 at South Capitol and M SW to hit up the ATM because the CVS, which I normally frequent for ATM use, was closed and I couldn't wait until the morning. That 7-11 is a fucking disaster area. Five fucking dudes hanging out in front of the store panhandling. FIVE. I've had the pleasure of frequenting that pile of shit for almost three years now and I think five is a record. Of course, three are instantly recognizable. They're all hollerin' over each other, taking up the sidewalk in front of store.
Of course, this is not the only positive contribution 7-11 makes to the neighborhood. The immediate streets around the 7-11 also look like a fucking landfill. South Cap and M and K and Half SW all immediately surrounding the 7-11 are completely littered with the trash and remnants of said trash from the 7-11. "Fresh from the Grill" hot dog boxes, slim jim wrappers, potato chip bags, etc. 7-11 sells it and it ends up on the street. Yes, obviously a lot of this falls on the (lack of) personal responsibility of those who live in the neighborhood, and yes, when you live/grow up in public housing and extreme poverty and live in a shithole and don't have any appreciation for your property and neighborhood, you're not going to treat it like you should.
But why doesn't the District lean on these property owners to pick up their properties? It's not that fucking difficult. The police station at old Bowen Elementary should have one fucking cop (or a rookie or someone on desk duty) grab one of those picker-uppers and pick up trash every day. Same for the assholes at the DMV (yeah, pigs fly, I know). Make those assholes at the 7-11 clean up after themselves. Make the a-holes who own the surface parking lots pick up their shit. TICKET AND FINE THE FUCK OUT OF THESE PRICKS.
Yeah, now I'm being an anti-business liberal and the reason why businesses don't want to locate here. I'm just sick and tired of these businesses (specifically the 7-11) avoiding all responsibility for the trash, litter and loitering. So here's my solution: make 7-11 hire security until they can prove they are willing to enforce loitering laws and keep their property clean. I know the city tries to avoid this draconian measure by having the cops roll in every 15 min to keep an eye on the place, but it's not enough. MPD should also be busting skulls of loiters. Well, not really, but seriously, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME TO JUST HANG OUT ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. THIS IS NOT PUBLIC PROPERTY. You can't hang out in a park after dark, why can you hang out on the porch of a 7-11 all night? Go home. And if you can't go home, well go back to your overpass or your home or wherever. YOU CAN'T STAY HERE. PERIOD. And fucking enforce this shit.
But then you'll get all the homeless advocate and Barry bitching and moaning about how the city is cracking down on the homeless and poor balcks. "What are they doing to YOU?" Bullshit.
I know you can't just yank businesses away from people (well, yes you can), but I doubt that a 7-11 has ever been a benefit to a community. They just seem to attract the worst aspects of a neighborhood and give back absolutely nothing. Jesus, at least you can get hard liquor at liquor stores.
