Why do homeless people want to live on the riverbanks in cold weather climates?

Why wouldn’t the homeless want to go live where there are no people, no facilities, no parks, no restaurants with leftovers, no stores with food and beverages, no street corners to busk on, no jobs to apply for, etc.?

I can’t imagine.

Firewood.

They don’t necessarily want to live by riverbanks. It’s simply that riverbanks are often the only areas they can stay in where they won’t be harassed and that are close enough to resources such as soup kitchens, dumpsters, public restrooms, etc etc etc. It might be somewhat warmer way out in the woods, but there’s simply nothing there for them.

A good example of this is is seen in the documentary Tent City U.S.A, which follows a group of homeless people who have established a fairly functional community of their own by the riverbank until the city forces them out. They are kindly offered some cleared land on private property to live on, but, it turned out, the land is miles away from anything and they just can’t exist there.

Here in Connecticut several years ago the Hartford Courant ran a story about a particular homeless man who was living on the shore of the Connecticut River – in a flood plain, and which he knew to be a flood plain. The article included a fairly in-depth interview with the man, who according to the writer did not appear to be mentally or emotionally unbalanced, just desperately poor and unwilling to adapt to “life in town”. (A state-funded home was available to him for the times when he absolutely had to go there; he never wanted to.) In the story he admitted that springtime is dicey for him, because the temperatures are often still cold enough to require shelter (he lived in a tent and lean-to that he assembled from scrap wood), but with the snowmelt and frequent rains, that was when he knew that eventually, every year, he’d be flooded out and have to take everything he owned somewhere else (he would not say where) or risk losing it all.

His stated reason accepting the risk to live on the river was that (aside from ready access to water at all times) since it was a known, annual flood plain, there were zero neighbors. No hunting cottages; no summer cottages; no paved roads; no homes for miles. And in North Central Connecticut, near Hartford, that’s a kind of privacy that even millionaires can’t often buy.

With that lack of people also comes a lack of police patrols.

Why have populations always clustered by waterways?

No doubt there’s more than one reason; but if my imagination serves me at all, I think that if I were homeless I’d appreciate being by a river (a) for the possibility of usable (if not potable) water, (b) for a modicum of sanitation, (c) for the fact that there’s only 180 degrees of approach to monitor instead of 360, and (d) because with your back to a slope you might enjoy some additional protection. It might be less desirable than other locations, hence less competition, and easier to defend.

Is it also possible that riverbanks might be outside a given police department’s jurisdiction? I don’t know, just guessing.

Perhaps it’s because there is shelter from bridges and other structures. I noticed many migrants had set up tent cities along the banks of the Seine. And even here in Brisbane, homeless people may have to sleep under bridges or in parks.

And you can also make things disappear quickly by throwing them in. A weapon. An illegal substance. Incriminating documents. A cellphone.

It’s also definable territory. Perhaps that attracts a community.

We have very few homeless people here in my rural area, but we have a river and, yes, they tend to migrate there.
Here, at least, I can only guess that it’s because there are lots of amenities (shelters, bathrooms, refuse containers, etc.) that are rarely used. Because of seasonal flooding the entire riverfront is a park. There is also tourist traffic, and I would imagine those people might be more generous with donations.
Water, however, seems to be a general theme. I have known homeless to live on overpasses above streams, and I’ve heard of that in other areas. I don’t know if they might be using the cooler water to help food fresh, or if it’s just the same as most of us…a place to freshen up in the morning.

@Jeruba

Also adds a good point. Throughout humankind’s history people have always congregated near water. For reasons that should be obvious. The building of settlements far away from natural sources of water is, for the most part, a fairly modern thing.

I forgot to include in my description of “flood plain” that it’s not just flat, open, featureless ground. Here in New England where there is soil, there will be plants, and if left alone the weeds and grasses are taken over by scrub brush, then weed trees and finally – if they can avoid destruction – hardwoods, pines and fir trees.

Since the area by the river is frequently flooded, at least annually, the hardwoods have a hard time getting established. However, that flood plain area is a nearly trackless jungle of brush, weed tree saplings and snags carried down the river from New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts and dumped in this shallower and flatter area over the years. The man in the article that I read was familiar with the few permanent features of his part of the river and could generally find his way in that jungle, but when he wanted to disappear he was essentially hidden – and no one could simply drive in after him, as there are no roads of any kind. It’s very good terrain for hidey-holes.

In addition, there was always a fair amount of small game in the area, as well as fish from the river, so he could generally make a meal with what he could catch.

Interesting footnote to this question:

In the area where I live, there is a small town on one side of the river, and the bank is pretty much maintained park area.
Directly opposite (accessible by interstate bridge only) is a ‘rest area’. Large gravel area maintained and offering boater and camper amenities (port-a-pot, etc.). Although I’ve seen people camped out there – sometimes for periods of time – I’ve never noticed anyone that appeared homeless, i.e. carrying a lot of personal items.

So, at least in my area, it appears the civilization is the draw?

There’s a large homeless population in my area of Northern California and indeed in the whole state. According to one report, 20% of the nation’s homeless are in California. Because I live close to a downtown area, I just about can’t leave the house without seeing transients on the street. Sometimes I see them without leaving the house.

My limited (but not nonexistent) acquaintance with members of the homeless population leads me to believe that homeless people are more threatened by each other than by the weather.

If you have to remain vigilant all the time, not only for your safety but for any belongings that help you survive and that you can’t (or don’t—because it telegraphs your status as a suspicious character) carry with you, I have to believe that minimizing your exposure is important. That was my point about 180 versus 360 degrees. By a river, people can’t come at you from all sides but only from half a circle. (Of course, you also have only half a circle of escape routes.) By nature we like to have something at our backs, even in a nonthreatening environment such as an office or park or waiting room.

If the mainstream population is denser close to waterways, it stands to reason that the homeless population will be too. Some may even have families nearby who give them a certain amount of help.

Being near amenities is important. That means not only intentional services such as libraries and free clinics but also businesses with Dumpsters, motels with unenclosed ice dispensers, and pedestrians with wallets.

@Jeruba‘s comments make sense. Homeless people wouldn’t congregate near water for the same reasons early settlers did, unless they’re drinking it and bathing in it, maybe washing dishes. Settlers settled near water for transportation purposes more than any other reason.

Cops don’t really patrol in the trees by rivers. It is easy to hide and you can get a good nights sleep.