I can remember one city rounding up the homeless and busing them to another city just before the Olympics were held, to "clean up the city." The dump-ee city was furious. So where are they going to PUT these folks (and their stash of meager belongings)? It is a grand opportunity to try some housing solutions for the homeless. Even the best re-housing scheme certainly won't take care of everyone, sadly.

In Cleveland, which is undergoing a large surge in trendy, upscale living, the court has JUST thrown out a city anti-panhandling law as unconstitutional. As someone who works in a downtown area, and deals with social services for homeless regularly, one of the things I see with those who are new to the city, or visiting from the suburbs and outlying areas (as I suspect many of those viewing a royal wedding might be) is the surprise, disgust, and disbelief in encountering the homeless, particularly the mentally ill. Not wanting to offend the moneyed class with those who are abjectly poor is a significant marker of how out of kilter our civic priorities are.

Joanne in the lovely suburb of Siberia on the Heights