Houston seventh-meanest to homeless

Houstonist admits it: We haven't always been friendly and compassionate to the people who approach us on the street downtown asking for a couple of dollars for gas/food/a broken fan belt/beer/bus fare/cigarettes/a cheap hotel/a doctor's visit/whatever. So when we read that Houston has been named the seventh-meanest city to the homeless, our first thought was, "Uh-oh."

But it turns out the ranking doesn't have anything to do with the way Houstonians in general treat the homeless. Rather, it's a measure of laws that "criminalize sleeping in public, begging or other behavior associated with homeless people."

In including Houston on the "meanest cities" list for the first time in the four years it has been compiled, leaders of two national homeless-advocacy organizations cited other neighborhoods' efforts to be added to the areas covered under a city ordinance that makes it illegal to lie, sit or place belongings on downtown or Midtown sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The report's authors also cited rules the city adopted in April that prohibit people with "offensive bodily hygiene" from using public libraries. Advocates for the homeless say the rules, which also forbid sleeping on tables or using restrooms for bathing, obviously target homeless people.

The National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty said such measures are growing more common across the country even as urban homelessness worsens.

"A war on the homeless is being waged in downtown America," said Michael Stoops, acting executive director of the national coalition.

Yeah, the rules against sleeping on tables and bathing in restrooms do obviously target the homeless, no doubt about it. Prohibiting people with B.O. from using libraries, though — well, that could get a lot of people thrown out of the library, homeless or not. The "homeless ban" adopted in downtown in 2002 and in Midtown in 2004 isn't helping the city's attitude — it just pushes the homeless out of downtown and into surrounding residential areas (like Avondale, which has petitioned the city for an extension of the ban).

It seems the solution here is getting the homeless into housing, whether it's shelters or something more permanent. Until that happens, though, neighborhoods are likely going to continue to react in the way they have been — by limiting where homeless people can be and what they can do.

According to the rankings, four of Texas' largest cities make the top 20 "mean" list: Dallas at No. 6, Houston at No. 7, San Antonio at No. 13 and Austin at No. 15. The "meanest" city in the U.S. is Sarasota, Fla., which has outlawed all sleeping outdoors.