Yesterday, for lunch, we went to one of the restaurants on Gay Street that offers outdoor seating. It was a beautiful day, with temperatures around 80 and a very pleasant breeze, so we decided to eat our lunch outside.
We were enjoying our food and conversation when the inevitable happened: one of the downtown Columbus street people shuffled up, stopped, looked at us, and asked for money. We politely declined and continued with our lunch and conversation. He then moved along the fence line separating the sidewalk from the outdoor seating area tried the same thing with the next four outdoor tables that were being used by customers. He wasn’t one of those aggressive panhandlers, fortunately–just an old street person hoping for a handout.
This wasn’t a big deal, really. Columbus doesn’t have a huge homeless problem in the downtown area, unlike other cities. He was the only street person to approach us during our lunch, and he took “no” for an answer, unlike some others I’ve encountered–but it does illustrate a risk for the establishments that are increasingly focusing on outdoor dining areas as part of their business plan. Downtown Columbus now offers some dining spots with very elaborate outdoor dining options. You wonder how many people are going to want to use them if it means having your meal interrupted by a stranger asking for money, particularly if the stranger is insistent or reacts badly to being told “no.”
I’m sure the Columbus city administration really likes the development of the downtown restaurants and the jobs, tax revenues, and downtown visitors that accompany them. Part of the bargain, though, has got to be dealing with Columbus’ population of street people. It will be interesting to see how that issue works itself out.
Webner House 