Video shows Texas capital's 'crown jewel' trail trashed by hidden homeless camps: 'Completely destroyed'

[Kyle]

Jamie Hammonds said city policies have pushed homeless into areas where the public can't see them


An Austin, Texas, resident is raising awareness of the city’s homeless problem and its unseen impact on greenbelt areas.

Jamie Hammonds, an investigative filmmaker who runs the organization Documenting Austin’s Streets and Homeless, or DASH, shared videos Wednesday on Twitter, showing a homeless encampment in the Violet Crown Trail after roughly a year of neglect.

"It's destroyed. It will never be the same," Hammonds tweeted.

A real-estate agent concurred, saying the "environmental damage from these camps is immense."

The videos, shot by Hammonds Wednesday morning, show piles of trash littering the trail as far as the eye can see. Hammonds reported seeing cars, trailers, mountains of garbage, needles, human waste, and hundreds of homeless.

Video shows Texas capital's 'crown jewel' trail trashed by hidden homeless camps: 'Completely destroyed'

A videographer based in Austin, Texas, shared footage of a homeless encampment Wednesday, littered with trash after more than a year of neglect.

www.foxnews.com

Instead of aiming Nukes at our enemies, we should drop Democrats on their major cities.

They cause far more urban destruction than any Nuke ever could.

 

[Clem72]

It's trashed, but that honestly doesn't look worse than a few properties i've seen on "Hoarders" that took a couple days to clean up. And the vegetation would recover in a few years. There's a baseball diamond south of Pax that within 5-6 years of disuse looks like it's been lost in a forest for a century.

 

[OccamsRazor]

Visited Austin a few years ago. The one thing that stuck with me was that people didn't give a crap where they left those public pay-to-ride scooters and motorized bikes. They were all over the sidewalks, streets, some were tossed into the rivers and into the woods around the city.

 

[vraiblonde]

Instead of aiming Nukes at our enemies, we should drop Democrats on their major cities.

 

[HemiHauler]

Visited Austin a few years ago. The one thing that stuck with me was that people didn't give a crap where they left those public pay-to-ride scooters and motorized bikes. They were all over the sidewalks, streets, some were tossed into the rivers and into the woods around the city.

That’s pretty much any city that allows those scooters.

I read a report once that Nashville, TN did a study to see what the average life of those scooters are. I forget the precise number, but it was less than 70 miles. With most trips being less than a mile, and assuming at least one trip a day, that’s barely more than two months of revenue-generating life. Most often, they were tossed in the Cumberland River or otherwise vandalized.

Nonetheless, I was in Nashville two weeks ago and those things are still prolific. I guess they will be a scourge until the venture capital runs dry.

 

[Sneakers]

I was watching a vid that had a segment on bicycle recover in the rivers in Europe. Barges full of trashed bikes, scooter, motorbikes... recovered from the water, scooped out 5-10 at a time by crane. It's not just an American issue.

 

[gemma_rae]

I read a report once.

I hope everyone here at SoMD Online will join me in congratulating you on this momentous achievement!

In honour of this occasion, we bestow upon you this token of indifference and wish you good riddance!

 

[vraiblonde]

When I was in OKC I took a river tour and the guide said that a few years back they drained the river for some reason and found all kinds of crap in there - including a baby carriage.

Which has nothing to do with the subject, just ya'll talking about people throwing the rent-a-bikes in the river made me think of it.

 

[Kyle]

When I was in OKC I took a river tour and the guide said that a few years back they drained the river for some reason and found all kinds of crap in there - including a baby carriage.

Which has nothing to do with the subject, just ya'll talking about people throwing the rent-a-bikes in the river made me think of it.

just imagine what they'd find in the Chicago River if they drained it.

 

[gemma_rae]

When I was in OKC I took a river tour and the guide said that a few years back they drained the river for some reason and found all kinds of crap in there - including a baby carriage.

Which has nothing to do with the subject, just ya'll talking about people throwing the rent-a-bikes in the river made me think of it.

When I worked in D.C., one of our offices was, and still is, right next to the C&O canal where it passes under Wisconsin Ave in Georgetown. Occasionally, they had to drain it between the locks because the debris would damage the barge used for the touristy canal ride. The usual was clothes dryers, stoves, refrigerators, lighter stuff they could throw over the railing off Wisconsin Ave. But, damn! There were some big Carp in there! Like 4 foot long! Freaking Sea Monsters!

 

[spr1975wshs]

There were some big Carp in there! Like 4 foot long!

That's a LOT of potential Gefilte Fish.

 

[spr1975wshs]

just imagine what they'd find in the Chicago River if they drained it.

Well, the river has cleaned up quite a lot.
This is Chonkasaurus, an American Snapping Turtle who makes his home in the Chicago River.
Wildlife biologists in Illnois estimate him to be 40 - 50 years old and about 60 pounds.

 

[stgislander]

Well, the river has cleaned up quite a lot.
This is Chonkasaurus, an American Snapping Turtle who makes his home in the Chicago River.
Wildlife biologists in Illnois estimate him to be 40 - 50 years old and about 60 pounds.
View attachment 170996

He's growing bigger than his shell can keep up.

 

[jrt_ms1995]

He's growing bigger than his shell can keep up.

Steroids

 

[Kyle]

He's growing bigger than his shell can keep up.

… When you get older and slow down, it happens.

 

[spr1975wshs]

He's growing bigger than his shell can keep up.

Latest from Illinois game biologists, Chonkasaurus may be a pregnant female, about ready to lay a large clutch of eggs.