I live pretty much right at the spot you all are discussing. It's not perfect, but it's not the worst. I had a job working with the homeless in the past, so I guess it doesn't bother me so much. I wish the area was less trashed, but those folks need to be somewhere and go somewhere, and have as much of a right to take up space as I do.

On a day-to-day basis, some of the college age kids in my building have more of a negative effect on my quality of life than the homeless population--seriously, who the hell pissed on our shared balcony? What the fuck? And can your friends get your apartment number right and not buzz me for once, thanks?

I am a little surprised how high the cost of rent and goods/services are in this immediate micro-area given the conditions and the lack of certain services here, but that's what I get for living near a university.

Bonus fun: On the above-linked Google map, the map view still shows the outline of the projects, but when you switch to satellite view they vanish.