Website says Colorado Springs is great for the homeless

It’s no secret the City of Colorado Springs is trying to deter more homeless from coming to this area, but one website is calling the Olympic City a welcoming place for squatters and other homeless people because of your generosity.

There are signs posted across busy intersections that say, “Handouts Don’t Help,” and a new city ordinance has made it illegal for people to camp within 100 feet of a waterway, like the homeless camps we see near Fountain Creek.

Marcus, a man who found himself in Colorado Springs after his father died, said he stayed here because “there are citizens here that are so wonderful. They come by with food, with money, with clothes.”

Others like Larry say it’s the resources that make it easy for him.

“There are places to eat all over the place, and there are places to get clothes. They’re pretty homeless friendly, but they’re starting not to be,” Larry said.

As it turns out, there’s a website that’s telling squatters that Colorado Springs is a welcoming place for them and what spots they should look out for. It’s called SquatthePlanet.com. Users have said things like, “lots of places to squat at Red Rock Canyon” and, “Memorial Park specifically are great places to crash.”

Larry told KRDO that may not be the only reason people are coming here. Larry says they come to, “go buy some pot legally and go to the hotel room and smoke it.”

Mayor John Suthers, who’s been vocal about getting people off the streets, said Thursday “the perception is there’s more access to marijuana, a lot of these folks are marijuana users.”

Suthers also says there’s not much they can do kick people out, but they can make it harder for them to live in places they shouldn’t be, hoping they might turn to resources to find a more stable way of living.