Campers/homeless people camping too close to my home, VERY uncomfortable and stressful

[Nauti]

So, I live in a very "liberal" , lefty town, but also extremely druggy town. Think San Fran but tiny, and in Australia. We just had a drug festival called "Mardi Grass" and it's stressful, because lots and LOTS of people flock to our village and it's PACKED for the weekend. I stay home, but I live in an area of town that attracts lots of "campers" due to the layout of this spot, an indigenous majority (just in the housing area in.live in), which also indulge in lots of alcohol etc while they "camp" very, very close to where I live. I put up with that weekend, even though I have to, practically, grit my teeth and bare it, but now, it's weeks later and STILL we have dodgy homeless/drunk people, who, have broken into our vehicle, stole a battery, damaged our vehicle and who make A LOT of noise.

My bf, always wants to go out and investigate and I always feel like I have to back him up, but I'm SO STRESSED NOW.

,Anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this or words of comfort? Thank you, in advance, for responding or reading.

 

[Nauti]

I guess the latest bout of homeless people noise and having to go outside, quietly, in the dark, put me in meltdown mode. I'm still there. Where I live has too many dramas and noise. I just want it to STOP.

 

[Suzanne]

Although, not to the same extent, do feel for you, because although, our house stands alone and our village is very quiet ( live in France), our neighbour is actually a pub ( bar/tabac) and the main issue we have, is litter that comes into our premises and people thinking they have the right to park in front of our home, despite there being a gate!

There is nothing we can do about it and so, we just find ways of dealing with it personally. I tend to throw the rubbish back over the fence and I sense now, that the madam is not happy, but at least, she does not go out of her way to talk to me lol

You need to make sure your car is secure. So, can you put a device that sounds off, when others touch?

 

[Nauti]

I think we are going to set up a camera, and maybe we can set up an alarm.
I think my boyfriend is going to talk to the lady who's house they are camping in front of. I feel like calling the police and getting them moved on, this is NOT a camping ground OR a homelessness camp.

 

[BlueSky Aozora]

So, I live in a very "liberal" , lefty town, but also extremely druggy town. Think San Fran but tiny, and in Australia. We just had a drug festival called "Mardi Grass" and it's stressful, because lots and LOTS of people flock to our village and it's PACKED for the weekend. I stay home, but I live in an area of town that attracts lots of "campers" due to the layout of this spot, an indigenous majority (just in the housing area in.live in), which also indulge in lots of alcohol etc while they "camp" very, very close to where I live. I put up with that weekend, even though I have to, practically, grit my teeth and bare it, but now, it's weeks later and STILL we have dodgy homeless/drunk people, who, have broke into our vehicle, stole a battery, damaged our vehicle and who make A LOT of noise. My bf, always wants to go out and investigate and I always feel like I have to back him up, but I'm SO STRESSED NOW.
,Anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this or words of comfort? Thank you, in advance, for responding or reading.

Literally a drug/alcohol festival?! Ugh, eww!! On top of that, they did crimes to you! Unbelievable!! And your townspeople are okay with that??

Sorry that i'm not comforting you. That must be too stressful! Did you go through this every year?

 

[Mia]

I think we are going to set up a camera, and maybe we can set up an alarm. I think my boyfriend is going to talk to the lady who's house they are camping in front of. I feel like calling the police and getting them moved on, this is NOT a camping ground OR a homelessness camp.

We usually don't have property damage, during the festivals we have here. We set up motion sensor floodlights, and turn them on during those times. People don't like bright lights in their face when they move around at night. We also call the police if it gets out of hand.

 

[Nauti]

Literally a drug/alcohol festival?! Ugh, eww!! On top of that, they did crimes to you! Unbelievable!! And your townspeople are okay with that??

Sorry that i'm not comforting you. That must be too stressful! Did you go through this every year?

It's actually a weed festival, but folks up here, where I live, some of them are into meth and/or alcohol, mostly alcohol because our neighbor is an alcoholic and an indigenous woman and she has lots of her "mob" staying and camping, over the festival and, this year, on after, as the festival was two weeks ago. So I'm OVER IT.
I am trying to get a place in the next town/small city over.
So much for weed, not being a "gateway drug". It really is, for lots of people. Maybe it wouldn't be, if it were legal though. The festival is, in part, a "protestival" to get weed legalized. I don't think it's very effective though, as we just get lots of road blocks, extra police and arrests during it.

I think focusing on clinical science and its therapeutic applications would be a better approach.

I dread the first weekend of May, every year, due to this blasted event.

 

[Nauti]

I

We usually don't have property damage, during the festivals we have here. We set up motion sensor floodlights, and turn them on during those times. People don't like bright lights in their face when they move around at night. We also call the police if it gets out of hand.

Think we will be getting some of those.

 

[Ken S.]

Kerrville folk life festival just started two days ago and goes on for two weeks so we have ten to twenty thousand pseudo hippies that flock to the area every year during this time. Even though I live of the beaten path enough for them to not invade my privacy the festival is less than two miles away and they leave trash all over the place. Can't go anywhere in town or especially the "corner store" without having to deal with these idiots. Sorry you are close enough for them to vandalize your property.

 

[shysnail]

This is awful. I can only imagine how intrusive this feels in your life. I feel oddly threatened when I can hear people around my home, but nothing has actually happened to me. For you, these people are committing actual crimes against you. It is awful. I don't have any advice, really, other than it sounds like you're on the right track if you're thinking about moving. I had an attitude before after struggles with neighbours that I needed to toughen up. Yet I just can't, and having that attitude made me feel even worse. I hate noisy/threatening/unpleasant people near my home. It makes me feel like I don't have any space place that's mine that I can retreat to. I too would just end up having meltdowns. So if you're in a position to move somewhere where this wouldn't be an issue, I honestly think that is a good solution, even if it seems extreme. Your mental health is more important than these people.

Good luck, and I hope this current group of people bothering you get on their way soon.

 

[GrownupGirl]

That's horrible. You deserve a ton of medals for going through that kind of torture. I'd move away the first chance I got, even if it meant moving back in with my parents. Just hearing teens yelling and screaming outside my apartment is unnerving, and sometimes the roar of motorcycles late at night have nearly given me a heart attack.

 

[AloneNotLonely]

Move.

These degenerates are going to make things worse and worse until you finally lose it. Just move.

 

[H-Kath]

I guess the latest bout of homeless people noise and having to go outside, quietly, in the dark, put me in meltdown mode. I'm still there. Where I live has too many dramas and noise. I just want it to STOP.

I think we are going to set up a camera, and maybe we can set up an alarm.
I think my boyfriend is going to talk to the lady who's house they are camping in front of. I feel like calling the police and getting them moved on, this is NOT a camping ground OR a homelessness camp.

I think you guys should at least have a conversation with the police about what you can do about it. You shouldn't have to worry about drunken meth zombies flipping out on your property. Can you take legal action against your neighbors over it? Would recordings help? Would that just make the situation worse? Moving might ultimately be the best action for your mental well being but that kind of injustice is something that gets to me.

Kerrville folk life festival just started two days ago and goes on for two weeks so we have ten to twenty thousand pseudo hippies that flock to the area every year during this time. Even though I live of the beaten path enough for them to not invade my privacy the festival is less than two miles away and they leave trash all over the place. Can't go anywhere in town or especially the "corner store" without having to deal with these idiots.

Why are these things going on in areas where 10k - 20k people are enough to disrupt the entire town? Are these festivals even wanted by the majority of people living there?

 

[Tessie]

How horrible! Fight or flight. That is the question. Moving will no doubt solve this problem but one never knows what different set of problems may arise in a new location...can't just keep relocating away from inconsiderate and possibly dangerous people, or maybe you can? Sounds like you're okay with where you live except during this particular time so why make a permanent move? Another option is to plan to be away during that time but then you may need someone to look after your stuff while you're away, depending on neighbors maybe. Then there's strength in numbers, as they say. Official residents should be able to meet with the powers that be of your village and TELL them, as taxpaying citizens, that if they want your vote next term, they best do something about this. I find most people are motivated by greed and power (to all different degrees) and when you mention taking either from them, they at least listen. How exhausting it all sounds, though. On the bright side, this only happens once a year so you've lots of time to prepare if there be a next time.

 

[Nauti]

That's horrible. You deserve a ton of medals for going through that kind of torture. I'd move away the first chance I got, even if it meant moving back in with my parents. Just hearing teens yelling and screaming outside my apartment is unnerving, and sometimes the roar of motorcycles late at night have nearly given me a heart attack.

Yes, I do want to move and have made efforts to get out. It will come to pass, hopefully sooner rather than later.

I was hospitalised three times last year. Largely because of the insane druggies and their constant loud dramas and crimes committed against us, by them, that the police didn't even care about. The police are, largely, very apathetic and negligent, although we have encounted a couple of good ones. We really should have lodged formal complaints about the police handling of our issues, previously, but I was just too endocrinologically ravaged by the long term stress of it (I am diagnosed with Complex PTSD) So we let it slide.

I am now recovering, but having all these random, dodgy living-in-tents-practically-on-our-doorstep people around, I'm worried it will erode all the hard work I've put in to get this well, after the last few years of neighbor-and-other-psychopath induced stress (not that we have full blown psychopath neighbors, but the ones who dabble in meth get very crazy and narcissistic). I just have a history of being treated very poorly by abusive, dishonest and cruel people, from birth, so I am wary of having my precious wellbeing taken from me, yet again.

 

[Tom]

I end up passively just trying to get thru such things. I remember a saying in a book, 'that you don't really have a problem until you call the police' and there is some truth to that. But in my head I want to stretch out barbed wire, make a ditch with punji stakes and set up a machine gun tower. Oh, and I guess a flamethrower in case any make it thru the wire.

 

[Nauti]

Th

I end up passively just trying to get thru such things. I remember a saying in a book, 'that you don't really have a problem until you call the police' and there is some truth to that. But in my head I want to stretch out barbed wire, make a ditch with punji stakes and set up a machine gun tower. Oh, and I guess a flamethrower in case any make it thru the wire.

That is my plan.for today. Ignore and hope it goes away. My guy us going to talk to the neighbor who is enabling it. Hopefully it gets resolved without further incidents. My guy is working today though, so I'm guessing nothing will be done about it today.

Hopefully they just pack up and leave though. The nights are the worse. Loud banging and people milling around our place and cars at night, drunken and arguing voices. Me no like.

 

[Tom]

Maybe put up flyers for a fictitious drug festival on the other side of the country?

Seriously though, I think these things are harder for us to put up with. The presence, noise, drama more intrusive, and sometimes feeling threatening. Sometimes in a period of greater stress I up my anxiety meds, which ironically is a little like 'if you can't beat them, join them' (in drugs), but I am not too picky in that respect. Whatever works, etc.

 

[Nauti]

I think you guys should at least have a conversation with the police about what you can do about it. You shouldn't have to worry about drunken meth zombies flipping out on your property. Can you take legal action against your neighbors over it? Would recordings help? Would that just make the situation worse? Moving might ultimately be the best action for your mental well being but that kind of injustice is something that gets to me.



Why are these things going on in areas where 10k - 20k people are enough to disrupt the entire town? Are these festivals even wanted by the majority of people living there?

One of the problems is that our housing company just moved another meth household into the complex here. So they are drawing more dodgy droogy peeps here. One lot of meth heads moved out and another has, evidently, moved in, "sigh".
Apparently, someone, we don't know who, but it wasn't a resident, perhaps a vengeful ex of a resident (probably a meth head) put word around town that it was "ok to camp up here". I'm really not happy about that. The new meth household enjoys hosting the abusive ex, baby dadas of a couple of the women.who live here in the complex. So thing's have been less than.peaceful lately.

I took a valium last night. Something I havent needed to do for quite some time.

We will get to the bottom of it.

 

[Mia]

We will get to the bottom of it.

I've lived in a lot of places, and some were horribly noisy for some of the reasons you've mentioned. In fact it got so bad, that one of our neighbors got a really big rottweiler. With a head the size of a giant pumpkin. He was scary just to look at, but a big marshmallow inside. When I went out at night to walk my own dog, I walked him as well. But that doesn't help you, unless you want a really big dog.

Some of the neighbours got together and signed a petition to get rid of the residents of a certain apartment building (which housed a meth lab). When that didn't work, we eventually began complaining by letter and phone to various city department's.

All the neighbors banded together and called the police and city on a regular basis for anything, noise, garbage, fires, fighting, vagrancy. City bylaws, and there were many, brought all kinds of people to that building, building inspectors, fire and vermin and health officials.

After that we took the landlord to court, filing petition after petition. In that particular place there was a tenant's rights association with pro bono lawyers. Which happened to be located on the street we lived on. We were successful, the tiny four unit apartment building was declared eventually unsafe and condemned. It was falling down anyway, it just needed a little push.

So there are things you can do, look into the town bylaws.