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Except in Italy, nearly the totality of the coast is privately handled and you must pay to access it...
this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2026
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Showerthoughts
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Is this another stupid American thing? I've never heard anyone getting in trouble for just laying around on public property
There's plenty of places by me where you can do this, and I live in the most dense state in America.
You hear about mainly in front of stores and malls in general. Your milage will vary depending on how dark, young or poor you look.
When you say dense.......... what is it we're... talking about?.. 😏
Credit where it's due!
Free land can be bought. Bought land can't be free.
In Finland we have "Everyman's Right" which is the right to access nature on private land without needing the owner's permission.
You can walk, hike, cycle, swim, pick berries/mushrooms, and camp temporarily, as long as you stay away from homes, gardens, and cultivated fields. Making a fire is however not allowed without permission.
Allemannsretten lenge leve
Yes I've heard of that and I'm happy for you all over there.
But are you allowed to just lay around doing nothing in a public space?
Whatever the case, laying around doing nothing in public is pretty much illegal in the United states. It's considered loitering, which is a crime. Except for on beaches.
Technically true, but iny entire life, I've never known anyone who's gotten a ticket for loitering.
Loitering is one of those "catch all' laws, that cops can pull out in almost any situation if they want to escalate. If they want to give you a hard time for running your mouth, they can always hit you for Loitering or Resisting Arrest.
Don't lump the entire country in with wherever you are, because I can go to plenty of places within walking distance of my home -- in the United States -- and just hang out, hard, and it's fine.
It's much more nuanced than that. What is illegal is:
- Loitering with intent to commit a crime (e.g., drug dealing, prostitution, harassment)
- Blocking sidewalks or entrances
- Loitering in certain restricted areas (schools, government buildings, etc.)
Simply just hanging out in public is perfectly legal.
My friend was thinking about buying a house in one of the suburban neighborhoods, and once went there to walk around and see if he likes it (as if he could distinguish one suburban neighborhood from another). He had cops called on him, and they threatened to cite him for loitering. For walking on public sidewalks.
Can you clarify: your friend isn't white and took a walk in some known for being ultra white pieces of shit neighborhood (he never knew about it, because what for, in healthy person's mind) and some dudes or gals saw him out of the windows of their caves and took preventive measures against... dreadful sidewalking crime? And cops were [n]ice scum and they were ultra chinazi kkk? 0 sarcasm here unfortunately btw Just curious about em details
The fun part is, he's white af, not American by birth, but white. Nobody told him why he was harassed, cops just told him that loitering is a crime, asked him where he lives and where his car is, and checked that he actually drives away.
In Norway anywhere in nature 100 meters from houses is free reign. Just leave it as you found it.
Well yeah, even here in the UK the police or anyone won't bother if you're just sitting somewhere in public and not causing a breach of the peace... I mean when the sun eventually comes out, you'll see people laid out on every available bit of green space to soak it up.
Your legal system seems very... antisocial?
TIL that "loitering" does not mean leaving garbage in public spaces. Ive heard the term but never expected it to mean standing around idle, this is so stupid.
EDIT: nvm i was thinking about “littering”. english is hard.
BTW, little newborn kittens or puppies are also called litter.
say "little kitten litter" 10 times
You are thinking of littering. Loitering is standing around idle on another person’s property. It’s usually used now adays to move vagrants along but the law has jim crow origins.
Also, a driving licence and a driving loicence are the same thing. The latter is just in a British accent.
Oh wow, you just blew my mind. I am in fact thinking about littering! I was a bit suspicious about me not realizing the true meaning sooner, but did not look into it further. This makes a lot more sense now, thank you for clearing this up. :)
It’s a common mistake since the words are very close, it does not help that many people who loiter also usually litter.
It's a common mistake for non native English speakers. I thought the same for years but now know the difference.
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Loitering is illegal in the US because public spaces are free. Why are you just sitting in a public space for free when you could be sitting in a cafe or restaurant and contributing to the economy? Oh you don't have that money? Well then you're worthless to society and just shouldn't exist, obviously.
Why would you seat doing nothing instead of making money to donate them to some FOSS projects, that are desperately needing them? And there are many such projects. Time to invest in good things, go grab some buzz and donate to your favourite FOSS project(s)! Then we go chilling in the forest with moon partisans and being worthless to regimes around the globe... together.
when you could be sitting in a cafe or restaurant and contributing to the economy
or even better, being exploited for cheap labor in prison!
Only illegal if you're a teenager or a minority.
Most (including my city) places, have no age/other restrictions on the law. Although they are often used against those groups.
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Few places nowadays is it legal to lay around & do whatever you want outdoors, usually getting cited for loitering or something.
What kind of shitty place are you living in?
The US is a shithole
I once went to a park sat on a bench and right in front of me was a no loitering sign. It's a park, what else am I going to do?
Most of those "no loitering" signs only exist to give the police a legal crowbar against homeless people. Realistically if you're just sitting and minding your business nobody will actually come along and eject you.
sitting while black has entered the chat
Gonna jinx it eh
I once went to a park sat on a bench and right in front of me was a no loitering sign. It’s a park, what else am I going to do?
That is hilarious (well, sad actually, but you get what I mean). Also kind of reminds of that one politician once saying that "breast are not suitable for small children" in the public breastfeeding debate ...
I always find it funny to figure out that stuffblike loitering isn't something the Simpson invented. It's something americans are not allowed to. But freedom is very important to them
Loitering laws are mostly just racism.
It's rich people not wanting "riff raff" hanging around. No one cares if you're hanging around slums and ghettos.
That's where you're wrong. Police love loitering laws there too. Easy excuse to harass people and search them
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In the UK all farmland is fenced off, with occasional walking paths available. I used to think the Ridgeway was great because there was about 50 miles of trails one could walk on or ride a bike, and in summer motorbikes and 4x4s were allowed too.
It blew my mind when I moved to Spain and I worked out I could get pretty much anywhere off road whenever I felt like it.
For novelty I once rode my little motorbike from my house to the supermarket, with only about 50m on paved roads. It was very liberating. But unfortunately some of the yoghurt I bought got squashed by the jostling on the way home, and my bag smelled of bad milk for a couple months even after I'd washed it :-/
The new coastal path has access rights down to the sea in most cases.
In Scotland under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 you can walk, camp, and explore most land in Scotland—even if it’s private—as long as you’re respectful, don’t cause damage, and give people (especially homes and farms) their space.
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In some places the nice beaches have been privatised by local hotels or clubs so you gotta pay them to sit on the beach or go sit somewhere less nice. Coming from Western Australia where we have the nicest beaches in the world (all free), I take this concept of "owning beach space" as a personal affront.
personal affront
as opposed to personal beach front
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What ?
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