One homeless man refers his cart as his house
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CNN's Don Knapp talks to the homeless and city representatives about the issue
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SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- In cities across the United States, homeless people pushing their few ragtag possessions along the sidewalks in shopping carts have become a familiar sight.

"It's like our house, you know, while we're temporarily homeless or permanently homeless," said Steve, as he wheeled his cart along a San Francisco street.

Actually, it was not his own cart he was wheeling -- Steve was pushing stolen property.

Almost all the shopping carts homeless people use are taken from supermarket parking lots, costing the stores -- and, ultimately, their customers -- millions of dollars.

It also costs cities, as public workers are the ones who have to remove the stolen carts from the parks, gutters and alleys where they often wind up.

Abandoned carts line a street in San Francisco

"What kind of statement does it make for our city to have shopping carts lying all over the place unattended?" asked Amos Brown, city supervisor of San Francisco.

The problem has led to a proposal in San Francisco that the city endow each homeless person with a personal shopping cart.

"It's a good idea," said homeless cart user Johnny Chavez, "because I think one fourth (of the carts) in the stores are gone now. Look, I've got 11 of them right here."

Other proposals for the shopping cart problem include introducing tough penalties for theft of the carts and providing free shuttle buses for the homeless.

Correspondent Don Knapp contributed to this report.

"The Other America; Poverty in the United States" by Michael Harrington,Irving Howe "The New Politics of Poverty: The Non-Working Poor in America" by Lawrence M. Mead "Early Care and Education for Children in Poverty: Promises, Programs, and Long-Term Results" by W. Steven Barnett (Editor),Sarane S. Boocock (Editor) "For Crying out Loud: Women's Poverty in the United States" by Diane Dujon "Human Capital or Cultural Capital?: Ethnicity & Poverty Groups in an Urban School District" by George Farkas Click here for additional reading on Poverty in the United States