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.

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?

I disagree with the initial claim.

I can go sit just about anywhere without concern of being cited for loitering.

Not sure where you get this idea from.

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.

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.

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.

Is this another stupid American thing? I've never heard anyone getting in trouble for just laying around on public property

“Loitering” aka “standing while young”

In Canada, a very old arrangement dating from the creation of the country, says that navigable water is a federal matter. Whether it's on the side of the ocean, a big lake, or a river, the water and anything below high tide is Crown "land", and public. There are obviously exceptions and access by land can be controlled but not by water. At least not the beach itself.

It leads to weird situations, like a provincial park that can't stop boaters from using remote parts of "their" beach. Or another where boats band together between some islands, and party and jetboat among kayaks and SUP.

But this also prevents owners of big houses around lakes to claim a part of that lake, or the foreshore.

We don't have the right to roam in general here, with some exceptions for Crown lands, and it happens that bodies of water and rivers is Crown land.

Anyway, that's how I understand this.

If I am not laying on private property or in the entrance of a shop or something I can lay around whereever I want. I don't really understand what OP is talking about.

Blm land? National forest? Can lay around for 14 days straight.

Shoutout to Daniel Burnham and Montgomery Ward for keeping Chicago's lakefront free and open for the people.

Except in Italy, nearly the totality of the coast is privately handled and you must pay to access it...

What ?