Yet Ellis said he "wouldn't be surprised to see [an ordinance] in Cambridge now that one has been passed in Boston."

Clayger worried the ordinance could bring more panhandlers to Cambridge, and there's already a very heavy load on the people working here."

But many argued that very few people are actually aware of the ordinance.

"As far as I have experienced through our members, there's been little or no reaction to the ordinance," Ellis said.

"In large measure, [the homeless community] is not aware of the ordinance," said Sarofeen.

Donovan said he "can't see that [the ordinance is] very public."

On the streets, neither Clayger nor O'Connor had heard about the ordinance, while Manuel said he had heard about it through discussion at the Spare Change office.

The Future of the Ordinance

Despite all the concerns, few expect the ordinance to have widespread effects.

"I think it will have little to no effect," Donovan said.

"It will provide law enforcement with one other tool, but it will not provide homeless individuals with anything other than one more thing to be fearful of," he said.

"Those who are aggressive are still going to take their risks and do whatever is necessary in order to get the money they need to survive," said the BESC employee.

"They won't stop because of the restrictions; they'll probably just go to less-policed areas," the employee said. "I don't think it will have that great of an effect."

Clayger felt the ordinance would make the panhandling trade more fair because "when people are aggressive, they're usually very drunk or very large," he said.

Ellis predicted the ordinance would simply "reduce aggressiveness and control the people hanging around ATMs," he said.

Donovan does not foresee further restrictions on solicitation coming from the Boston City Council.

"I don't believe that it's a constitutional ordinance to begin with, so I don't think they'll be able to build upon it," he said.