Speaking of the Homeless. (buying, live, statistics)

[EnricoV]

Law enforcement does nothing about transients but look the other way.

[Stoney Mcgee]

I think oldtintype has too rosy a view on Portland. I think its a great city too, but its undeniable that the weather IS gloomy, dark and grey for most of the year. Sometimes spring is nice, but many times its gloomy as well. There ARE tons of homeless people all over downtown. I goto PSU (in downtown) and am constantly asked for change, at least once a day, sometimes more. In fact I'm bombarded with homeless people all over downtown, not just one particular area. These kids are an ever-present nuisance and the people who actually give them change just enable their laziness. Many of our homeless are able to work, but choose to do drugs and live off the charity of others instead. I've lived in San Diego, Syracuse, Los Angeles, Miami and Eugene. The only other place with as many street punks bothering you for change is Eugene. The rain 9 months out of the year is ok with me, even though its a little dreary, but the street kids make us all look bad. That having been said, Portland's positives greatly outweigh the negatives. Its a nice place to live, work and raise a family. But if we're being honest about our beloved city, we must acknowledge it is going to rain most of the time, and the rain will fall on the many homeless people who crowd downtown. Plus, there is a HUGE meth problem. And just because other cities have their downfalls too, does'nt mean we don't have ours.

[oldtintype]

I think it's a matter of perspective. Because yours doesn't agree with mine doesn't mean mine is wrong.

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by oldtintype

I think it's a matter of perspective. Because yours doesn't agree with mine doesn't mean mine is wrong.

'xactly. That's one of my common gripes with the nay-sayers. "Gloomy" is an opinion, not a fact. Kind of like beauty being in the eye . . .

[jakemullick]

People who constantly whine about the rain and gloomy weather in Portland don't necessarity have to live in Portland. I suggest they move to Iowa where their nuts freeze in winter like popsicles and they roast like baked potato in the summer, with high humidity making them feel like theyare in a sauna....

[TechmanOR]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

Law enforcement does nothing about transients but look the other way.

I don't think they're treating transients fair, they're being too tolerant of their criminal activity.

Some say that 5 cent bottle bill is an enabler. I say permitting them to freely gather cans is yet another enabler. They don't just stop at trash cans and cans littered on ground. These transients are stealing from recycling companies. They're going from business-to-business, building-to-building actually taking things from privately owned dumpsters/recycling bins. The recyclable materials values belong to the hauling contractors, so to "cherry pick" them out is like shop lifting.

Recyclables are not valuable just to transients and other places are taking their theft seriously.

The City of Napa, California - Theft of recyclables an ongoing problem
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/ny...cling.html?8br

Whenever they go through recyclable depositories, they're:

1. stealing cans from containers with clear indication of contents owner bins(i..e Waste Management corporation) = theft
2. Going on private property for doing so = criminal trespassing

It is only fair if the police hold them to the same scrutiny as shop lifters or drivers stopped for a burnt-out tail light or such as checking existing warrants, other violations, drugs etc.

There needs to be a lawful cause to stop them, but if they're seen stealing materials tendered to recyclers, then
1. theft, 2. criminal trespassing, 3. concealing stolen property.
are enough causes.

A consistent warrant check and searching of belongings used in "concealing stolen recyclables" which increases the chance of their drugs being discovered would surely be a deterrent transients wanting to come to Portland.

If a cop sees a $600 worth of obviously stolen items in your passenger seat during a traffic stop, I doubt he'd pretend it's not there. I'm not sure why they can't apply the same guideline when they see transients lined up at various services with stolen carts. There's no lawful cause to have a Walgreens cart in front of a soup kitchen 1/2 mile away from the nearest Walgreens filled with stuff that obviously wasn't purchased there and replacement cost is around $600 each, according to a NY Times article
GOVERNMENT; Retrieving And Selling All Those Stray Carts - New York Times

Why are many criminal activities legal if you're a transient??

[subsound]

I recently moved to Portland, and I think the problem has gotten worse then when I was last here in 2003 (nothing can equal CA). When I came here last I fell in love with the city, and I love the weather (I love the rain), but homelessness has really soured me on the city.

My personal opinion is that some people need some help, that's what government programs are for to help kids and adults. Get them off the street into homes and jobs and be a benefit to society. Drug users and chronic homeless people can rot in their bucket. I have friends and family I can include in the drug user and chronic pile, and until they can help themselves there is nothing anyone I know tried that helped them.

Being in downtown Portland I get hassled about every 2 blocks for something from some homeless person, and I live in Lloyd Center where it seems to happen a little less often. I think with all the services out there for these people in Portland, it's being the place to go. I don't mind seeing people who need help, but having people run after me screaming they need money or trying to stand in my way till I give them something is beginning to become too frequent too much of a problem. If I can't remove them, then I can remove myself to where it doesn't happen.

I feel sorry for those down in the dumps, but to be honest it's really not my problem. I made the right decisions, I work hard at my job, worked hard in school, and I work to "play the game" in the cooperate world. If it's greedy and egotistical to take the money I worked hard for and put it into my savings, my retirement, cars, and a nice apartment...I will gladly wear that label. I spent a good number of years working 8 hours at work and going to school 4 hours at night for my education to get where I am today. I don't see why some strung out acid freak that dropped out of highschool and ran away, and does nothing all day should get the benefits of my hard work.

I am responsible for myself and the decisions I have made, not for random people sitting on the street who are unwilling to do any of that. I'll give to organizations to help people with a hand up, not a hand out.

[juliempdx]

I defenitley agree it is a huge problem in Portland and I have noticed that it has become worse. I flat out refuse to give money to these people. Anyone ever watch Intervention on A & E?? One of the guys they did an intervention on was making $30,000 a year panhandling in CA. Just think that is tax free income that is just wasted on drugs. In the end he got clean but hearing things like that just disgusts me.

[Sooth]

I grew up in poverty; my mother ran off when I was young and my grandmother was disabled and housebound throughout her later years. Through my highschool years, it was the responsibility of my father and I to take care of her - with a person in the house at all times - as well as provide for the family. Most of our actual income came from her Social Security and most of our sustenance came from Food Stamps.

In spite of everything, I did well through school, obtained grants, scholarships and financial aid, and now attend college, presumably on my way to the requirements to live a middle-class lifestyle. Time will tell how this turns out.

I'm not even going to *pretend* that "hard work and perseverance" are what separates me from the 2000 or so homeless people in Portland, or the 600k - 2 million homeless people people throughout the country, or even people in poverty, who remain in poverty.

I know people who work harder than I have ever worked, and have a lot less to show for it by American capitalist standards than I do. The truth is, I still had a good and easy life compared to many. My family supported me whatever I did; I had friends and teachers who were concerned with both my academic success and personal well being.

Sure, we seem to have free will. We are in control of our decisions. We can strive for the best in our future. But we're also thrown into the mix of everyone else trying to do the same, in a society that's inherently materialistic and competitive. The fact that, with the economic downturn, we have people with college degrees getting jobs as waiters, seems to suggest we are at least partly subject to circumstance.

I live in Portland. I've known homeless people by name. I've had homeless friends eat out of our fridge - our *garbage can* - and sleep on our couches and use our blankets. The idea that people "choose" their own lives - that homeless people (and poor people, by extension), are mostly responsible for their own squalor - strikes me as absurd. Not only that, but a lie which people tell themselves (or are told by others and reinforce to themselves) - in order to justify spending hundreds of dollars on clothes, cosmetics, fancy technology, etc, alongside a society with members who worry about finding food and shelter on a daily basis. It should come as no surprise that this emphasis on individual work as the basis of economic status should emerge as a psychological need on part of people who "have", for how else can one who claims to be a decent, compassionate human being feel vindicated in their lifestyle? Without feeling staggering guilt?

[nwlv]

The recent homeless count here in Vegas is 13,000. If you would like to compare.