Why is Portland so infested with homeless? (sales, property tax)

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Well, Homelessadvocate, it looks like you might have missed the "heyday" of being homeless in Portland!

Check this out:
Hales to crack down on homeless protesters | kgw.com Portland

Our former mayor and city government were all about Portland's "image" and not really concerned about Portlands functionality.
They made it extremely easy for the homeless folks here.

In fact, they turned Portland into a kind of homeless mecca.
Now as the thread title states, Portland is infested with folks looking for a free ride.
I know it's not all of them, but I'm not blind either.
You can see what's going on.

With the recent incident of some homeless street punk bashing in the head of a 70 year old guy trying to hose down the sidewalk in front of the downtown store he worked at for decades, I believe times will change.
Residents of this town are getting fed up and starting to say enough is enough.

From what I have seen of the actions of our new mayor, Charlie Hales, I believe the tide is turning in the other direction.
I sure hope so.
I mean, downtown used to be a wonderful fun place to go.
Now it's such a pit, nobody goes there unless they are a tourist, or they absolutely have to.


Good luck and enjoy the rest of our beautiful short summer!
I'll bet by January you'll be wishing you were back in Vegas!

[GeorgiaTransplant]

Originally Posted by Homelessadvocate

Just another homeless guy infesting the downtown area! Its AMAZING the amount of young punks I see down here! Someone needs to clean them up and ship them out!

And that, friends, is a perfectly ironic statement.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

I know, what a way to treat the poor homeless people, right?

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaTransplant

And that, friends, is a perfectly ironic statement.

He obviously meant everyone but those like himself who contribute positively to society.

[kyled]

Originally Posted by hamellr

He obviously meant everyone but those like himself who contribute positively to society.

Can't have those circumstantially homeless tarnishing the good name of the upstanding career homeless population.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Well, Homelessadvocate, it looks like you might have missed the "heyday" of being homeless in Portland!

Check this out:
Hales to crack down on homeless protesters | kgw.com Portland

Our former mayor and city government were all about Portland's "image" and not really concerned about Portlands functionality.
They made it extremely easy for the homeless folks here.

In fact, they turned Portland into a kind of homeless mecca.
Now as the thread title states, Portland is infested with folks looking for a free ride.
I know it's not all of them, but I'm not blind either.
You can see what's going on.

With the recent incident of some homeless street punk bashing in the head of a 70 year old guy trying to hose down the sidewalk in front of the downtown store he worked at for decades, I believe times will change.
Residents of this town are getting fed up and starting to say enough is enough.

From what I have seen of the actions of our new mayor, Charlie Hales, I believe the tide is turning in the other direction.
I sure hope so.
I mean, downtown used to be a wonderful fun place to go.
Now it's such a pit, nobody goes there unless they are a tourist, or they absolutely have to.


Good luck and enjoy the rest of our beautiful short summer!
I'll bet by January you'll be wishing you were back in Vegas!

I also posted this line on another thread but it's good to spread it around. Sam Adams was the most guilty of this laxity I think but he followed a long line of mayors who turned a blind eye to the situation.

It really came to a head when the thugs who might have been a part of the Travelers or Warriors attacked the "innocent" Occupiers living in the parks awhile back. Actually, according to the KGW report, it would appear that it's a really dangerous time right now for homeless people to be living on the streets of Portland just as much as it is store owners, workers and even some pedestrians in some downtown and near downtown areas like those two who were attacked outside the Outdoor Store on Third and Taylor recently.

I wish Hales all the luck in keeping the streets safe. I think there might be some violence involved and everyone living on the streets and parks will be caught in the crossfire. Hales has stated he wants to protect those who are living there not by choice, but in reality, how are the police going to make the distinguishment between the two?

[AndyAMG]

Glad to hear this. Downtown has become downright unpleasant. Some friends visited us from Arizona last week. The only thing they now remember about Portland is giant heap of human crap (it wasn't dog crap, unless they were all Great Danes) at the Ira Keller Fountain. They will also remember the derelicts living in squalor in Chapman Square and getting accosted by street youth for smokes, rather aggressively. As we were about to board a MAX at Saturday market a fight broke out and some one threw a skateboard at a car and broke the window. Didn't leave a good impression, I was embarrassed for this city. Luckily the Coast ,Gorge and the overall look of the city impressed them. Bravo Charles Hales! This is situation getting out of hand, it's bad outside of downtown too. There are a ton of camps set up in all the overpass areas of the city and a ton of camp sites along the springwater corridor. There were even some out on elk island and under I-205 at West Linn. This year has been the worst for the summer homeless people invasion.

[Minervah]

The sad part of all of this is the many of the people who are the ones who often get hurt are the homeless people who are on the streets through unfortunate circumstances. Those are the ones who get roughed up by the street youths and people who live on the street just for the adventure and threaten passersby for money.

[Minervah]

I just got through watching the news tonight. If Hales is successful in separating out the homeless people truly in need of help from the criminals posing as homeless, this could turn out well for people in need. Only time will tell.

[Woof]

Maybe the best way to reduce the numbers of criminals concentrating in one area would be to stop dumping ex-cons from the prisons and jails downtown. Get them set up with homeless shelters more on the outskirts of town, so they don't bunch up so much.