Thinking about becoming one of portlands homeless - need advice (Oakland: rent, job market)

[resident14]

yeah so if I could just move to Portland and have my own residence there for free then I would just do that and not be homeless. I actually tried - I called some property renters in portland and told them my story and tried to get myself a place for free but no one would go for it.

[ramedud]

No free lunch.

[Sunderpig2]

The folks here who keep attacking the OP, and keep ignoring the OP's comments, are not helping him or this forum one bit. The point of this forum is to provide information to help the OP and the thread. You might not understand where he's coming from, but that's no reason to accuse him of being a troll or it being a bogus thread.

I don't see what's so hard to understand. The OP doesn't have much money, and he doesn't think he has many options. It sounds like everything is pointing to him having to eventually become homeless (due to not enough money, resources, connections, etc.) So he's trying to figure out where to go. He's probably gravitating to Portland due to a possible pro-homeless reputation. That at least seems to be his line of thinking.

This isn't brain surgery or rocket science...

[turquoise1]

This poster doesn't strike me as a troll at all; he strikes me as someone who is at the end of his rope. Certain other posters, however...

On a related topic, is it really true that Portland has a national reputation as a good place to be homeless, and if so, why?

[pdxMIKEpdx]

If I was going to do what the OP wants to do, I would pick an area with a warmer, drier climate.

If you are going to be homeless by choice, you might as well make it easier on yourself.

Seriously, would you rather be homeless in Portland or Honolulu?

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Originally Posted by turquoise1

On a related topic, is it really true that Portland has a national reputation as a good place to be homeless, and if so, why?

Well, how about Dignity Village and the new Bud Clark Commons to start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dignity_Village

Bud Clark Commons - Grand Opening June 2, 2011

BCC even has designated shopping cart parking and a pet area. No Joke.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Well, how about Dignity Village and the new Bud Clark Commons to start:

Dignity Village - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bud Clark Commons - Grand Opening June 2, 2011

It even has designated shopping cart parking. No Joke.

Some of the local media were calling the Bud Commons Plaza, the "Hobo Bellagio" before it opened...

[turquoise1]

Interesting. Thanks for the links.

[rsdotson]

If you want an adventure, go to South Dakota where employers are begging for workers because of the boom in drilling for natural gas in the state, and I hear they even pay burger flippers $25/hr.

Coming to Portland penniless and with no prospects would be insanity because there are already far too many people like that here already, and regardless of what you may have heard it gets damn cold in Portland during the winter -- especially on the streets. The weatherman has even been talking about a bit of snow coming our way.

I once saw a homeless man sleeping in the freezing stairwell of a three story motel in Helena, Montana. It was well below freezing and the stairwell was exposed to the elements, but a bit sheltered from the wind. He was not wearing sufficient clothing to stay warm by any means. I was surprised not to find his corpse there in the morning. Being homeless is not something you should choose. It is something that happens when all else fails.

[ramedud]

Originally Posted by rsdotson

If you want an adventure, go to South Dakota where employers are begging for workers because of the boom in drilling for natural gas in the state, and I hear they even pay burger flippers $25/hr.

Coming to Portland penniless and with no prospects would be insanity because there are already far too many people like that here already, and regardless of what you may have heard it gets damn cold in Portland during the winter -- especially on the streets. The weatherman has even been talking about a bit of snow coming our way.

I once saw a homeless man sleeping in the freezing stairwell of a three story motel in Helena, Montana. It was well below freezing and the stairwell was exposed to the elements, but a bit sheltered from the wind. He was not wearing sufficient clothing to stay warm by any means. I was surprised not to find his corpse there in the morning. Being homeless is not something you should choose. It is something that happens when all else fails.

Thank you for this response.

I read a lot of the responses saying I'm being insensitive and I feel like I'm on another planet. I'm from the San Francisco/Oakland area. We have it way worse than Portland. That said, hearing a guy exploring homelessness as an option is beyond me.


Logically if he wants to move to Portland, stay in VA and settle down a bit. From there attempt to find a job, stick with said job, maybe even go to school part time, save up a huge sum of cash, have a job lined up in Portland, have a back-up plan, then move. Being homeless is not a back-up plan. As much as I (or anyone) would like to move up to Portland, becoming homeless or even the remote possibility thereof is completely irrational and irresponsible, socially and otherwise.

He definitely has issues to deal with, and moving to Portland isn't one of them. He's young, traumatized, has no direction in life, but life isn't over. He's 22 years old. I was 18 when I thought my life was over, but it wasn't. Far from it! He has a lot of time to think things through, work things out, learn about life, build a foundation in life and for success. It sounds to me like he never had that chance to build that foundation. He isn't in the right mental state to move across the country, and I don't mean this in a bad way. With hard work and a stubborn tenacity for a dream, anything's possible. When you are successful, you feel confident and powerful, like you could take on the world.



That's when he should start thinking about moving to Portland.

Originally Posted by emathias

Being homeless is a trap that is very difficult to get out of. Voluntarily stepping into a trap when you have other options, even if those options aren't that exciting, would be extremely foolish, and detrimental to your physical and mental health.

Having known a number of people who have been homeless at various points in their lives (and some who, for all practical purposes still are), I can tell you that NO ONE who has been homeless comes out of it unscarred. It will scar you for life. It will reduce your ability to socialize normatively, which in turn reduces your chances of retaining meaningful employment.

Can you live through it and go on to live a non-homeless life? Yes. But I'd be willing to bet a fairly substantial sum of money that if you went through being homeless that anyone paying attention to you later in your life will be able to tell you were homeless, even if it's just because something about you seems slightly "off."

I don't mean this to denigrate people who have been homeless - it's a traumatic experience usually resulting from desperate circumstances outside of their control - but I also refuse to pretend like people who go through it come out the way they went in. They don't. They change, and nearly all of the changes are for the worse. Even when the changes don't directly affect their relationship to other people, the changes often negatively affect their relationship with themselves.

You do not want to voluntarily subject yourself to being homeless. Neither of your parents would ever want that for you. Them being dead doesn't give you the right to risk you life and wellbeing in ways that would distress them. Suck it up in Virgina for a while, but plan your next moves. Anyone can live for 2-3 years in some part of the U.S. that isn't their first choice. It's not like you'd be living in Bolivia or Tadzhikstan. Save money, network, get a job (or jobs), take classes at a community college or public trade school. In the long run, you'll be a lot better off and, who knows, maybe someday you'll even look back fondly on those few years in Virginia where you started laying a foundation for the rest of your life.

This post also hit the nail on the head.