The trash, and furniture along the roads.....it’s never been this bad. (Portland: low income, crime)

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by zerp

The solution already exists and at zero additional cost. ...
Let’s see the 3/4+ of Portland’s blue households show their love and compassion and host a homeless person or two in their own homes.

As in Dignity Village (Since 2000)

https://dignityvillage.org/

There is a LOT of land nearby to develop, and a way to create some safety space and distance apart from commercial zones. And it's 'self governed'. The Concordia Sports Field is just across the street and has a nice structure for community building / kitchen. That parcel should be available and ready to go (Including utilities). There ARE zoning rules in Portland and Vancouver metro... I can't live at, or rent any of my commercial properties for residential habitation. There are good reasons for that (Remember Oakland Warehouse fire, as well as the safety of pedestrians and shopping carts and tents in a commercial / heavy truck location) ) Fire + health and santitation...

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by redguard57

There's no easy answer to the homeless problem. It did not appear overnight. It was many years in the making. And it's not just Portland. Look at what has been happening the last few weeks in Belligham, WA. It's more noticeable here on the west coast because we have laws that protect their "human rights" and so they can't just be evicted, and we have more homeless per capita than other similarly populated areas in the country.

I'm from Texas. Once I witnessed with my own eyes what cops in a medium sized conservative Texas town did to unwanted homeless. I was working at Wal-Mart at the time and had been the one to call the police on a homeless shoplifter. Later I regretted it. I was there when the cop threatened to assault or possibly murder this homeless man unless he left town within 24 hours. The cop said his bus ticket would be comped. If the homeless man did not leave, the communication was very clear that something bad would happen to him, and no one in town would care, that no judge or jury in the area would give a crap about a dead homeless person.

I worked in homeless services for a decade. Portland was famous for buying homeless people a bus ticket to anywhere then... probably still is today.


Bussing your homeless somewhere else is a very popular and cheap solution for cities. It's a human shell game. And incredibly socially irresponsible.

[Faithfullizhe]

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

I worked in homeless services for a decade. Portland was famous for buying homeless people a bus ticket to anywhere then... probably still is today.


Bussing your homeless somewhere else is a very popular and cheap solution for cities. It's a human shell game. And incredibly socially irresponsible.

At least the homeless person gets an adventure.

[redguard57]

Originally Posted by zerp

The solution already exists and at zero additional cost. 3/4+ of Multnomah County has voted blue since Obama or before Obama. This means 3/4+ of the households in Portland support caring for the homeless. However, these blue households don’t want to do it themselves. They want to make someone else pay for it.

If we just passed a law in Portland saying blue households must take in at least one and maybe two homeless people, the streets would be clear. There is certainly capacity based on the # of houses and average # of bedrooms per house in Portland, divided by the average number of household occupants per household in Portland. On top of that, blue households certainly have couches or even just open floor space. Sleeping pads are available from REI for $50 and up. That’s all that is really needed. Instead, greedy Portland homeowners seem to want to AirBnB portions of their house out instead of using common sense to sacrifice for the greater good.

Let’s see the 3/4+ of Portland’s blue households show their love and compassion and host a homeless person or two in their own homes.

That's just stupid. Conservative areas have homeless problems too. They just kick them out to deal with it. Liberal places are less likely to criminalize poverty so the homeless collect there. In conservative areas, like my hometown in Texas, the police will threaten them unless they move on. Also in rural areas there are still some very cheap housing that people who are near-homeless can live. Trailers, etc...

Besides, even if everyone did that, it wouldn't work. The homeless are not homeless because they're temporarily down on their luck. They are homeless because they are mentally sick and/or addicted, and couldn't hold down a job if you gave them one.

One of my first jobs was fast food and my manager was a bleeding heart who would hire homeless people to try and help them out. Not a single one of his homeless hires lasted more than 5 days. Not one. They'd always spaz out, show up drunk or high, or just not show up within days. Sometimes hours. One of them that I thought might actually make it seemed normal enough, and then he started having an argument with the spatula. He stormed out cursing at everyone. I saw him on the street a few weeks later.

[CARas2020]

Originally Posted by DogWalkerPro

I've lived in Portland on and off for over 20 years, and it breaks my heart what has become of this city. It used to be beautiful, clean, friendly, safe and affordable. Of course, not without its problems which we all know, but I'm not writing about that here.

Portland has, over the past 5 - 7 years, turned into an absolute garbage dump of a city. Abandoned cars litter the streets in what used to be nice neighborhoods. The amount of garbage is astounding and litters the highways, byways, alleys, curbs.....

We're not supposed to say anything about all of the homeless people because of political correctness, but when I talk to my neighbors 1x1, everyone (regardless of voting history) is in despair over these problems. We are not heartless people -- we do not feel safe. We are renters, we are home owners, we live in apartments and houses. It is not uncommon to wake up with a homeless person camped out on your steps despite your housing status.

It certainly is not the community it once was. Oregon taxes are high, the job market is not good (historically), the rents and house prices have skyrocketed, yet all public services have failed in regards to the cleanliness of the city. It's like the people in charge just gave up and decided that it's better to let this place become a landfill and that it's more important to let people have the right to dump their cars and garbage everywhere than to clean it up or find a solution to this mess.

Portland is quickly turning into a dystopia.

Two thoughts and I may have already commented. I will try to read more but wanted to say I agree. I was thinking about this just the other day. Did this huge homeless problem slowly creep up? I have lived in the PNW for 32 years and about 29 of them have been in the greater Portland area. I know like you said it use to be so beautiful and clean. Second The state continues to refuse to have any sales tax. I guess it is US the voters. That money could be used to help.

Not sure if anyone can answer this but the first exit of I 84 There seems to be some kind of "encampment next to the East Bank Building. It looks like teeny tiny homes and is surrounded by a fence. Does anyone know what this is?

[CARas2020]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

As in Dignity Village (Since 2000)

https://dignityvillage.org/

There is a LOT of land nearby to develop, and a way to create some safety space and distance apart from commercial zones. And it's 'self governed'. The Concordia Sports Field is just across the street and has a nice structure for community building / kitchen. That parcel should be available and ready to go (Including utilities). There ARE zoning rules in Portland and Vancouver metro... I can't live at, or rent any of my commercial properties for residential habitation. There are good reasons for that (Remember Oakland Warehouse fire, as well as the safety of pedestrians and shopping carts and tents in a commercial / heavy truck location) ) Fire + health and santitation...

I was talking to my hubby about this. I was noticing many empty buildings all over. But he brought up the same things you did. Maybe there can be a way to get the zoning changed? I do not really know anything about it except someplace are residential an some are commercial. I totally understand why you can't do it even if you wanted to.

[snackdog]

You see it, you own it. Next time you see trash, stop and pick it up instead of starting a whiny thread in an anonymous online chat room.

[ejisme]

Well Snackdog, are you picking up needles, cigarette butts, filthy and ripped up clothing, etc.? Are you stopping on I-5/205 and walking the shoulder to pickup who knows what trash? You come off as high and mighty in an anonymous online chat room. What have you done to fix the problem???

[Willamette City]

Originally Posted by snackdog

You see it, you own it. Next time you see trash, stop and pick it up instead of starting a whiny thread in an anonymous online chat room.

That's what we do in our little town of Oakridge east of Eugene. We walk everyday, carry a suction cup picker and a bag or two and pick up trash. I'm going to put on my safety vest and head out to Hwy 58 west of town, there is lots of trash out there. It's not much, but every little bit helps.

[ejisme]

Good for you Willamette City, seriously!