Portland Wants New Private Buildings to Provide Space for Homeless Camping
wweek.com
wweek.com
Sanitary issues come to mind first of all. Is building maintenance responsible for cleaning up after them. I've landscaped and done maintenance for apartment and commercial buildings and there's no way in hell I'd be going anywhere near to clean up after that. We wouldn't even touch people's dog shit, let alone the waste such a camp is likely to produce.
Then there's the people living in these spaces. They're still homeless, they're now spread throughout the city and this really changes nothing about their situation. Living in a tent outside a fancy highrise isn't much different than living in a tent in an alley somewhere. Their living conditions aren't going to change. This really does nothing to help them.
Honestly, I'm not even too sure what to say to this in a comment. I could probably rant about the stupidity of this for hours.
> There are a dozen such guidelines, but the discussion ground to a halt at No. 6, which said the exterior spaces of new buildings must "provide opportunities to pause, sit and interact."
The end result of this proposal may be a little similar to what this editorialized title says, but IMO everyone in downtown Portland would benefit from more spaces to pause, site and interact, not just homeless campers.
> Magnera, who works as the director of climate and energy policy at Verde, a Northeast Portland environmental justice nonprofit, stopped the conversation and pushed to add the words "rest and be welcome" to that guideline. She explained that public spaces around buildings often include "benches but not a lot of place to pitch a tent."
Is there a homeless problem in Portland, sure, in the sense that there are them. But it isn't a inconvenience to me. You see them but they aren't a swarm of bees trying to swallow your spare change.
I lived on 14th and Alder in Eugene when Jerry Garcia died. That was annoying. All the people that toured with the Dead decided to land in Eugene while they found Phish.
It is like when public transport is talked about here. It is garbage because it isn't the same or better than my car. No fucking shit. It isn't meant to be. But it gets me where I am going for 60 bucks a month.
Public transportation in Portland is great. The homeless problem is a problem if you are uncomfortable around homeless people. But I just keep on walking and loving Portland..
Funny how those people want to say the same things you do.
This is fucked in every which way.
If you want fewer homeless provide affordable housing at public expense.
If you don't have the spine for that stop making unenforceable laws which will drag developments into the courts and delay them further.
When I worked in Manhattan and did not want to pay Manhattan rents, I lived in Jersey City or Brooklyn. America is a huge country. If you can't afford to live in an expensive city, you should move.
Or as an alternative, live somewhere where you can afford living. Downtown Portland is expensive and that's ok.