Portland's Houseless Thread

[maccoinnich]

Is Terminal 1 safe for homeless shelter? Depends, says DEQ



Oregon environmental regulators have offered words of warning to Portland's plan to convert a warehouse into a temporary homeless shelter.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality now says the city's property is safe -- so long as a layer of asphalt serves as a protective cap between people and contaminated dirt.

But if development plans disturb that cap? Different story.

"However, direct exposure to soil presents a higher risk than we previously determined," Nina DeConcini, DEQ's northwest administrator, wrote to members of the City Council on Thursday morning. "DEQ recommends additional review of the data should any redevelopment of the property occur to ensure that changes to existing site conditions remain protective."

...continues at the Oregonian.

[WestCoast]

Originally Posted by bvpcvm

WestCoast, I'd be curious to know your thought process behind this. What steps get you from "poor" to "lazy"?

so, again, in simple terms:

1) this isn't a good use of port land. I think most people agree that our remaining industrial land should support industrial causes. Not sure anyone with any sense disagrees on that. Jobs with good wages are better than subsidized housing that costs $10,000/month in just rent....


2) To the social issue: when you give stuff away, it removes the incentive to work for something.

I realize this board is full of utopian dreamers (and I respect that on an architectural and development level).


The simple fact is that a significant portion of the homeless population does it by choice.

It's easy, you put out a box and people give you cash, your drugs are legal, or easily accessible, you get food stamps, or get free food at shelters and a free bed if it's too hot or cold.

It's not glamorous, but, in general, it's totally free.

The 'real' homeless and needy are marginalized by these lazy people. Those that decide living outside of social norms gives them some right to make a mess wherever they want... pitch a tent wherever they wish.... It's disgusting.

Does anyone think that if we forced these people to clean up, move out and limited their handouts, that they would keep hanging out here? No, and if every city took some hard line on it, we'd see these people figure it out and decide to take responsibility for themselves.

Those addicted to drugs, or with mental problems, need the full compassion of a city and society. But, that doesn't mean opening huge warehouses for people to stay for a night.

That kicks the can down the road. Just like letting them sleep wherever, do drugs wherever, beg on the streets wherever.....

Society is failing those less fortunate, no doubt... but not in the way most of you think.

Giving them more and more and more and more free stuff, more and more leniency, doesn't address the problem. Just makes one side happy and the other mad. And no progress is made to help our fellow members of society get it together and make a life for themselves.

[MarkDaMan]

Designs for homeless 'sleeping pods' on display at City Hall
oregonlive.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...leeping.html#0

In an effort to ease Portland's homeless crisis, the City of Portland sponsored 14 teams of local designers to create tiny "sleeping pods" to house homeless people this winter.

...(continues/slide show)

All designed viewable in above link.

[llamaorama]

To be crystal clear here, I'm not complaining about funding parks. I'm complaining about misplaced priorities for additional funding created by Fritz through higher fees that will drive up the cost of development.

Yeah, agreed.

I think the problem is the proverbial cart is being placed in front of the horse. They want the money first, then they'll decide what to spend it on later. Even as a liberal progressive I see this approach as being fiscally irresponsible.

500 million dollars for parks is also ridiculous, and I have no idea how that much money could even be spent. A big centerpiece park might cost 30 million, a big facility like an indoor sports and aquatics center might cost 20 million. Both things are crown jewel items that most cities only have a few of, and build after years of planning.

Ideally advocates for parks, homeless services, etc, should have their own carefully constructed long term plans and wishlists and then the city has something to go off of when deciding how much revenue they need to raise to spend on which of those projects. That process of deciding what is worthy and when to pursue something helps everyone in coming up with the best ideas.

If they go the other direction, where the city is offering up a bunch of money that must be spent immediately, I fear a lot of it will get wasted because it will go to things that were rushed or whose only merits were being shovel-ready at the time(incidentally, this is how Robert Moses took over NYC). Careful plans could be disrupted when all of a sudden there is a massive change. And then everyone is left with disjointed public services and giant white elephant civic assets that are hard for future generations to maintain.

[mhays]

I wish park building was cheap. In my city, one Portland-sized block of park on the highrise fringe would cost $50,000,000 just for the land and go up from there. It's amazing what $500,000,000 doesn't buy.

[maccoinnich]

Mayor's office, Right 2 Dream Too agree on new location



Mayor Ted Wheeler brokered a last-minute deal with Right 2 Dream Too residents Thursday, finding a new location for the homeless community.

The residents of Right 2 Dream Too will relocate to a triangle-shaped piece of Portland Bureau of Transportation land. The paved parking lot is a right-of-way between the Moda Center and the Willamette River.

Right 2 Dream Too is allowed to stay there for two years while city officials keep working with organizers to find a more permanent location.

"Solutions around locating Right 2 Dream Too have eluded the city for years, and it was unclear if this time would be any different," Wheeler said in a statement. "I want to thank the residents and representatives of R2DToo, Commissioners Fritz and Saltzman, and our respective staffs for sticking with it. Their dedication to collaboration and problem solving made all the difference."

...continues at the Oregonian.

[NOPO]

We need housing first. It works. Finland has tried it to wide success. They’ve basically eliminated homelessness. Housing should be offered with services, but refusing anything beyond maintenance of housing should not be a barrier for having a home. Mental illness and addiction should not be a barrier to being housed. Housing first has been shown to be cheaper than the triage we currently implement.

Further, I want to address the idea that we need more police in Portland. There’s direct evidence of white supremacy, fascism, racism, and homophobia in the force. These are people who directly interact with our most vulnerable neighbors. We need more of the Portland Street Response, social workers, and mental health workers. Not more cops; they should be put under heavy investigation to clean up shop.

[downtownpdx]

Portland area projected to get $320 million from homeless tax revenue -- $85 million more than the previous forecast


(continues - subscription required)https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2023...206%3A33%20p.m.


The tri-county area housed more than 3,310 people in the 2023 fiscal year thanks to the homeless services tax, almost double the number of people housed in the program’s first year.

By Nicole Hayden | The Oregonian/OregonLive

The Metro Supportive Housing Services tax, which bolsters the Portland area’s homeless services, could see an $85 million in unexpected funds next year, according to the latest projections.

The 10-year tax, funded by high-income earners and big businesses in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, was approved by voters in May 2020. Counties began receiving the initial money from the tax in July 2021.