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/index.ssf/2016/12/designs_for_homeless_sleeping.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/2023/08/...%20Aug.%2029%2C%202023%2C%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.

[downtownpdx]

Mayor announces Portland Street Response expansion to answer more calls, provide shuttle service

PSR crews will now be able to shuttle clients to shelters and other service centers, and can respond alongside police and fire if the situation calls for it.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson announced an expansion to Portland Street Response on Thursday, giving PSR crews the ability to respond to calls in more places, "co-respond" to certain calls alongside police or fire, and to shuttle people in crisis to shelters or other service centers.

The program launched in 2021 as an alternative response option for people who are experiencing behavioral health or drug-related crises, dispatching mental health professionals and peer support specialists to emergency calls that would previously have been handled by police, fire or an ambulance crew.

The idea is to provide people in crisis with a tailored response that's more likely to lead to positive outcomes, and to free up police and fire resources for more serious calls. Dispatchers won't send in PSR if the call involves someone who is visibly armed, violent, suicidal, blocking traffic or trespassing somewhere indoors.

Under Wilson's new policy, detailed in a news release, PSR crews will be empowered to respond to calls from indoor "unlocked public spaces" such as government building lobbies, restaurants and grocery stores, though only during regular business hours. They still won't be able to respond to private residences or places like apartment lobbies and public transit.

PSR will also be able to "co-respond" to calls that would previously have been handled exclusively by police or fire crews. Depending on the circumstances, dispatchers can either call in PSR immediately along with the other first responders or send them if requested by a first responder already at the scene.

Finally, PSR crews will be allowed to provide shuttle services for clients who need to get to a shelter site, food pantry, sobering center or other service location. Crews will also be able arrange taxi rides or provide bus passes if that's what the client would prefer.

continues: https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/h...283-92cdcbe2-c289-4432-af72-857c25350e42

[downtownpdx]

Portland mayor set an ‘unrealistic goal’ for shelter beds – and is poised to hit it. Will it end unsheltered homelessness?

https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025...ill-it-end-unsheltered-homelessness.html

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson is on the cusp of achieving one of his primary campaign promises: Setting up 1,500 new shelter beds by Dec. 1.

As of Sunday, Portland has 890 city-funded shelter beds – most of them overnight-only – that did not exist before Wilson took office. Another 200-bed overnight-only shelter is set to open in eight days. And locations and supplies have been secured for more than 500 additional “flex beds” that can be made available within 24 hours, according to city officials.

“We set an unrealistic goal and then we worked relentlessly to make sure that we were going to achieve it,” Wilson told The Oregonian/OregonLive in an interview Wednesday, crediting his staff for their sustained effort to hit the ambitious target.

Creating upwards of 1,000 new shelter beds and having 500 more on standby in less than a year will be a major political victory for Wilson, one many political watchers doubted he’d achieve.

Dan Lavey, a partner at Gallatin Public Affairs and founder of People for Portland, which pushed for a 2022 ballot measure that would have directed more funding to emergency shelters and required cities to enforce camping bans, said the mayor’s success at challenging the status quo by setting up so many new shelter beds so fast is “remarkable.”

“I didn’t expect him to be able to accomplish it and I think it’s great that he has,” Lavey said. “Portland and Multnomah County could use something where you could point to an elected official actually accomplishing a goal they set out for themselves.”

(continues)