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

[skeddy]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Cop out argument. Any city could easily fence off a vacant lot, throw a few portable toilets in there and viola. Adequate accommodations are now established. It would allow govt to move forward.

Besides, dozens of states, cities, regional governments and private entities ignore court orders all the time.

If there was any will in Portland, homeless would be gone or greatly reduced.

Ill tell you one thing, the multimillion dollar "rich people" tax the metro area implemented this year will NOT materially alter-homeless population. If anything, it will increase #'s.

the city would be accused of putting people in cages, that's a horrible idea. Enjoy other people's freedom even it impinges on your own, this is 2021.

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by skeddy

the city would be accused of putting people in cages, that's a horrible idea. Enjoy other people's freedom even it impinges on your own, this is 2021.

Who cares?? There will always be whiners. We have to start ignoring them.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Cop out argument. Any city could easily fence off a vacant lot, throw a few portable toilets in there and viola. Adequate accommodations are now established. It would allow govt to move forward.

Besides, dozens of states, cities, regional governments and private entities ignore court orders all the time.

If there was any will in Portland, homeless would be gone or greatly reduced.

Ill tell you one thing, the multimillion dollar "rich people" tax the metro area implemented this year will NOT materially alter-homeless population. If anything, it will increase #'s.

We are in 100% agreement. Portland could solve it's homeless crisis in a matter of moths if it has the will and consistency of purpose. The 9th Circuit actually provided the roadmap. All I was doing was explaining WHY the police can't simply roust people for sleeping in public parks anymore. That is simply cruel and inhuman if there literally aren't alternatives. All the city has to do is make the alternatives. They don't even have to be 4-star alternatives. They can simply be Haiti Post earthquake emergency housing type alternatives or Sudanese UN refugee housing and they would better than the cesspools that we see along side our highways.

The cause of this is the liberal politics of this city being unable to get a damn thing done about it. And I say that as a liberal.

[fastball92]

[quote=texasdiver;

The cause of this is the liberal politics of this city being unable to get a damn thing done about it. And I say that as a liberal.

[/QUOTE]

This is exactly the problem. The liberal mindset and policies DO NOT WORK, it only enables. We lived in PDX for 10 years but left 4 years ago. While we miss A LOT that Oregon and the NW has to offer, we do not miss the liberal agenda and politics. Those policies have ruined the entire West Coast which is IMO the best area to live in the country. With that said, we still considered moving back and were making arraignments but COVID squashed those plans. However, when we went back last Feb to visit, Portland was DISGUSTING and we were shocked to see how bad it really had become. Absolutely embarrassing to see a thriving area look and smell that way but nothing will change until you change the leadership. Kate Brown and Ted Wheeler have failed the people miserably and no one seems to care around election time. Its the same story in every liberal city. You get what you vote for.

[EasyBeezy]

Originally Posted by fastball92

This is exactly the problem. The liberal mindset and policies DO NOT WORK, it only enables. We lived in PDX for 10 years but left 4 years ago. While we miss A LOT that Oregon and the NW has to offer, we do not miss the liberal agenda and politics. Those policies have ruined the entire West Coast which is IMO the best area to live in the country. With that said, we still considered moving back and were making arraignments but COVID squashed those plans. However, when we went back last Feb to visit, Portland was DISGUSTING and we were shocked to see how bad it really had become. Absolutely embarrassing to see a thriving area look and smell that way but nothing will change until you change the leadership. Kate Brown and Ted Wheeler have failed the people miserably and no one seems to care around election time. Its the same story in every liberal city. You get what you vote for.

Well, to be fair, unless you were walking directly through a homeless camp, I doubt you smelled anything, especially in February. We have gods cleaning service constantly washing the streets at this time of year.

That said, the homelessness is certainly out of control. Although liberal politics may be part of the problem, in terms of not rousting them in a timely manner from their camping spots, their "decision" to be urban campers is their own. Despite what people say, there is no free money for homeless from the local govt. All cities are liberal, even in Texas. But all cities are not dealing with a homeless epidemic like the West Coast is. My feeling is that the problem is more cultural than political.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

... Portland could solve it's homeless crisis in a matter of moths if it has the will and consistency of purpose. The 9th Circuit actually provided the roadmap. All I was doing was explaining WHY the police can't simply roust people for sleeping in public parks anymore. That is simply cruel and inhuman if there literally aren't alternatives. All the city has to do is make the alternatives. They don't even have to be 4-star alternatives. ....

After yrs of wrangling over the issue of opening a NEVER USED jail for a homeless center, It took private investors to make it happen. (Political in-fighting delayed many proposals, but private parties saw the Brand New jail going into disrepair, so rescued it for a purpose to house homeless). No, it is not perfect, but there are so many options (Empty buildings).

https://www.opb.org/article/2020/10/...eless-shelter/

Several US cities have been pretty successful with programs of getting those homeless who want to integrate, back into employment and homes, and those who need mental care / assistance into quality lifestyles where they can be safe.
No need to dispute / re-invent the wheel. Learn, implement, move on (as a community and city)
https://www.coalitionforthehomeless....208%20vouchers.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/ho...227740854.html
https://www.npr.org/2015/12/10/45910...cent-heres-how
https://www.manhattan-institute.org/...-effectiveness
https://www.king5.com/article/news/l.../281-197477103

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

After yrs of wrangling over the issue of opening a NEVER USED jail for a homeless center, It took private investors to make it happen. (Political in-fighting delayed many proposals, but private parties saw the Brand New jail going into disrepair, so rescued it for a purpose to house homeless). No, it is not perfect, but there are so many options (Empty buildings).

https://www.opb.org/article/2020/10/...eless-shelter/

Several US cities have been pretty successful with programs of getting those homeless who want to integrate, back into employment and homes, and those who need mental care / assistance into quality lifestyles where they can be safe.
No need to dispute / re-invent the wheel. Learn, implement, move on (as a community and city)
https://www.coalitionforthehomeless....208%20vouchers.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/ho...227740854.html
https://www.npr.org/2015/12/10/45910...cent-heres-how
https://www.manhattan-institute.org/...-effectiveness
https://www.king5.com/article/news/l.../281-197477103

The facility in San Antonio that was referenced in your KING5 link has gotten a lot of press. It provides help for the mentally ill and addicted, job counseling and so on. Even a kennel for dogs, because for many homeless, their dog is their only friend.

They can't help those who don't want it – they camp outside but still get healthy food and medical care and other necessary things. The ones who want help live in more conventional housing during their rehabilitation.

There were a lot of problems and there still are. How could there not be when you are dealing with thousands of addicts and mentally ill. They knew there would be.

People from Portland have visited:

"Kafoury doubts that such a plaza would work in Portland. "I don't think our ethos would allow it," she says."

https://www.wweek.com/news/2016/06/2...eless-shelter/

Video when it opened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WGa...ilbertGonzales

[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.

If you want to fix the homeless problem, that is one way to do it. Town was clean, had no campers.

At its core the problem is housing costs. In cheap places like rural Arkansas, there are rural slums where people that are near-homeless can live for very little money. On the west coast urban areas there are no such options.

Many of the things you guys are complaining about are beyond the powers of city councilors to fix overnight.

[illumined]

Originally Posted by redguard57

Many of the things you guys are complaining about are beyond the powers of city councilors to fix overnight.

This has been building up exponentially over the last 20 years. They've had all that time to fix it, instead it keeps getting worse. The reality is they just don't care.

[ben young]

Liberalism is a urban death sentence...eg. Portland