Well, there goes the Pearl District (Portland, Burns: city hall, neighborhood, camping)

[Copsgirl73]

Right 2 Dream Too, city reach agreement to move homeless camp | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portland News, Sports, Traffic Weather and Breaking News - Portland, Oregon

What is the city of Portland doing? Quit shuffling these folks around. Enough is enough! Dont move them to the Pearl! Dont give them an excuse to destroy another neighborhood and bring down property values in such a neat area.
Downtown Portland is just getting gross. We were driving downtown between Schrunk (sp?) plaza and city hall area where all the other campers are and its terrible. What used to be a pretty, walkable and enjoyable area about 10 hears ago is now littered with tents, sleeping bags, garbage (the GARBAGE!), cardboard signs, food/cans/bottles, more garbage and other *waste* products.

Portland needs to shed its repuatation of being the homeless capital because its becoming one giant dumping ground downtown. Such a shame

[urbanlife78]

It will be under the Lovejoy onramp, not really something I would consider as moving to the Pearl. Heck, I bet most people in the Pearl couldn't even figure out how to get under the Lovejoy onramp. This is more of an out of sight, out of mind kind of deal than anything else.

[oldtintype]

No it isn't. There's a walkway from underneath the ramp right on to Lovejoy. I do feel bad for the senior (median income) building as they're scared--there's only about 20 feet of walkway between their building and the camp. And unless people exit towards the train station they'll be going past their doorway everyday. They're scared because they're vulnerable. While I don't think the right to dream people are aggressive, it's the friends and visitors that can cause the drama.

I think the city put them there because they'll be hidden from view compared to Burnside but its a stupid place. There was no notification to residents so the city will likely have a big fight on their hands with this location too. It makes more sense for them to exit onto lovejoy than go towards the train station so there will be a huge influx of people in that portion of the pearl and no matter what your political views of that are, it's
going to cause a scene.

[scottinpdx]

I have always though the Right 2 Dream too people keep there area alot cleaner then the other *camps* in the city.

[turquoise1]

At some point, the city is going to have to take a stand on its definition of legal camping. Right now, they are straddling both sides of the fence.

[Minervah]

The Right2dreamToo people are peaceful. They have a history of policing their community. It's the interlopers, such as the ones who have forced Michael Withey, of Occupy Portland first of the City Hall camp out and then Chapman Square, to call it quits in Terry Shrunk park after two years who are the dangerous ones. I was not a fan of Withey's but I certainly did not want to see either him or his followers beaten and harassed. He felt he was doing something for the real homeless people of Portland. Unfortunately, like many others, he couldn't see the dividing line between those who were truly homeless and those who were simply there for the ride until the latter showed their true colors. By then it was too late.

It's as I and others have been saying all along. Portland's homeless are not the entire issue. It's those dangerous criminals mostly from out of town who have been camping out here and causing the trouble and who have been hiding behind the homeless like the cowards they truly are. And they have had plenty of support especially from those who do not live in Portland and do not know the real story.

In the end, it's going to be the homeless people who are in the position who may want help and would make good use of it who are going to be the ones who won't get it because of all this.

[Nell Plotts]

That building also has a lot of disabled residents.

I don't like it either. How about under I-405?

[Copsgirl73]

I agree with Turquoise. They cant straddle the fence anymore just to shut them up. There will always be more coming and they will want more. The more the city gives them, the more they will demand and thus feel entitled to. Then the city will have a real war to wage when it gets so bad but now you cant start taking land/rights/areas to protest away. Its a big mess. And I dont think all of them are out to harm others, but on the flip side there are some pretty aggressive street folks down there (Outdoor Store anyone?) and I think letting them live in a decent neighborhood close to residences is a good idea.

[Minervah]

I think the mayor is trying to take a stand on getting rid of the bad guys but it can't be done overnight. He inherited the problem from too many of his predecessors who allowed anyone and everyone to just camp out wherever they saw fit and harass anyone and everyone they chose.

Working downtown became a gauntlet in some areas. There were places I stopped going because I got tired of being harassed and hassled. It wasn't only for money either. And it was discouraging because I knew that City Hall turning a blind eye. Mayor Hales, I believe, is trying to take a stand. At least he is the first I have heard who actually got out of his office and walked the streets observing for himself as to what was happening.

As long as I see he is trying to do something about the situation, I am encouraged. But he has to get much tougher on the criminal element.

[Copsgirl73]

Originally Posted by Minervah

I think the mayor is trying to take a stand on getting rid of the bad guys but it can't be done overnight. He inherited the problem from too many of his predecessors who allowed anyone and everyone to just camp out wherever they saw fit and harass anyone and everyone they chose.

Working downtown became a gauntlet in some areas. There were places I stopped going because I got tired of being harassed and hassled. It wasn't only for money either. And it was discouraging because I knew that City Hall turning a blind eye. Mayor Hales, I believe, is trying to take a stand. At least he is the first I have heard who actually got out of his office and walked the streets observing for himself as to what was happening.

As long as I see he is trying to do something about the situation, I am encouraged. But he has to get much tougher on the criminal element.

Yeah, the whole element of safety has changed when and where I go downtown now which is too bad because those areas used to be few and far between years ago.