Portland's Bold Plan to Tackle Homelessness: Controversy and What Lies Ahead"

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                        Greater Portland Jan 31 2023




Portland, Oregon's city council has recently approved a contentious homelessness mitigation plan aimed at addressing the city's growing homelessness crisis. There are two sides of perception to this situation. There are some supporters that are happy with and praise this decision while there are also critics that are not sure of the effectiveness and what the motivations behind it are. The city's population has experienced an increase in homelessness. With over 5,200 people being homeless with about over 3,000 unsheltered individuals. With the rent still going on an up rise and encampments the situation seems to have gotten worse.

This new plan that was introduced by Mayor Ted Wheeler includes the construction of 20,000 affordable housing units by the year of 2033 and providing working opportunities for those that are unhoused. Also banning unsanctioned encampments while also creating six city sanctioned camping sites. The creation of a diversion program for low level offenses. There will also be budget priorities for homelessness mitigation programs. The programs themselves are made to connect those with necessary services to move off of the streets. However, all of the specifics are still currently being worked out. 

One of the most disagreed resolutions within the plan is the ban of public camping. Also coming with this would be the newly sanctioned sites. This probably garnering the idea of supervision instead of comfort that might have been there before. People are arguing that these kind of bans have been ineffective before and can even be deemed unconstitutional. There are also concerns about the safety of the individuals on the sanctioned sites and about the conditions of them. It is also said that some think that this could be the result of a rushed decision during an election season, suggesting that there could maybe be political backing or motivation behind this decision. 

Even behind the controversy, this plan has been moved forward. The city council has approved the funding that falls about $27 million to help support it. Oregon's governor elect has mentioned the commitment to continuing production of housing throughout the rest of the state. The shaping of the plan is coming from the feedback and discussion from the community. There are still groups advocating and voicing what they are concerned about while also offering ideas of other solutions. There is still a lot to talk about and it is hard to tell if this plan will end up helping the homelessness crisis or make the situation worse and add to it. More information can be found below.

                           

By Juliette Martinez

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