In Sight and In Mind: Homelessness and NIMBYism

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     Many people have struggled these past years because of different reasons, while other felt the exact opposite. Many wealthy residents in Portland, Oregon are able to enjoy their view and have since been enjoying their view, very quickly started to hate it. Homelessness has spread into areas because of the widening wealth gap. These owners were interviewed and quoted that there was, "obstruction of their 'million-dollar views,'" (Griffith 2023). While these owners get to enjoy their time in their luxurious homes, there are other who lack necessities like bathrooms, faucets, and many others (Griffith 2023).

Factors
    With the rise of pricing on houses that have pushed out people who can't afford homes, people who now can't afford rent, they get pushed to the streets and get gawked at by people who don't want them there. One of the bigger problems is that there is a negative stereotype about homeless people about how they are addicts, suffer mental health issues, and other reasons for why they don't live in houses. Homelessness in the area has increased by 45% since the pandemic, Multnomah County has around 4.000 homeless people and only 1,400 emergency shelter beds, and rental rates in Portland has increased by 40% in the last year (Griffith 2023).

How to Change
    To help this homeless crisis, we need to try to understand the people who are hurt by it the most. People care about their real estate that much to try and push these people even farther away from any help they could receive into a place where they might not be able to get help anymore.


References:

Griffith, C. (2023, June 8) For nimbys all that matters is keeping homelessness out of sight. Invisible         People. https://invisiblepeople.tv/for-nimbys-all-that-matters-is-keeping-homelessness-out-of-sight/#:~:text=Never%20mind%20that%20homelessness%20in,40%25%20in%20the%20past%20year.



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