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Portland City Council voted Thursday to approve a plan to ban unsheltered homelessness and create mass outdoor homeless encampments across the city. The package of five resolutions, introduced by Mayor Ted Wheeler and City Commissioner Dan Ryan two weeks ago, outlines a number of aspirational and unfunded plans to address homelessness and housing needs. The initial proposal aimed to create up to three “designated camping sites” with space to hold up to 500 people in.
On Wednesday afternoon at Laurelhurst Park, two women shared cigarettes and paintbrushes as they spread globs of acrylic paint over stretched canvas frames. Mama Zeigh, a woman in her mid 60s with a grey-flecked mohawk, worked on an octopus painting, while Alma Barrett, a younger woman with a small white dog, painted a vibrant sky. “This is how we find calm,” said Zeigh, who asked to be identified by her nickname. “We need something to.
A group of tenants living in city-established affordable housing in Portland's Overlook neighborhood declared victory Friday for successfully stalling major proposed rent hikes at their apartment complex, the Prescott. "We as tenants were able to stand up against this and come to a really good resolution," said tenant Kelsey Schreiner, who was notified in August that her rent would raise 50 percent in November. "People think that's so far-fetched. But, one thing I've learned in.
Mayor Ted Wheeler's office has been discussing a strategy to ban homeless camping from areas of downtown Portland—and to move those campers into a "high-population outdoor camping zone." The plan, which has been largely discussed in closed-door conversations with city staff, has drawn alarm from homeless advocates and politicians alike. "I believe that the creation of these zones would quickly lead to extremely detrimental outcomes for people experiencing houselessness," wrote City Commissioner Dan Ryan to.