I live in NE portland, and I've noticed an uptick in camps in the last few months. They are just doing what they have done since my parents were children. They push them from downtown out to Gresham, and they slowly work their way back, and the process starts over again.
They have got to do something Briggs, I live in Gresham. Just two days ago a pack of dogs from a homeless camp attacked a woman and nearly killed her it has gone to far. Wake up. Something must be done. These homeless people are destroying communities and it MUST STOP.
I believe that tragic event happened in North Portland, near Colombia. Gresham has it's own set of problems. On top of that, the Multnomah county animal shelter has been having troubles. the people who job it is to control things like packs of dogs aren't doing it so well apparently.
You voted in the people who highly encouraged all of your problems. There is a very simple solution vote out the democrat leftest extremest and vote in republican conservative politicians who will put a stop to all of your problems. As long as you keep having democrat leftest extremest your problems will never go away.
I worked (6 months) for a street-cleaning company downtown Portland. My title was "barrel-pusher". I changed it to "receptacle-pilot". Didn't make my job more enjoyable. 🤖 I worked the streets you started your video at. Chinatown. I appreciate your channel and your concern for Portland-City. But... I heard it best by a mid-management Portland city-worker / homeless division, working for 15+ years trying to address this problem. He said, "We are just loving them too much". Yeah, too much love. I'm a retired elementary school teacher. Kids like rules and structure. Portland is loving this problem - too much. $$$.
I live in Vancouver,Washington, since the pandemic we have seen a huge influx of homeless people coming from Portland. Our crime rate has risen dramatically. Don’t get me wrong, we had our share of homeless camps before the pandemic but now it’s gotten insane. I used to leave my door unlocked. Now, I lock the door during the daytime because you never know what might happen. I won’t go for walks, too many sketchy people. Portland needs to handle their homeless situation.
@sactopyrshep come stay with me in downtown Portland for a week! You'll change your tune. I'm sick of people demanding money, use of my cell phone, Narcam, which I stopped carrying. Threw it in the garbage. Only a moron would risk their life for these entitled mofos! Some days you cannot walk on the sidewalks because the tweaker are passed out, or dead. After 4 years here, I'm so ready to go...coastal area, I pray, but the sooner, the better. Yall can keep this crap. I've been trying to find other housing for 3 1/2 of the four years I've lived here!
The homeless problem is like a game of whack-a-mole. Crack down on the homeless in one area and the problem just moves to a neighboring area. Sounds like it's now Vancouver's turn to deal with it. Good luck, there are no good and easy solutions.
Summer before last I got stuck by a needle at the Amtrak Station. I walked through that part of downtown and was truly horrified by the huge swath of encampment. Its so encouraging to see the improvement in the city I loved so much and raised my kids in.
Portland has openly said they haven’t enforced the new law yet. Was supposed to be July 1st but they of course found an excuse (heat wave) and here we are four weeks later. It will happen, though. Tide is turning. For example, a council member running for mayor got the head of Multnomah County to agree to at least pause her insane policy of purchasing tens of thousands of tents and tarps. They’re still burning through their inventory but the overwhelming contempt for that policy, which Multnomah County began in secret, and which only came out during discovery for a lawsuit, means its days are numbered.
I wish, I could believe it. My wife and I have traveled all over. Portland is the only place other than downtown Seattle she is outright scared. I grew up middle and high school in Portland loved it. It made me sad she is scared of my area of southeast Portland. I can understand why. I’d live in the Portland of my childhood. I would not in the Portland of today.
The Pacific Northwest has homeless issues that will not be easily solved. I think that there are some temporary solutions such as allowing these campers and/or tents in special unused government land that can accomodate "Honey Buckets" and industrial garbage bins at least until tiny homes or other options can be offered. Both the homeless and the residents in the Pacific Northwest have "legit gripes" about the situation. Many of the homeless have opted to live in tents and trailers as opposed to pay the current expensive rents or mortgages especially on the West Coast. The residents near the homeless encampments have tolerated extensive litter, increased crime, as well as other issues such as drug use, etc.The Federal Government had a housing program called Section Eight that used to give vouchers to low income individuals. This voucher authorized the individual to pay only 30% of their income for rent/housing. When the waiting list for Section Eight became four years (or more) long, this stopped being an option for many people. We, as a nation, have not given much thought to the poor - or disenfranchised - since the 1960's, and this population continues to climb. The failure of government to address these issues has also allowed the increase of the homeless population. Because the issue is so vast, few private individuals have the capacity to deal with the problem. Thus, the need for an extensive intervention by the government.
Having the government take care of the problem(s) can go either way, as we see with most things. Our local homeless camp was, until about a year ago, run by a local nonprofit organization. They handed it over to the local government. What was a well organized encampment now resembles a giant garbage dump. In theory, the local government has far more resources, but the nonprofit had the will. Apparently nobody in the local government does.
Local government may have a lot of resources, but a lot of those resources are spoken for. Homelessness is, at the root, due to government withdrawing completely from any kind of care.
@@darter9000 A lot of those people need help, as in, shelter in supervised settings. It is tragic to leave someone outside, in a cold damp tent filled with bags of their own poop. Multnomah County Poor Farm was a lot better than that.
@@sc100ott therein lies a problem… federal government is hellbent on ‘free market’ solutions. State governments are playing whack-a-mole. And neighboring governments are carrying out activities or stunts that pushes the problem on people they themselves don’t represent. ‘We the People’ live in a system designed to limit policies in small patchworks with little to no incentive to prevent pushing around the problem.
Portland looks better then what they have in Los Angeles for homeless encampments. I think like you said Briggs it's a start but will take time to work.
@@simplechronology2605 that's because the California governor took his cue from Portland and the Supreme Court and made it illegal to be homeless or to live in your vehicle. Hopefully it will be more humane, as Portland appears to be at this point, but time will tell. But yes, election year.
I've lived in the Portland area for 24 yrs (at first downtown on the waterfront and now out in Hillsboro). When I lived downtown there were always homeless people but it was no big deal and they weren't scary...I felt safe walking pretty much anywhere downtown even late at night and often did (and I lived by the train station between the Broadway and Steel bridges). But for the last 5-10 years it truly got bad. So much filth and it looked like the movie set of a post-apocalyptic movie. Just driving into the city from the western suburbs was nightmarish...and to be honest there were many homeless people out in the suburbs too, but so much less than in the city. At first you saw them in the burbs in cars and old camper vans and broken down RVs mostly, but for the last 2 or 3 yrs there were tent cities with massive filth. It's not that I didn't feel sorry for them but it just wasn't sanitary or safe and it had to change. At last it seems like major strides are being made. It hadn't been in the city for almost a year when I went in a month or so ago (July 2024) and I was STUNNED at the difference. Yes, there is more to be done but it's a truly remarkable change and I'm hoping they've turned a corner. Meanwhile, out in the suburbs (Beaverton & Hillsboro) I am also thrilled at the changes. For about a year there has been a truly remarkable improvement. I know they have opened up a number of official campgrounds as well as places with more built-out small homes and a lot more is under development. It's clearly heading in the right direction. I drive a school bus so I see a lot more of the terrain here than many people do and I'm impressed. I also drive kids who are homeless that we accommodate by driving them from their current living arrangements to the schools they were in either before becoming homeless to give them some sense of continuity and stability. The whole homeless situation is truly a tragedy and I blame most of it on the out of control cost of living here (without salaries even coming close to keeping up). I am absolutely shocked at how rents and home ownership has skyrocketed in the time I've lived here. We bought our home in 2004 and thank God we did. Our home is over tripled in value (and we have a relatively modest home), but our mortgage is locked in at a low rate, so we're fine... rents however have soared in the meantime and I can't imagine how most families can afford them (except for the lucky people who work in the tech industry or are doctors/lawyers/engineers, etc. I saw one apartment building with a banner bragging that they had studio apartments for a mere $1800/mo! I was shocked considering you used to be able to get a lovely 2 bedroom apartment out here for about $800. Wages have not gone up anywhere near that much. It's insane.
My son moved to Portland a couple months ago and I helped drive him there. I didn't see any tents. We both were taken aback by the amount of graffiti though. And apparently it doesn't have any good Mexican food restaurants according to my son.
I was homeless for 15 years, why? I couldnt afford rent on my wages so no one would rent to me even tho i have never been evicted for nonpayment of rent AND WORKED 6 days a week.. Portland and the surrounding counties are way above what min. or just above min. wage can afford. Im not eligible for housing and am on ssi, which leaves me one check away from homeless again should my landlord pass away. SAD.
@tonylasher4302 what do you consider homeless? I consider being homeless means you don't have your own place I consider renting a room in someone's house as being homeless. I only rented a room in Dec. Jan. And February when it was too cold to sleep in my canopied truck.. I've decided to write a book so that's where you will find "the rest of the story" to quote Paul Harvey. The name of my book is Dark Cloud. I just started writing it two months ago, but now that blackberries are done I'll have more time. so it may be a while. my story starts out with where the name comes from and I promise it's not as gloomy as it sounds; after all there is usually a rainbow after stormy weather. I started my journey in 1980 when women's lib was being born in England and only wispers were spoken here. A time where single mothers were looked down upon, and businesses could say they didn't hire women and if they did we got 2.65 an hour where a man would get 25.00 an hour and we were still getting used to the fiat dollar, husband's would beat their wives and law enforcement looked the other way. But I digress, I'll save the rambling for my book, always remember Graditude not attitude.
I live outside of Kyoto, Japan...and while we certainly have our occasional homeless stragglers, it never really occurred until watching this video how almost nonexistent our homeless are --- "nonexistent" not in that they do not exist (they do), but in that our homeless behave/situate differently. For example, I believe due to stricter laws and social etiquette a dn considerations between people and their communities, plus a great sense of pride (and shame), the reason our homeless are quite different from those in America is multi-fold: 1) Social pressures/laws cause stragglers/homeless to keep to places that do not disrupt society as much, like places the average passer cannot readily see out in the open. They are in a sense self-obscured, and part of it is, just because you are homeless, does not mean you should act like a barbarian, and you still have Japanese pride. 2) (Religio-spiritual) Culture: This is a little more subtle but ends up influencing our behaviors regardless. Japanese people, including even the atheist and Christians, practice/live by Shinto...on a sociological and civil level. Purity, bathing, cleanliness, orderliness, and the way a physical space is managed are all important parts of local community, so no garbage, no causing others nuisance, and no uncleanness are also vital. Many tourists here sometimes do not understand, though most try and are respectful. We have some non-Japanese here too, so I suppose it might look a way for a Japanese vagrant/homeless person to allow themselves to disgrace their own society more than foreigners that try to respect it. 3) Family: In mega metros and places like Tokyo, this seems to apply less, but most of Japanese society revolves around a sense of responsibility to one's house (clan or family), and unlike in Tokyo culture and other parts of the world where families split off at 18 or 21, people, especially nowadays again with inflation and expensive living in cities, generally stay with or around family longer. Though not forever. If there is a problem, we have our grandparents or relatives to help a little, especially back in the day, and especially in small towns like where we live (just outside Kyoto). There is not really any need to be on one's own if you can't afford it, but suicide due to homelessness is also unfortunately easier here to happen than other places because there is social pressure, or just shame. Outside of some more welfare places like cities, there is not really much safety net for people on hard times to fall back on (unless you made sure to create your own of course!), so it can be especially rough. The worst places to be homeless are in the urban cities where people make the most money/are near the highest paying jobs. There is no "best place", but there are better spots to find at least some help. The small village/semirural district we live in does not have very many vagrants if any at all. Mostly oder people, families, retirees, and people with money live around here. Mostly manual labor jobs and remote work now with Starlink and new technology that helps. Everyone is a handyman! Everyone has their own small or medium sized shop or service here, so I think that culture of entrepreneurship keeps people around here very, very occupied with work, especially cash jobs. It does get a little slow around here, but I think I prefer that over the big city life if it means we have less homelessness.
Give your homeless population in Tokyo access to guns & knives or just hand it to them freely on the Streets, give them needles to shoot up heroin in an open drug market, systematically hand out Meth/Fentanyl/Crack/Oxy/pills & any other harder street drug to your local homeless population?? And then just MAGICALLY watch your homeless in Japan transform into a fraction of our homeless population here in the States. Don't forget to completely ignore them, outcast them & ostracize them out of society and treat them like filthy animals. Talk down to them at every opportunity & make them feel "less than" on a daily basis. Watch Tokyo (and it's citizens) transform & turn into almost exactly like America. If you guys allowed & in some cases encouraged drug & alcohol abuse like we do here in the States? I'm almost certain that Japan would crumble in the same way we are right now. Not to mention our mental health crisis? Our mental health (or lack thereof) is also a contributing factor to our homelessness. Allow your City leaders to FLOOD your communities & inner cities with the hardest street drugs known to humanity imported from China/Mexico/South America & then see what happens to Japan. Actually, on second thought, DON'T do it, lol. I seriously wouldn't wish that on ANY country. America is an absolute mess & a cesspool of filth. Japan doesn't need that type of negative influence, to be honest. Things have gotten pretty bad over here. I hope one day our City leaders, Federal & State governments can learn from you guys. Maybe Portland should mirror what Tokyo has done in Japan? Or perhaps Kyoto for that matter? I apologize if you think I'm being sarcastic. I don't mean to come off that way. I actually & truly mean it because what we are doing now is not working. Our empire is failing, badly.
@@LuckyBaldwin777 It is sad that these illicit substances have to harm already struggling persons, and not just in America but a lot of place. Lack of regulation, enforcement, and penalty, and social pressure against drug use can lead to those misfortunes. I have heard about America's fentanyl crisis, and it's pretty bad in many areas where high volume of vagrants/homeless/poverty is found.
@Evangelionism don't blame it on the drugs. All those drug addicts have to do to get off the streets is give up the drugs. They are so full of self pity, they refuse to do that so they remain homeless. That's why Oregon has passed a law that if they refuse help, they can be jailed. Will it work? Who knows? But something different has to be done. Might as well try jailing them. At least their time in jail will dry them off the drugs.
I live in Philadelphia and it has a similar, or worse, problem with the homeless. In the city there are people who wander around everywhere, coming and going as they please with little regard for the customs nor the environment. But the worse part is that city officials and local police are too afraid to do anything if any homeless people are disturbing other citizens, distracting small businesses, or committing a crime in broad daylight. Everybody in Philadelphia are totally on there own, no backup from law enforcement whatsoever, and the homeless population, especially the bullies and thieves, know this!
I spent 3 days in Portland last week. Everyone there said homelessness was a huge problem. It’s NOTHING compared to the Bay Area- Oakland/SF. Oregon is doing something right.
The city does look better. I worry that it will just moved homeless out to other areas. My sister lives downtown and damage that has happened is unbelievable. She has been chased by mental ill homeless man at 10am, threaten by another that if she didn't give him money he would just knock her down and steal her purchase. Imagine walking to neighborhood grocery and someone is masturbating in the parking lot just a normal day occurrence. People screaming all hours, stealing your trashcans or just throwing all trash on sidewalks, people waking around completely naked, trying to light your building on fire are few things that she dealt with the last few years. People will say just move, but her condo is worth less than it was five years ago. So now she has suffer a huge financial loss or just hang in there.
🇺🇸 That was an awesome report! Thank You! ☮️ Lived in SW and worked on Burnside from 1996 to 2011. Bay Area since 2011 and I grew up in Palo Alto. Drove through PDX in ‘21 and ‘22 and was a bit heartbroken at the street scene. That strong air of despair. Progress not perfection. It seems like folks with heart are putting minds together for a solution with intelligence and dignity. Briggs… You are an awesome light with a helpful lens. A True Patriot 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I called this city home for almost 30 years. No looking back, either. My buddy lives on SE Belmont. He says the homelessness is still very prevalent. But that some things have improved. Portland has it's work cut out for it.
I live in portland and work in portland something that is not talked about enough with homelessness and car living is the fentanyl and meth use it's extreme and all over the area, I see overdoses every night in the area I work and people smoking glass pipes and foil are out in the open and don't even try to hide it.
I just took my wife to the airport this week. I-205 on east Portland used to be tent city even last year. We both noticed the tents are gone. Happy to see things being done. A long way to go.
I205 was not a problem when I first moved into the area in 2015. It became Disaster Corridor by 2019 when I left for a more rural part of another state. Very big change in just four years! I'm glad to hear reports of places like that, Pioneer Square, other parts of Portland and surrounding towns clearing up. I doubt I'll return to the area, though.
I lived there 2015-2019. Actually lived in Gresham, worked and shopped and satisfied my coffee addiction in Portland. Saw the tents increase over that time, bums sleeping on the sidewalk and in doorways increase. Moved to Montana. The only homeless here are deer and bears and Bigfoot! Just kidding, the outdoors is their home. But watching videos on Portland especially from Briggs, Nick Johnson, Invisible People and others, seeing the homeless camps problems get worse, blah, very sad! Maybe now finally things are turning. Fewer tents - but exactly where are the homeless going? Did they suddenly land jobs as software engineers, sales directors, and chief financial officers? LOL. I doubt most of them could land even min wage no-skills jobs in back rooms away from customers. What happens to them? In any case, nice to see more sidewalk than tent along some of those familiar streets.
Grants Pass filed the suit and was excoriated for it. A small town in Southern Oregon took it to SCOTUS as Portland and other Blue States and Cities cowarded. Those same cities have suddenly found their bravery after Grants Pass did the hard work. Sad.
One of the issues that Seattle ran into was that the City was proposing to build a residential care and shelter facility that had been shown to be effective locally. The Cost Benefit analysis showed that this would only be worth it if the City can compel people who they determine need the help to go there. The Homeless advocates raised a stink and sunk the project. Perhaps the Grants Pass case could make such projects a reality again… (Edit: note that Seattle was proposing to build a thing.)
Al uquerque has a large unsheltered homeless population also. What people object to are not being able to walk down the sidewalks and the amount of trash discarded on the streets. Also, these homeless have no regard for other’s rights. I think these problems exist in most cities. If they could be addressed satisfactorily the public’s animosity would lessen.
That camping ban will fail. It won’t do shit! I was literally on the east bank esplanade yesterday evening and right before those gates that you pass before omsi there’s homeless camps that popped up once again with a bunch of garbage.
@@WorldAccordingToBriggs tell that to the guy they arrested who’d rather go to jail than get into housing. Tell that to the Multnomah county sheriffs who refused to prosecute the guy and let him off with a citation. Okay!
I love Portland and live in the Bay Area so homelessness has been an issue for my entire 50 years of existence. I was just in Nashville earlier this month and they have all sorts of homeless there as well. If this isn’t a major issue in your city then it either will be or the police have found a place to push them to, reducing visibility. This is not a nationwide issue and is also becoming more common globally. We need solutions. Cops are not there to fix things. Putting them in jail for either directly being homeless or indirectly because we lack health care, mental health and drug rehab services is not only not effective in the long run it’s absurdly expensive. Too many people adding criminal consequences are the answer. As a teacher, anyone with a modicum of experience in psychology will tell you that negative consequences are pretty ineffective. At most negative consequences like threatening jail time works for only a short time and only used infrequently. Great for getting me to slow down when driving past a cop but if you live in a 24/7 heightened state that you could be arrested we have a remarkable ability to habituate to that. Most of us keep our jobs and houses and out of jail because we want to maintain the positives in our lives rather than a fear from avoiding trouble.
That isn't vanlife, that is meth-rv life. There is a big difference, a good stealth camper isn't going to be noticed, which means they are being discrete and pretty benign.
Here in L.A., they actually rent the RVs for $200/week. Coupla people put their welfare together, maybe make a couple bucks from crime, they can get off the streets for a couple weeks per month.
Nice clean up. Here in CA we are cracking down finally after the new ruling. Including on the vans parked on various streets, especially on the ones that do not run.
remember we argued about the manatee county homeless population in Florida? even tho I live here and you dont.. well. they changed the number to a more bealiveable 760 something,., they cant pull off that lie any longer with the attention i been giving the issue. now, imagine all the other counties doing the same.
As an Angeleno, it's cute to see other cities complain about homelessness. The remaining tents in your downtown areas look strikingly different from here; no obligatory pile of trash for each tent!
Man LA is bad. It use to be contained to skid row and other small pockets. I lived there in the early 2000's and recently came back to visit and its 100x worse.
Not a fix, just a shuffle. Seen it happen so many times in San Diego. The homeless are still out there, but not in their old favorite spot...for the moment.
How is the Columbia Blvd on and off ramps ? That was on my route for work for USPS and that had tent city all around - pretty elaborate setups to be fair
Went to the Billy idol concert at Waterfront park on Saturday July 27th, 2024 and there were about a dozen spread out homeless people. Still very sad. They're still around, just spread out, not bundled together as much. Saw one guy laying nearly dead in an open parking lot.
Only city I've been in during the last 25 years where I saw cigarette butts all over, sidewalks and gutters and around the corners of buildings. Until I moved to Gresham and worked in Portland in 2015, I had pretty much forgotten that cigarettes even existed!
...it wasn't so much Union Station as it was the area around the former Greyhound depot a block south. One evening when I got off a max train there I almost wretched from the smell of rotting garbage, urine, feces, barf, and other unpleasant substances. Besides tents by the old depot building The sidewalk was literally carpeted in piles of garbage strewn about on NW 6th making one have to plan each step carefully. Oh yeah and rats were a serious issue. When they started a new BRT line last year that lays over on the opposite side at 5th and Hoyt, there were times it was almost impossible to get to the bus stop as there were so many tents, and yes, more garbage strewn about sometimes literally into the waiting shelter. It was also scary at times as well as you could hear people arguing and on several occasions it sounded as if a fight or two was about to break out. Made for a really great "welcome to Portland" scene for people getting off the train to visit. Over the last year, the city, along with TriMet (the transit authority here), finally took the initiative to clean the area up. There are still a few tents here and there but they are usually gone in a day or two and there are security personnel present as well as one of those trailers with security cameras and blue flashing lights on it by a bus parking area.
Thanks for going over this plight. The STATES are the fiduciaries of the public trust and the social security insurances are supposed to be caring for the people based on the federal reserve act and the social security act and so many other acts cestui Que vi trust. Businesses can be given government grants for these types of things. We have to assemble and develop some business plans to help the people who are wards of the STATE since the STATES are squandering the public trust.😢
They aren't wards of the state, and that is part of the problem. When the federal government decided to close state hospitals, they created a much larger class of homeless because they took people who couldn't care for themselves and "set them free." Many of those with serious mental health issues also have significant substance abuse problems as well, exacerbating the problem. Many of these people are self-medicating because they can't afford the prescriptions they really need to be on. Many of them also don't have the capacity to do simple things such as get an ID, get help from local resources, sign up for disability, etc. Many of the "solutions" seem apparent to outsiders who are NOT in that situation and have never met people who are. The average person thinks, "I need to go get a new ID" and it's pretty cut and dried. Mentally ill and/or addicted persons don't think anything is easy because it is all complicated to them. And if they're hard cord addicts, there is only one thing they think they need to do, above all else. Housing doesn't even come close.
The camp on NE 33rd Drive (the one close to PDX Airport shown mid-video) had to be removed a year or two ago in part because the FAA said it posed a hazard to planes that were landing at PDX. That's how bad that camp got during COVID.
Don’t Oregon residents have access to the Oregon Health Plan? Why would medical bills be an issue that impacts their homeless situation? (Serious question, not being sarcastic)
as a disabled person on OHP, i can tell you it's a bare minimum plan, will keep you alive but that's it. sometimes you can get extra help but it's a long, involved process that doesn't always work well.
Sometimes, while someone is hospitalized, they are unable to pay their rent. Hence, when discharged, they no longer have somewhere to live. It happens more often than you think. Most of these people live places when the owner wants higher rent. It's a great excuse to make more money ! I've noticed in Portland that it's about money. A good example is all the money spent for upgrading the airport. Makes you wonder how important the poor are to Portland. Actions speak louder than words.
Moved to Portland in Jan of 2020 coming from Seattle. Used to love coming here, to get out of Seattle for a few days. Some of the areas, though, especially downtown, is a shell of what it used to be. And the whole vibe? That changed too (with all the great restaurants and local shops gone). Unfortunately, it’s a lot like other cities (from what I hear). It’s just more affordable to live here than most. And still love some of the people, and places, outside of the city. Also, not a lot of jobs and rent/taxes are still high. So where do you go that’s nice? Safe? And affordable?
I still miss Portland. used to have a studio apartment at Sw15th and Taylor down the Street from the Soccer stadium.Looked out my window and saw nothing but sleeping bags in the parking lot.Used to always bring left over from work to the homeless hangin at PGE park.
I really take your point about the garbage piles that seem to come along with the homeless…more so in the tent communities than in the RV’s? What about the Denver Basic Income Program? Why don’t other cities try that?
this is an old video five days ago on the news. They said they're not gonna prosecute. They're not gonna do anything about these people even though there were supposed to be a law in place they're just gonna continue to let them live on the streets and a lot of them like it. Yes there's some that want to get off the street but a lot of them like living like that because they don't want any rules . There have been people that are out there to help them, but they will not accept it. I live in Oregon . I live not far from you. I live in sherwood and I will not even go anywhere near downtown. I stay out here. I have to go out all of that. Don't know what the answer is, but something needs to be done.
I guess those people will have to move into parking lots. When you prioritize parking over people what do you expect other than people living in parking lots.
Portland passed horrendous policies that caused a great city to go to hell. I agree they are finally trying to improve it, but they absolutely deserve the blame (as do the citizens who voted the losers running PDX into their positions.)
I went a week ago and it was really nice. They were more evenly distributed. They also didn't have as many L-shaped leaners as we have in Vancouver, BC.
I watch your channel a lot and enjoy it. I found your reference to the unhoused living in old trailers, campers, and RV’s parked along the airport road as “Van Lifers” to be incorrect in today’s vernacular. “Van Lifer” is a term typically applied to $100,000 plus dollar converted Mercedes, Ford Transit and Dodge Promasters vehicles occupied by remote workers and trust fund recipients. Again, not sure what I saw on the Portland Airport road matched today’s use of the term.
First time in PDX was last year. I decided I was gonna give Portland a fair shake and to my surprise I hardly seen any tents in public. My home state of California has it much worse
Glad to see some improvement. But I really feel like that only downtown so far. The SE is still full of them. Marine drive is still a cesspool near 92nd. I hope things continue in the right direction
Born, raised, and still live in Long Beach, ca, have been looking homeless people here and Los Angeles for 60 years. Sometimes it lightens up, sometimes it’s worse, but frankly, it hasn’t really changed either way. Saying that to say it’s good Portland is trying something, la is too, but this isn’t new and Ed are spending a lot ir resources and my property taxes a going way to supposedly solve the issues but it’s pretty much the same.
This country's # one concern should be taking care and dealing with the poor & homeless plus our borders these should be top priority take care of Americans
I could solve this problem quite easily. I would ensure there was enough shelter space for all homeless whether that was government run shelters or charitable shelters. I would also offer some job placement and social services. The shelters would be basic but sufficient. Once that was done, I would let the homeless know they could either stay in shelters or pay for their own shelter. Those that refused would go to jail.
Curious as to how the group breaks down into sub-categpries: drug addicts, insane, incompetent, misfortune, lazy, etc Each group must be handled differently: the insane get committed, the incompetent get confined, the addicts and lazy get shipped to Zimbabawe
As a resident of Vancouver, WA, my only issue with this push isn't the fact that it's going to get homeless off the streets in Portland, but that it's going to indirectly incentivize Portland's homeless population to move to other states or cities, affectively making the homelessness populations in those cities and states skyrocket.
Good, they can go back to where they came to Portland from. Tons of homeless drug addicts moved to Portland after some the dumbest laws in the history of America were passed here in the recent years.
Spent a couple of days in the greater Portland area visit McMenamin locations. Stayed at the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. 0 homeless there. There's not much on the west side of Portland that I saw. I was in Beaverton, Raleigh Hills, Cedar Hills Hillsdale and even Sherwood, not much homeless activities in those locations.
I live in sherwood and they do not allow homeless out here we have a ordinance. We don't allow it if Portland would not allow it. Maybe it would be clean, but no no we do not allow it and that's why I live in sherwood. Be pretend I've got plenty and Beaverton right there by the library so I pretty much stay in my area out here. I don't ever go into Portland.
I quit going downtown Portland. My sister wanted to do the spirit while she was here so I finally ended up in Portland. I’ll keep my distance for the time being. All the shops I use to go to are all gone so it’s not that fun!
The point counts are very inaccurat. Then you when you add some of these groups that are great for advocating for them who never present realist workable solutions. But I also agree with you that if these folks put some effort into keep the space they use clean and largely trash free could go a long way towards helping how some feel about this.
Unfortunately, most businesses won't allow anyone to throw their trash away. If nothing is available, where should someone take their trash ? Rent in Portland is mostly unaffordable for those on Social Security. It was stated about medical bills becoming a reason for some homeless people. I really wonder what the stats are on that case scenario? I experienced homelessness in Oregon, and most of the homeless I was around couldn't afford the rent. Also, to stay in a motel typically would cost $450 per week(small refrigerator and microwave only). Simply put, not enough affordable housing!
I've never considered someone living in a RV to be truly homeless. If all their asking for is a legal place to park overnight, that sounds like a business opportunity.
I wish they would also crack down on slum lords! Many of the homeless population are a product of living and paying for no working toilets and much worse where they are housed. I found tenant laws swayed more in the direction of the landlord. Homelessness is a very complex issue that many act like it isn't. 2019 I remember many homeless people saying they had to use to be placed into a housing program. I had to leave Portland a place I love because I only get an income of a little over $1300. The economy in major cities is only getting worse for those on a basic income.
I am extremely skeptical of this push lasting more than a couple to a few years. I'm a little shocked they've even gone as far as they have. Any effort to get homeless out of an area is immediately seen as racist or hateful in some way and with how far left these areas are socially, the populace will not stand for this. Things will get back to normal in a couple years or by the end of the decade at the latest, if it even takes anywhere near that long.
Being progressive only goes to the point that it starts to affect your own lifestyle. When you can't walk the sidewalks, use the parks, or have the quality of life you expect by paying high taxes, then the homeless issue becomes a problem that has to be dealt with.
NIMBYness takes over at some point. In theory, let's help everyone everywhere. In reality, why is there a homeless person passed out in front of my garage?!? When it comes knocking on your front door, your priorities suddenly shift.
They outlawed being homeless anywhere near the services which the homeless depend upon for help. The city/county/state deperately need to increase services and move them away from the inner city where the clients congregate and cause trouble. Spread them out in small clusters, make it harder for them to get in the way. A workable, scalable, legal solution for residency, legal address, and mail problems, would allow a lot easier means out of homelessness, too. The villages and shelters are nice for those who trust their security. But there should be places where homeless villages can simply 'happen', where services can then follow, too. It will never work, making the disenfranchised try much harder. Services have to go to them and draw them into help, or else desperation and depression will always get in the way. Hey, but I want to thank you for doing this topic justice. It would be easy to garner more clicks by pushing the needle either way, or making hard to disprove claims like over-estimating violence and crime. But I live here and am still active in advocacy circles. This is a very fair piece. And while you could have honestly been more flattering to the tourism perspective, I'm glad you stayed true to older traditions here and were not. Thank you.
The solution is easy: The homeless can camp out in front of the homes and apartments of those who disagree with the crackdown. This way, everybody wins!
Sounds good to me. Some of us don't like throwing people away. There are better solutions, but we know it won't happen. Out of sight, out of mind doesn't sit right with me.
Here in texas we never really had the problem of homeless camps that the left coast had that I had seen. Yes there are some homeless camps but they are quite small and not where the general public would be walking around and have to deal with them.
They're dispersing in neighboring counties. Near public libraries & paying churches to place on Church property. A pastor for a Tigard Church getting gov kickbacks lives in Lake Oswego.
Homelessness been around since the Roman time when some people was let in the kingdom, and others had to stay outside in their tent, or wherever they go to sleep
Wow.... that is crazy. Do people come to Portland because they know they can camp on the street, or are they mostly longtime residents? I live in Virgina in the Hampton roads area, and I only see the occasional encampment in wooded areas near the interstate, but no tents. Tents on the sidewalk seem to me would be impeding public access. Well, I hope a solution is found. I am not sure I could live in an area where people could setup a tent in front of my house or business.
I live in NE portland, and I've noticed an uptick in camps in the last few months. They are just doing what they have done since my parents were children. They push them from downtown out to Gresham, and they slowly work their way back, and the process starts over again.
Yep. I live in St. John’s and it’s the same deal up here
They have got to do something Briggs, I live in Gresham. Just two days ago a pack of dogs from a homeless camp attacked a woman and nearly killed her it has gone to far. Wake up. Something must be done. These homeless people are destroying communities and it MUST STOP.
I believe that tragic event happened in North Portland, near Colombia.
Gresham has it's own set of problems.
On top of that, the Multnomah county animal shelter has been having troubles. the people who job it is to control things like packs of dogs aren't doing it so well apparently.
Maybe provide housing? That would be an idea.
@@lilsheba1 yes, I agree.. nobody in the country has come up with a good idea yet. Also many would need drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
You voted in the people who highly encouraged all of your problems. There is a very simple solution vote out the democrat leftest extremest and vote in republican conservative politicians who will put a stop to all of your problems. As long as you keep having democrat leftest extremest your problems will never go away.
@@Donkeyearsa Vote out the Democrats. Ok, now what? I'm seriously interested in your ideas. One thing though. Don't make it republic extremist.
I worked (6 months) for a street-cleaning company downtown Portland. My title was "barrel-pusher". I changed it to "receptacle-pilot". Didn't make my job more enjoyable. 🤖
I worked the streets you started your video at. Chinatown.
I appreciate your channel and your concern for Portland-City.
But...
I heard it best by a mid-management Portland city-worker / homeless division, working for 15+ years trying to address this problem. He said, "We are just loving them too much". Yeah, too much love.
I'm a retired elementary school teacher. Kids like rules and structure. Portland is loving this problem - too much. $$$.
I work downtown and it's crazy(in a good way) how it's changed in the last 6 months.
I live in Vancouver,Washington, since the pandemic we have seen a huge influx of homeless people coming from Portland. Our crime rate has risen dramatically. Don’t get me wrong, we had our share of homeless camps before the pandemic but now it’s gotten insane.
I used to leave my door unlocked. Now, I lock the door during the daytime because you never know what might happen. I won’t go for walks, too many sketchy people.
Portland needs to handle their homeless situation.
And where are these people supposed to go? NIMBY is a poor solution.
Many of the homeless aren’t from Portland either.
Never did I ever expect my apartment to become a prison; only thing missing is bars!
@sactopyrshep come stay with me in downtown Portland for a week! You'll change your tune. I'm sick of people demanding money, use of my cell phone, Narcam, which I stopped carrying. Threw it in the garbage. Only a moron would risk their life for these entitled mofos! Some days you cannot walk on the sidewalks because the tweaker are passed out, or dead. After 4 years here, I'm so ready to go...coastal area, I pray, but the sooner, the better. Yall can keep this crap. I've been trying to find other housing for 3 1/2 of the four years I've lived here!
The homeless problem is like a game of whack-a-mole. Crack down on the homeless in one area and the problem just moves to a neighboring area. Sounds like it's now Vancouver's turn to deal with it. Good luck, there are no good and easy solutions.
Summer before last I got stuck by a needle at the Amtrak Station. I walked through that part of downtown and was truly horrified by the huge swath of encampment. Its so encouraging to see the improvement in the city I loved so much and raised my kids in.
Portland has openly said they haven’t enforced the new law yet. Was supposed to be July 1st but they of course found an excuse (heat wave) and here we are four weeks later. It will happen, though. Tide is turning. For example, a council member running for mayor got the head of Multnomah County to agree to at least pause her insane policy of purchasing tens of thousands of tents and tarps. They’re still burning through their inventory but the overwhelming contempt for that policy, which Multnomah County began in secret, and which only came out during discovery for a lawsuit, means its days are numbered.
I wish, I could believe it. My wife and I have traveled all over. Portland is the only place other than downtown Seattle she is outright scared. I grew up middle and high school in Portland loved it. It made me sad she is scared of my area of southeast Portland. I can understand why. I’d live in the Portland of my childhood. I would not in the Portland of today.
The Pacific Northwest has homeless issues that will not be easily solved. I think that there are some temporary solutions such as allowing these campers and/or tents in special unused government land that can accomodate "Honey Buckets" and industrial garbage bins at least until tiny homes or other options can be offered. Both the homeless and the residents in the Pacific Northwest have "legit gripes" about the situation. Many of the homeless have opted to live in tents and trailers as opposed to pay the current expensive rents or mortgages especially on the West Coast. The residents near the homeless encampments have tolerated extensive litter, increased crime, as well as other issues such as drug use, etc.The Federal Government had a housing program called Section Eight that used to give vouchers to low income individuals. This voucher authorized the individual to pay only 30% of their income for rent/housing. When the waiting list for Section Eight became four years (or more) long, this stopped being an option for many people. We, as a nation, have not given much thought to the poor - or disenfranchised - since the 1960's, and this population continues to climb. The failure of government to address these issues has also allowed the increase of the homeless population. Because the issue is so vast, few private individuals have the capacity to deal with the problem. Thus, the need for an extensive intervention by the government.
Having the government take care of the problem(s) can go either way, as we see with most things. Our local homeless camp was, until about a year ago, run by a local nonprofit organization. They handed it over to the local government. What was a well organized encampment now resembles a giant garbage dump. In theory, the local government has far more resources, but the nonprofit had the will. Apparently nobody in the local government does.
Local government may have a lot of resources, but a lot of those resources are spoken for. Homelessness is, at the root, due to government withdrawing completely from any kind of care.
@@darter9000 A lot of those people need help, as in, shelter in supervised settings. It is tragic to leave someone outside, in a cold damp tent filled with bags of their own poop. Multnomah County Poor Farm was a lot better than that.
“The government” is us. Which includes you. What are you doing?
@@sc100ott therein lies a problem… federal government is hellbent on ‘free market’ solutions. State governments are playing whack-a-mole. And neighboring governments are carrying out activities or stunts that pushes the problem on people they themselves don’t represent. ‘We the People’ live in a system designed to limit policies in small patchworks with little to no incentive to prevent pushing around the problem.
I used to love Portland but now if I have to go there is it airport-hotel-airport. Weak leadership and naive people.
Portland looks better then what they have in Los Angeles for homeless encampments. I think like you said Briggs it's a start but will take time to work.
Most of them just vanished in LA too. Election year.
Never Say NEVER 😎 Justin Bieber
@@simplechronology2605 that's because the California governor took his cue from Portland and the Supreme Court and made it illegal to be homeless or to live in your vehicle. Hopefully it will be more humane, as Portland appears to be at this point, but time will tell. But yes, election year.
@@PulpParadise he didnt take his cue from portland lmao
@@simplechronology2605nah
I've lived in the Portland area for 24 yrs (at first downtown on the waterfront and now out in Hillsboro). When I lived downtown there were always homeless people but it was no big deal and they weren't scary...I felt safe walking pretty much anywhere downtown even late at night and often did (and I lived by the train station between the Broadway and Steel bridges). But for the last 5-10 years it truly got bad. So much filth and it looked like the movie set of a post-apocalyptic movie. Just driving into the city from the western suburbs was nightmarish...and to be honest there were many homeless people out in the suburbs too, but so much less than in the city. At first you saw them in the burbs in cars and old camper vans and broken down RVs mostly, but for the last 2 or 3 yrs there were tent cities with massive filth. It's not that I didn't feel sorry for them but it just wasn't sanitary or safe and it had to change. At last it seems like major strides are being made. It hadn't been in the city for almost a year when I went in a month or so ago (July 2024) and I was STUNNED at the difference. Yes, there is more to be done but it's a truly remarkable change and I'm hoping they've turned a corner. Meanwhile, out in the suburbs (Beaverton & Hillsboro) I am also thrilled at the changes. For about a year there has been a truly remarkable improvement. I know they have opened up a number of official campgrounds as well as places with more built-out small homes and a lot more is under development. It's clearly heading in the right direction. I drive a school bus so I see a lot more of the terrain here than many people do and I'm impressed. I also drive kids who are homeless that we accommodate by driving them from their current living arrangements to the schools they were in either before becoming homeless to give them some sense of continuity and stability. The whole homeless situation is truly a tragedy and I blame most of it on the out of control cost of living here (without salaries even coming close to keeping up). I am absolutely shocked at how rents and home ownership has skyrocketed in the time I've lived here. We bought our home in 2004 and thank God we did. Our home is over tripled in value (and we have a relatively modest home), but our mortgage is locked in at a low rate, so we're fine... rents however have soared in the meantime and I can't imagine how most families can afford them (except for the lucky people who work in the tech industry or are doctors/lawyers/engineers, etc. I saw one apartment building with a banner bragging that they had studio apartments for a mere $1800/mo! I was shocked considering you used to be able to get a lovely 2 bedroom apartment out here for about $800. Wages have not gone up anywhere near that much. It's insane.
My son moved to Portland a couple months ago and I helped drive him there. I didn't see any tents. We both were taken aback by the amount of graffiti though. And apparently it doesn't have any good Mexican food restaurants according to my son.
VERY balanced coverage. Thank you.
I was homeless for 15 years, why? I couldnt afford rent on my wages so no one would rent to me even tho i have never been evicted for nonpayment of rent AND WORKED 6 days a week.. Portland and the surrounding counties are way above what min. or just above min. wage can afford. Im not eligible for housing and am on ssi, which leaves me one check away from homeless again should my landlord pass away. SAD.
Why didn't you ever room with a few people in the same situation?
For 15 years you couldn't find a craigslist page for roommates? Or ask around if anyone is looking for roommates? Lol
You ain't telling the whole story are you.
You gotta burn alot of bridges to be homeless for 15 years.
@tonylasher4302 what do you consider homeless? I consider being homeless means you don't have your own place I consider renting a room in someone's house as being homeless. I only rented a room in Dec. Jan. And February when it was too cold to sleep in my canopied truck.. I've decided to write a book so that's where you will find "the rest of the story" to quote Paul Harvey. The name of my book is Dark Cloud. I just started writing it two months ago, but now that blackberries are done I'll have more time. so it may be a while. my story starts out with where the name comes from and I promise it's not as gloomy as it sounds; after all there is usually a rainbow after stormy weather. I started my journey in 1980 when women's lib was being born in England and only wispers were spoken here. A time where single mothers were looked down upon, and businesses could say they didn't hire women and if they did we got 2.65 an hour where a man would get 25.00 an hour and we were still getting used to the fiat dollar, husband's would beat their wives and law enforcement looked the other way. But I digress, I'll save the rambling for my book, always remember Graditude not attitude.
I hear 🧢
I live outside of Kyoto, Japan...and while we certainly have our occasional homeless stragglers, it never really occurred until watching this video how almost nonexistent our homeless are --- "nonexistent" not in that they do not exist (they do), but in that our homeless behave/situate differently.
For example, I believe due to stricter laws and social etiquette a dn considerations between people and their communities, plus a great sense of pride (and shame), the reason our homeless are quite different from those in America is multi-fold:
1) Social pressures/laws cause stragglers/homeless to keep to places that do not disrupt society as much, like places the average passer cannot readily see out in the open. They are in a sense self-obscured, and part of it is, just because you are homeless, does not mean you should act like a barbarian, and you still have Japanese pride.
2) (Religio-spiritual) Culture: This is a little more subtle but ends up influencing our behaviors regardless. Japanese people, including even the atheist and Christians, practice/live by Shinto...on a sociological and civil level. Purity, bathing, cleanliness, orderliness, and the way a physical space is managed are all important parts of local community, so no garbage, no causing others nuisance, and no uncleanness are also vital. Many tourists here sometimes do not understand, though most try and are respectful. We have some non-Japanese here too, so I suppose it might look a way for a Japanese vagrant/homeless person to allow themselves to disgrace their own society more than foreigners that try to respect it.
3) Family: In mega metros and places like Tokyo, this seems to apply less, but most of Japanese society revolves around a sense of responsibility to one's house (clan or family), and unlike in Tokyo culture and other parts of the world where families split off at 18 or 21, people, especially nowadays again with inflation and expensive living in cities, generally stay with or around family longer. Though not forever. If there is a problem, we have our grandparents or relatives to help a little, especially back in the day, and especially in small towns like where we live (just outside Kyoto).
There is not really any need to be on one's own if you can't afford it, but suicide due to homelessness is also unfortunately easier here to happen than other places because there is social pressure, or just shame. Outside of some more welfare places like cities, there is not really much safety net for people on hard times to fall back on (unless you made sure to create your own of course!), so it can be especially rough. The worst places to be homeless are in the urban cities where people make the most money/are near the highest paying jobs. There is no "best place", but there are better spots to find at least some help. The small village/semirural district we live in does not have very many vagrants if any at all. Mostly oder people, families, retirees, and people with money live around here. Mostly manual labor jobs and remote work now with Starlink and new technology that helps. Everyone is a handyman! Everyone has their own small or medium sized shop or service here, so I think that culture of entrepreneurship keeps people around here very, very occupied with work, especially cash jobs.
It does get a little slow around here, but I think I prefer that over the big city life if it means we have less homelessness.
Give your homeless population in Tokyo access to guns & knives or just hand it to them freely on the Streets, give them needles to shoot up heroin in an open drug market, systematically hand out Meth/Fentanyl/Crack/Oxy/pills & any other harder street drug to your local homeless population?? And then just MAGICALLY watch your homeless in Japan transform into a fraction of our homeless population here in the States. Don't forget to completely ignore them, outcast them & ostracize them out of society and treat them like filthy animals. Talk down to them at every opportunity & make them feel "less than" on a daily basis. Watch Tokyo (and it's citizens) transform & turn into almost exactly like America.
If you guys allowed & in some cases encouraged drug & alcohol abuse like we do here in the States? I'm almost certain that Japan would crumble in the same way we are right now. Not to mention our mental health crisis? Our mental health (or lack thereof) is also a contributing factor to our homelessness.
Allow your City leaders to FLOOD your communities & inner cities with the hardest street drugs known to humanity imported from China/Mexico/South America & then see what happens to Japan.
Actually, on second thought, DON'T do it, lol. I seriously wouldn't wish that on ANY country. America is an absolute mess & a cesspool of filth. Japan doesn't need that type of negative influence, to be honest. Things have gotten pretty bad over here.
I hope one day our City leaders, Federal & State governments can learn from you guys. Maybe Portland should mirror what Tokyo has done in Japan? Or perhaps Kyoto for that matter? I apologize if you think I'm being sarcastic. I don't mean to come off that way. I actually & truly mean it because what we are doing now is not working. Our empire is failing, badly.
4) the homeless in Japan aren't methamphetamine/heroin/fentanyl addicts.
@@LuckyBaldwin777 It is sad that these illicit substances have to harm already struggling persons, and not just in America but a lot of place. Lack of regulation, enforcement, and penalty, and social pressure against drug use can lead to those misfortunes. I have heard about America's fentanyl crisis, and it's pretty bad in many areas where high volume of vagrants/homeless/poverty is found.
@Evangelionism don't blame it on the drugs. All those drug addicts have to do to get off the streets is give up the drugs. They are so full of self pity, they refuse to do that so they remain homeless. That's why Oregon has passed a law that if they refuse help, they can be jailed. Will it work? Who knows? But something different has to be done. Might as well try jailing them. At least their time in jail will dry them off the drugs.
Thanks for the update Briggs. I’ve noticed it’s gotten better, but still got work to do. Portlanders deserve safer and cleaner communities.
Please keep us updated.
I live in Philadelphia and it has a similar, or worse, problem with the homeless. In the city there are people who wander around everywhere, coming and going as they please with little regard for the customs nor the environment. But the worse part is that city officials and local police are too afraid to do anything if any homeless people are disturbing other citizens, distracting small businesses, or committing a crime in broad daylight. Everybody in Philadelphia are totally on there own, no backup from law enforcement whatsoever, and the homeless population, especially the bullies and thieves, know this!
I spent 3 days in Portland last week. Everyone there said homelessness was a huge problem. It’s NOTHING compared to the Bay Area- Oakland/SF. Oregon is doing something right.
Go take a ride on the MAX. It's like a dystopian Disneyland monorail tour of hobo tents and tweakers.
@@cheopstwentyonelmao nah I’ve been here for 5years and it really isn’t that bad
You didnt take a good enough look around. Its a fucking disaster.
@@sspade.1 I’m sure it is, but the bay is straight up apocalyptic
@sspade.1 No, it's not. It's not great, and it never will be. But I'm guessing you know nothing about California.
The city does look better. I worry that it will just moved homeless out to other areas. My sister lives downtown and damage that has happened is unbelievable. She has been chased by mental ill homeless man at 10am, threaten by another that if she didn't give him money he would just knock her down and steal her purchase. Imagine walking to neighborhood grocery and someone is masturbating in the parking lot just a normal day occurrence. People screaming all hours, stealing your trashcans or just throwing all trash on sidewalks, people waking around completely naked, trying to light your building on fire are few things that she dealt with the last few years. People will say just move, but her condo is worth less than it was five years ago. So now she has suffer a huge financial loss or just hang in there.
🇺🇸 That was an awesome report! Thank You! ☮️ Lived in SW and worked on Burnside from 1996 to 2011. Bay Area since 2011 and I grew up in Palo Alto. Drove through PDX in ‘21 and ‘22 and was a bit heartbroken at the street scene. That strong air of despair. Progress not perfection. It seems like folks with heart are putting minds together for a solution with intelligence and dignity. Briggs… You are an awesome light with a helpful lens. A True Patriot 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I called this city home for almost 30 years. No looking back, either. My buddy lives on SE Belmont. He says the homelessness is still very prevalent. But that some things have improved. Portland has it's work cut out for it.
I live in portland and work in portland something that is not talked about enough with homelessness and car living is the fentanyl and meth use it's extreme and all over the area, I see overdoses every night in the area I work and people smoking glass pipes and foil are out in the open and don't even try to hide it.
where do they POOP? even those RV's black tanks fill up after a few days and need draining . Yuk.
Portland should outlaw its own city council.
I just took my wife to the airport this week. I-205 on east Portland used to be tent city even last year. We both noticed the tents are gone. Happy to see things being done. A long way to go.
I205 was not a problem when I first moved into the area in 2015. It became Disaster Corridor by 2019 when I left for a more rural part of another state. Very big change in just four years! I'm glad to hear reports of places like that, Pioneer Square, other parts of Portland and surrounding towns clearing up. I doubt I'll return to the area, though.
I lived there 2015-2019. Actually lived in Gresham, worked and shopped and satisfied my coffee addiction in Portland. Saw the tents increase over that time, bums sleeping on the sidewalk and in doorways increase. Moved to Montana. The only homeless here are deer and bears and Bigfoot! Just kidding, the outdoors is their home. But watching videos on Portland especially from Briggs, Nick Johnson, Invisible People and others, seeing the homeless camps problems get worse, blah, very sad! Maybe now finally things are turning. Fewer tents - but exactly where are the homeless going? Did they suddenly land jobs as software engineers, sales directors, and chief financial officers? LOL. I doubt most of them could land even min wage no-skills jobs in back rooms away from customers. What happens to them? In any case, nice to see more sidewalk than tent along some of those familiar streets.
Grants Pass filed the suit and was excoriated for it. A small town in Southern Oregon took it to SCOTUS as Portland and other Blue States and Cities cowarded. Those same cities have suddenly found their bravery after Grants Pass did the hard work. Sad.
Keep Portland Weird (but not FUCKED!)
Too late. Weird happened a LONG time ago. Now it's moved on to kraphole.
Unfortunately, the public drug use in Portland is out-of-control. Drug addiction keeps people homeless.
One of the issues that Seattle ran into was that the City was proposing to build a residential care and shelter facility that had been shown to be effective locally. The Cost Benefit analysis showed that this would only be worth it if the City can compel people who they determine need the help to go there. The Homeless advocates raised a stink and sunk the project. Perhaps the Grants Pass case could make such projects a reality again…
(Edit: note that Seattle was proposing to build a thing.)
Al uquerque has a large unsheltered homeless population also. What people object to are not being able to walk down the sidewalks and the amount of trash discarded on the streets. Also, these homeless have no regard for other’s rights. I think these problems exist in most cities. If they could be addressed satisfactorily the public’s animosity would lessen.
That camping ban will fail. It won’t do shit! I was literally on the east bank esplanade yesterday evening and right before those gates that you pass before omsi there’s homeless camps that popped up once again with a bunch of garbage.
It has already done a lot. They have a long way to go, but there is progress
@@WorldAccordingToBriggs tell that to the guy they arrested who’d rather go to jail than get into housing. Tell that to the Multnomah county sheriffs who refused to prosecute the guy and let him off with a citation. Okay!
If all cities offered resources for homeless and underserved, they wouldn't all flock to cities that do offer services..
...Portland and Multnomah county reportedly have millions for dealing with this but both councils are just sitting on it.
Oh, Briggs. They cleaned up the area south of the Amtrak station on 5th and 6th Avenues a couple of weeks ago. But it's creeping back.
Please do Seattle next!
Briggs, that was highly informative and concise. It was good to hear your honest commentary.
Thank you
Vagrancy laws have been on the books forever.
I love Portland and live in the Bay Area so homelessness has been an issue for my entire 50 years of existence. I was just in Nashville earlier this month and they have all sorts of homeless there as well. If this isn’t a major issue in your city then it either will be or the police have found a place to push them to, reducing visibility. This is not a nationwide issue and is also becoming more common globally. We need solutions. Cops are not there to fix things. Putting them in jail for either directly being homeless or indirectly because we lack health care, mental health and drug rehab services is not only not effective in the long run it’s absurdly expensive. Too many people adding criminal consequences are the answer. As a teacher, anyone with a modicum of experience in psychology will tell you that negative consequences are pretty ineffective. At most negative consequences like threatening jail time works for only a short time and only used infrequently. Great for getting me to slow down when driving past a cop but if you live in a 24/7 heightened state that you could be arrested we have a remarkable ability to habituate to that. Most of us keep our jobs and houses and out of jail because we want to maintain the positives in our lives rather than a fear from avoiding trouble.
That isn't vanlife, that is meth-rv life. There is a big difference, a good stealth camper isn't going to be noticed, which means they are being discrete and pretty benign.
Here in L.A., they actually rent the RVs for $200/week. Coupla people put their welfare together, maybe make a couple bucks from crime, they can get off the streets for a couple weeks per month.
Nice clean up. Here in CA we are cracking down finally after the new ruling. Including on the vans parked on various streets, especially on the ones that do not run.
remember we argued about the manatee county homeless population in Florida? even tho I live here and you dont.. well. they changed the number to a more bealiveable 760 something,., they cant pull off that lie any longer with the attention i been giving the issue. now, imagine all the other counties doing the same.
I do see improvements, but Portland still has a long way to go. I wish that businesses and investors found Portland as attractive as the homeless.
As an Angeleno, it's cute to see other cities complain about homelessness.
The remaining tents in your downtown areas look strikingly different from here; no obligatory pile of trash for each tent!
Man LA is bad. It use to be contained to skid row and other small pockets. I lived there in the early 2000's and recently came back to visit and its 100x worse.
The rest of the US finds it extremely weird that you're even proud of that 😬😂
@@chrissyp7 They shouldn't be. Our homeless are the whole country's losers.
Not a fix, just a shuffle. Seen it happen so many times in San Diego. The homeless are still out there, but not in their old favorite spot...for the moment.
How is the Columbia Blvd on and off ramps ? That was on my route for work for USPS and that had tent city all around - pretty elaborate setups to be fair
Went to the Billy idol concert at Waterfront park on Saturday July 27th, 2024 and there were about a dozen spread out homeless people. Still very sad. They're still around, just spread out, not bundled together as much. Saw one guy laying nearly dead in an open parking lot.
Probably from an over dose
Portland is the worst city I’ve ever been to in America was super disgusting and depressing
Only city I've been in during the last 25 years where I saw cigarette butts all over, sidewalks and gutters and around the corners of buildings. Until I moved to Gresham and worked in Portland in 2015, I had pretty much forgotten that cigarettes even existed!
...it wasn't so much Union Station as it was the area around the former Greyhound depot a block south. One evening when I got off a max train there I almost wretched from the smell of rotting garbage, urine, feces, barf, and other unpleasant substances. Besides tents by the old depot building The sidewalk was literally carpeted in piles of garbage strewn about on NW 6th making one have to plan each step carefully. Oh yeah and rats were a serious issue.
When they started a new BRT line last year that lays over on the opposite side at 5th and Hoyt, there were times it was almost impossible to get to the bus stop as there were so many tents, and yes, more garbage strewn about sometimes literally into the waiting shelter. It was also scary at times as well as you could hear people arguing and on several occasions it sounded as if a fight or two was about to break out.
Made for a really great "welcome to Portland" scene for people getting off the train to visit.
Over the last year, the city, along with TriMet (the transit authority here), finally took the initiative to clean the area up. There are still a few tents here and there but they are usually gone in a day or two and there are security personnel present as well as one of those trailers with security cameras and blue flashing lights on it by a bus parking area.
Thanks for going over this plight. The STATES are the fiduciaries of the public trust and the social security insurances are supposed to be caring for the people based on the federal reserve act and the social security act and so many other acts cestui Que vi trust. Businesses can be given government grants for these types of things. We have to assemble and develop some business plans to help the people who are wards of the STATE since the STATES are squandering the public trust.😢
They aren't wards of the state, and that is part of the problem. When the federal government decided to close state hospitals, they created a much larger class of homeless because they took people who couldn't care for themselves and "set them free." Many of those with serious mental health issues also have significant substance abuse problems as well, exacerbating the problem. Many of these people are self-medicating because they can't afford the prescriptions they really need to be on. Many of them also don't have the capacity to do simple things such as get an ID, get help from local resources, sign up for disability, etc. Many of the "solutions" seem apparent to outsiders who are NOT in that situation and have never met people who are. The average person thinks, "I need to go get a new ID" and it's pretty cut and dried. Mentally ill and/or addicted persons don't think anything is easy because it is all complicated to them. And if they're hard cord addicts, there is only one thing they think they need to do, above all else. Housing doesn't even come close.
The camp on NE 33rd Drive (the one close to PDX Airport shown mid-video) had to be removed a year or two ago in part because the FAA said it posed a hazard to planes that were landing at PDX. That's how bad that camp got during COVID.
This is true. I drive 33rd often and it is now clean and empty (and has been for some time). That video must be old.
Don’t Oregon residents have access to the Oregon Health Plan? Why would medical bills be an issue that impacts their homeless situation? (Serious question, not being sarcastic)
as a disabled person on OHP, i can tell you it's a bare minimum plan, will keep you alive but that's it. sometimes you can get extra help but it's a long, involved process that doesn't always work well.
Sometimes, while someone is hospitalized, they are unable to pay their rent. Hence, when discharged, they no longer have somewhere to live. It happens more often than you think. Most of these people live places when the owner wants higher rent. It's a great excuse to make more money !
I've noticed in Portland that it's about money. A good example is all the money spent for upgrading the airport. Makes you wonder how important the poor are to Portland. Actions speak louder than words.
Moved to Portland in Jan of 2020 coming from Seattle. Used to love coming here, to get out of Seattle for a few days. Some of the areas, though, especially downtown, is a shell of what it used to be. And the whole vibe? That changed too (with all the great restaurants and local shops gone). Unfortunately, it’s a lot like other cities (from what I hear). It’s just more affordable to live here than most. And still love some of the people, and places, outside of the city. Also, not a lot of jobs and rent/taxes are still high. So where do you go that’s nice? Safe? And affordable?
Ohio
I still miss Portland. used to have a studio apartment at Sw15th and Taylor down the Street from the Soccer stadium.Looked out my window and saw nothing but sleeping bags in the parking lot.Used to always bring left over from work to the homeless hangin at PGE park.
Shelter is a “basic human need”. Un-housed people who refuse to accept free shelter are not mentally fit to look after themselves.
Most won't take shelter not because of mental illness but because they can't keep doing what they want.
They don't respect or want any rules
I really take your point about the garbage piles that seem to come along with the homeless…more so in the tent communities than in the RV’s?
What about the Denver Basic Income Program? Why don’t other cities try that?
this is an old video five days ago on the news. They said they're not gonna prosecute. They're not gonna do anything about these people even though there were supposed to be a law in place they're just gonna continue to let them live on the streets and a lot of them like it. Yes there's some that want to get off the street but a lot of them like living like that because they don't want any rules . There have been people that are out there to help them, but they will not accept it. I live in Oregon . I live not far from you. I live in sherwood and I will not even go anywhere near downtown. I stay out here. I have to go out all of that. Don't know what the answer is, but something needs to be done.
I guess those people will have to move into parking lots. When you prioritize parking over people what do you expect other than people living in parking lots.
timely update...thank you
I was surprised to see videos with you in them? lol Cool to see you. 😎 Yeah has too much red tape about getting things done unfortunately.
I don’t blame Portland, to me it seems like Portland is trying to improve the city.
Portland passed horrendous policies that caused a great city to go to hell. I agree they are finally trying to improve it, but they absolutely deserve the blame (as do the citizens who voted the losers running PDX into their positions.)
I went a week ago and it was really nice. They were more evenly distributed. They also didn't have as many L-shaped leaners as we have in Vancouver, BC.
I watch your channel a lot and enjoy it. I found your reference to the unhoused living in old trailers, campers, and RV’s parked along the airport road as “Van Lifers” to be incorrect in today’s vernacular. “Van Lifer” is a term typically applied to $100,000 plus dollar converted Mercedes, Ford Transit and Dodge Promasters vehicles occupied by remote workers and trust fund recipients. Again, not sure what I saw on the Portland Airport road matched today’s use of the term.
First time in PDX was last year. I decided I was gonna give Portland a fair shake and to my surprise I hardly seen any tents in public. My home state of California has it much worse
I’m actually impressed. Good job so far, Portland
Credit where credit is due: good job, Supreme Court.
Wait till after the election when your official's are not fighting for your vote.
Should’ve never closed Dammasch hospital. Most these people could’ve been there, but instead they in the streets.
Glad to see some improvement. But I really feel like that only downtown so far. The SE is still full of them. Marine drive is still a cesspool near 92nd. I hope things continue in the right direction
Great video Briggs, like this format 👍
Thanks 👍
Born, raised, and still live in Long Beach, ca, have been looking homeless people here and Los Angeles for 60 years. Sometimes it lightens up, sometimes it’s worse, but frankly, it hasn’t really changed either way. Saying that to say it’s good Portland is trying something, la is too, but this isn’t new and Ed are spending a lot ir resources and my property taxes a going way to supposedly solve the issues but it’s pretty much the same.
This country's # one concern should be taking care and dealing with the poor & homeless plus our borders
these should be top priority
take care of Americans
All those RV’s it amazes me how many relatives cousin Eddie has
I could solve this problem quite easily. I would ensure there was enough shelter space for all homeless whether that was government run shelters or charitable shelters. I would also offer some job placement and social services. The shelters would be basic but sufficient. Once that was done, I would let the homeless know they could either stay in shelters or pay for their own shelter. Those that refused would go to jail.
Curious as to how the group breaks down into sub-categpries:
drug addicts, insane, incompetent, misfortune, lazy, etc
Each group must be handled differently: the insane get committed, the incompetent get confined, the addicts and lazy get shipped to Zimbabawe
As a resident of Vancouver, WA, my only issue with this push isn't the fact that it's going to get homeless off the streets in Portland, but that it's going to indirectly incentivize Portland's homeless population to move to other states or cities, affectively making the homelessness populations in those cities and states skyrocket.
Yeah they need to go back to the state that they came from and get help there.
Good, they can go back to where they came to Portland from. Tons of homeless drug addicts moved to Portland after some the dumbest laws in the history of America were passed here in the recent years.
Spent a couple of days in the greater Portland area visit McMenamin locations. Stayed at the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. 0 homeless there. There's not much on the west side of Portland that I saw. I was in Beaverton, Raleigh Hills, Cedar Hills Hillsdale and even Sherwood, not much homeless activities in those locations.
Hillsboro has had an uptick.
Most of those places are geographically hard to get around. Lots of steep hills and winding roads on west side
I live in sherwood and they do not allow homeless out here we have a ordinance. We don't allow it if Portland would not allow it. Maybe it would be clean, but no no we do not allow it and that's why I live in sherwood. Be pretend I've got plenty and Beaverton right there by the library so I pretty much stay in my area out here. I don't ever go into Portland.
I quit going downtown Portland. My sister wanted to do the spirit while she was here so I finally ended up in Portland. I’ll keep my distance for the time being. All the shops I use to go to are all gone so it’s not that fun!
I will always love Portland
Got to love a WRX enjoyer. Nice selection in a vehicle
I love it.
I thought you were a lot younger. Interesting. I keep stumbling across the RV villages even further outside of Portland into Gladstone and milwaukie
The point counts are very inaccurat. Then you when you add some of these groups that are great for advocating for them who never present realist workable solutions. But I also agree with you that if these folks put some effort into keep the space they use clean and largely trash free could go a long way towards helping how some feel about this.
Unfortunately, most businesses won't allow anyone to throw their trash away. If nothing is available, where should someone take their trash ?
Rent in Portland is mostly unaffordable for those on Social Security.
It was stated about medical bills becoming a reason for some homeless people. I really wonder what the stats are on that case scenario?
I experienced homelessness in Oregon, and most of the homeless I was around couldn't afford the rent.
Also, to stay in a motel typically would cost $450 per week(small refrigerator and microwave only).
Simply put, not enough affordable housing!
No. Nothing has changed.
Ticketing a homeless person seems pretty futile.
They will just judge dredd that ticket. 🐚 🐚
I've never considered someone living in a RV to be truly homeless. If all their asking for is a legal place to park overnight, that sounds like a business opportunity.
I wish they would also crack down on slum lords! Many of the homeless population are a product of living and paying for no working toilets and much worse where they are housed. I found tenant laws swayed more in the direction of the landlord. Homelessness is a very complex issue that many act like it isn't. 2019 I remember many homeless people saying they had to use to be placed into a housing program. I had to leave Portland a place I love because I only get an income of a little over $1300. The economy in major cities is only getting worse for those on a basic income.
I am extremely skeptical of this push lasting more than a couple to a few years. I'm a little shocked they've even gone as far as they have. Any effort to get homeless out of an area is immediately seen as racist or hateful in some way and with how far left these areas are socially, the populace will not stand for this. Things will get back to normal in a couple years or by the end of the decade at the latest, if it even takes anywhere near that long.
Being progressive only goes to the point that it starts to affect your own lifestyle. When you can't walk the sidewalks, use the parks, or have the quality of life you expect by paying high taxes, then the homeless issue becomes a problem that has to be dealt with.
NIMBYness takes over at some point. In theory, let's help everyone everywhere. In reality, why is there a homeless person passed out in front of my garage?!? When it comes knocking on your front door, your priorities suddenly shift.
They outlawed being homeless anywhere near the services which the homeless depend upon for help. The city/county/state deperately need to increase services and move them away from the inner city where the clients congregate and cause trouble. Spread them out in small clusters, make it harder for them to get in the way. A workable, scalable, legal solution for residency, legal address, and mail problems, would allow a lot easier means out of homelessness, too. The villages and shelters are nice for those who trust their security. But there should be places where homeless villages can simply 'happen', where services can then follow, too. It will never work, making the disenfranchised try much harder. Services have to go to them and draw them into help, or else desperation and depression will always get in the way.
Hey, but I want to thank you for doing this topic justice. It would be easy to garner more clicks by pushing the needle either way, or making hard to disprove claims like over-estimating violence and crime. But I live here and am still active in advocacy circles. This is a very fair piece. And while you could have honestly been more flattering to the tourism perspective, I'm glad you stayed true to older traditions here and were not. Thank you.
They keep moving around did you think people disappear when they become homeless
You can't outlaw poverty.
Aint no change cup or cardboard signs anymore i remember the homeless like that back then now its tents 😂😢😮
That's a fabulous now it will be safe to return to Portland again. 😇
Gulf Breeze Florida is also against the law being homeless.
So where did they go?
The solution is easy: The homeless can camp out in front of the homes and apartments of those who disagree with the crackdown. This way, everybody wins!
Sounds good to me. Some of us don't like throwing people away. There are better solutions, but we know it won't happen.
Out of sight, out of mind doesn't sit right with me.
Here in texas we never really had the problem of homeless camps that the left coast had that I had seen. Yes there are some homeless camps but they are quite small and not where the general public would be walking around and have to deal with them.
Nice WRX!!!
They're dispersing in neighboring counties. Near public libraries & paying churches to place on Church property. A pastor for a Tigard Church getting gov kickbacks lives in Lake Oswego.
Homelessness been around since the Roman time when some people was let in the kingdom, and others had to stay outside in their tent, or wherever they go to sleep
I like your hat. I am from Chicago, south side
Wow.... that is crazy. Do people come to Portland because they know they can camp on the street, or are they mostly longtime residents? I live in Virgina in the Hampton roads area, and I only see the occasional encampment in wooded areas near the interstate, but no tents. Tents on the sidewalk seem to me would be impeding public access. Well, I hope a solution is found. I am not sure I could live in an area where people could setup a tent in front of my house or business.
People came when they heard of lawful camping, legal hard drugs, and enabling government assistance programs.
Lookin' young and handsome Mr. Briggs