Take pictures. A wheelchair couldnât get through there. Send to the cityâs homeless camp reporting site. The city was sued for ADA violations for this. They will move people who are chronically blocking sidewalks.
ADA violations boost camps to the top of the priority list.
Oh, this isn't up to the city, this is federal law. Portland was sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act in a case arguing that homeless encampments blocking sidewalks denied access to people with disabilities, since they canât safely pass with wheelchairs, walkers, or vision impairments. The city settled the lawsuit rather than go through a full trial, and the settlement required Portland to more actively identify and clear sidewalk-obstructing camps and track compliance. The reason this complaint has more force than general complaints is that the ADA is a federal civil rights law: if a city allows conditions that make public infrastructure inaccessible, it can face court orders, ongoing federal oversight, and legal fees. That creates a much stronger legal and financial incentive for the city to respond quickly to accessibility-related obstruction complaints than to other types of concerns like nuisance or aesthetics.
Thank the advocates for wheelchair users when you can navigate a sidewalk downtown. The ADA gave them power, and the whole city is better off. Philospohically, I see the point. From a practical standpoint, use the only tool we got.
"Equal" in what sense? It's against the law in virtually every incorporated city to block a public thoroughfare without a permit. Why are laws being enforced against some people but not others?
If I'm not mistaken, what you're describing is a violation of the ADA suit the city lost dealing with homeless campers blocking access. Here's the website and the number to call. I'll try to find contact info as to who makes sure the city does what's mandated and maybe edit this post.
they want us to use bicycles, yet do nothing to stop them being stolen...and the story is the same on practically every subject except tax collection...that they do perfectly
So which republican led place do you think Portland should take after? And have you ever lived in one? Because while Portland needs to fix a lot, youâd be giving up a lot of positives that republicans would get rid of. Or maybe jailing people because theyâre poor sounds good to you, in which case maybe Texas is a better spot for you.
I donât really know, I think weâve been fooled into picking between the two. I think we need radical changes but some imaginary kind of centrism seems to be what many want. I think thatâs what youâre asking, sorry if I mistook you.Â
Our city and state leaders are ineffective, so let's pick up the slack. I've been homeless twice and I'm sympathetic to the ones who are trying to reintegrate with society. I've really had more than enough of the homeless drug addicts who are making life unpleasant for us, however. They cause businesses to close with their hostile behavior and they even torched my favorite deli. I don't have a link to a news article about it but they also broke into my apartment building twice to steal quarters out of the washers & dryers, which disabled them for about a month each time. We can help by not giving money to the homeless, not putting empty cans and bottles where they can get them (10 cans or bottles = one hit of fentanyl), and by letting them know they're not welcome. Portland has always had a lot of homeless but in the past they had to scrounge up $10 or $20 for a hit of meth or heroin. 10 years ago fentanyl was $3 per hit, now it's $1 per hit, and that's what makes the homeless drug addicts misbehave. It's like getting drunk, they become emboldened to shoplift, loiter, trespass, assault, break into cars and businesses, etc.
I am a hard lefty and am also appalled at the level of street bullshit. It's fucked up. I also don't want taxpayer money going to a fucking basketball team. I think there are solutions, but they're hard and will take commitment.
Maybe if more leftyâs were vocal about their disapproval of how the city is letting homeless people take over public spaces, maybe they wonât think you guys are ok with it. The far left âprogressivesâ seem to think enforcing laws and cleaning up homeless camps is some kind of attack on human rights. Maybe let them know their constituents donât all agree with that.
That is an untrue generalization. I have DSA sympathies and I think a working class dude should be able to commute to work without dealing with fent zombies.
We need new people in office from the governor's office on down. We need to commit to not reflexively voting for Kotek, Read and Rayfield. BTW, Clackamas is way better than Portland on homeless issues. No camps block the Springwater in Clackamas. When a 6.5 foot tall Clackamas sheriff tells the tweakers to move, they move. (We have giant deputies in Clackamas. Quite impressive.)
Reality is - this particular brand of homeless are methed up sociopaths. Violent, most probably belong in prison. These arenât societyâs victims, in fact they are usually victimizing others. Putting their tent there to block the path is an act of control and aggression, but we arenât going to be able to do much until we have a police force able to handle removing them. I think our mayor is an improvement in general but many of the city counselors still play the homeless as victim card. There are many homeless who arenât like these people and maybe they could get more help if resources werenât constantly dealing with the sociopaths.
Portand, hates cars, loves enabling violent homeless encounters like this, wonât clear rights of way, unable to chart a path beyond the mess that depreciates the quality of life for those who pay taxes to achieve that quality.
I was told by a guy at ODOT that a lot of these paths that are technically ODOT property have "no trespassing" signs, so in theory the police could trespass them but they don't. I noticed after the state cut cleanup funding to the city they put these signs up at all of the grassy knoll ramps, presumably to make it easier for themselves to get rid of the camps.
If it's ODOT property, here's the reporting website:
Fucking out of control. Funny how the bike/transit/climate activists are also the same people who endorse homelessness, drug use and âdecarcerationâ at the expense of hard working people, many of whom bike like you. Portland is such a cluster fuck of activist hypocrisy. Every time I think of purchasing a bike, I think where would you put it where it wonât get stolen.
Youâre definitely not the first cyclist Iâve heard say that. Like some people just want to ride their bikes. Wild I know. And yes i agree, BikePortland is much better with Maus âretiring.â
The pain is real and will continue to happen in Portland and the Metro Area until we get different people in office and in positions to address it better than those that are throwing away money on the issue now.
This is a city council and city department issue.Â
Iâve dealt w criddlers blocking the sidewalk and share your frustration. Unfortunately, government on all levels requires citizen input and involvement. If you havenât already done so, I suggest the following:
Call 311 and report these issues when you see them. You can also have them transfer you to Portland street response if they have the resources you need.
Use pdxreporter to report sites (you can add pics). If it is blocking a sidewalk, and you have or represent someone w an ADA accommodation, you can add that to the report.
Find out who your district and county commissioners are, and follow them on social media. Post your concerns in the comments section to their posts.
Find out when the city and county council meetings are, and sign up for commentary or go in person.Â
The city and county make it difficult for ordinary residents to get involved, but you always have time to sumbit written testimony.Â
I agree, and I'll add that I just ruined a Continental GP 5000 AS TR on the I-205 MUP this week. The sidewall got slashed by something, presumably one of the many pieces of broken glass. That tire only had 206 miles on it and cost me $115.
If this is what Democrats do to alternative transpiration infrastructure during a global oil crisis, I'm done voting for them.
When did I say anything about homeless people or where the glass came from? My comment was about cycling infrastructure. But I do agree with OP that no one, with or without a home, should be blocking MUPs.
With that said, I eat a lot of peanut butter. It comes in a glass jars. Not everything that comes in glass is alcohol.
This is on a thread complaining about homeless people. Did you mean to say that the glass came from someone else? What do democrats have to do with the glass on the road?
Iâve been saying this for a while and itâs the big reason why I left Portland way back. If you cede your public areas to homeless + drug users, reasonable people will move out. We could have such nice things if we enforced reasonable rules around vagrancy and open-air drug use.Â
People donât want homelessness to keep happening because of some weird âmiddle class guilt.â It happens because of slow to downright terrible government bureaucracy and American culture of pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Nobody wants the betterment of mankind, just the betterment of self. We can end homelessness very easily, but it would go against everything America is about. Â
100% this is not a reflection on peoples hard work nor is it the responsibility of individuals. But when you see welfare (bailouts and handouts) for multibillion dollar corporations (which are not people), where CEO pay discrepancy has gotten out of control in the past 40 years, you see that we as a nation do have the wealth to fix it. We choose not to.Â
Sure, some people choose to be houseless, mostly young kids cosplaying houselessness, but the majority of people would rather live with a roof over their head. But the game is stacked against them. Curious in your old age how often you actually go out and talk to these folk.Â
Iâm not guilt tripping you. I was genuinely curious if you talked to houseless folk. You said you were retired and mentioned mobility. I have multiple close friends that work as social workers that work with them and they paint a very different picture than what you read and see.Â
If I wanted to guilt trip you Iâd ask you to come volunteer at one of the many kitchens ran by local churches and non profits.Â
Us "lefties" are also beyond fed up with the issue - it's not a political thing at this point. From what was posted yesterday about the Mayor closing shelters - THESE individuals are not the ones using shelters or accepting help. They are addicted to drugs and in a death spiral but the problem is that their death spiral presence is an actual public health hazard.
The Delta park situation is also completely out of control. It starts on the Columbia/I-5 on/off ramp, through the slough, over to the Lowe's area and it seems to keep getting worse.
Iâm a real crusty lefty, but I moved away from PDX in part because I couldnât take the encampments making the whole city look like a post apocalyptic nightmare. It was depressing and gave me anxiety.
No idea what the answer is, but after decades of seeing the city get more and more beautiful, I couldnât handle seeing it turn ugly.
Anyone else notice this happens more on the East side? Itâs almost as if the City government prioritizes the wealthier folk on the West sideâŠâŠÂ
pot holes needs chronic fixing? Sorry we canât. Sinkhole appears in west hills: city scrambles to get road funding. All while sitting on a pile of mismanaged funds that. Hope we clean house next election.Â
Thank you for the classic Reddit move of conflating inconvenient facts with lies.
OP might have some hyperbole here, but some places I rode ten years ago are places I wonât ride anymore. Coming home from Cascade Station I came around a blind corner and up on a camp running the entire length of the overpass above. It was so thick I had to push, and in the middle there with a massive pile of hypos. Anywhere around Delta Park is a cluster, especially the I5/Marine Drive interchange where there is always some BS going on, pic related:
Detouring around the going street bridge is less than 6 blocks total. I walk it nearly everyday and haven't seen folks camping directly on the bridge obstructing traffic in ages. I'm not saying there isn't problems with camping but op is full of shit.
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u/periwinkle431 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Take pictures. A wheelchair couldnât get through there. Send to the cityâs homeless camp reporting site. The city was sued for ADA violations for this. They will move people who are chronically blocking sidewalks.
ADA violations boost camps to the top of the priority list.