I hate to shine a light on such things, but, hey, what the hell...

Ethan Epstein, Portland's very own youngish conservative grumpus, is at it again, taking to yet another national right-wing publication to peddle the standard stereotype of the Rose City as another haven for soft, pabulum-fed, vice-enabling hippie elites who couldn't fart their way out of an organic coffee house.

Epstein is no fan of Stumptown and the Southeast hipster scene he associates with it. He's aghast at how readily we questioned the FBI's role in last year's Pioneer Square bomb plot. He wants a bigger, burlier CRC. And now, in his latest flourish, Epstein takes on Old Town and the new Bud Clark Commons, in a column published by the Wall Street Journal.

The timing is such: The day center for Portland's homeless population, which also will provide permanent beds for dozens of residents, is due to open later this week. It's been hailed by service providers and others as an example of the city's commitment to addressing homelessness.

Epstein, however, has some other thoughts. Hit the jump.

First he complains that the building isn't an eyesore:

The building—replete with solar panels on the roof, bicycle racks out front, and a glassy atrium on the bottom floor—looks more like a luxury condo than a homeless center.

Then he complains about neighborhood panhandlers, having never apparently been to Pioneer Square or ordered lunch at a food cart pod.

On a recent afternoon, I witnessed three people harass commuters for change at the transit station across from the center in five minutes. Justin Hansen, a project manager at a production company five blocks from the center, says he is panhandled at least one or two times a day on his way to work and more often when he ventures deep into Chinatown.

All this leads to his point: Portland is a magnet for the down-trodden. We molly-coddle! And our persistent problems with homelessness have nothing to do with the recession! Statistics? Evidence? Who needs 'em?

They're not coming for the weather. Portland has justly gained a reputation as a place with a high tolerance for vagrancy. Even as San Francisco—San Francisco!—has implemented an ordinance that bans sitting or lying on city sidewalks between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., Portland has shown little inclination to do the same, despite persistent and occasionally aggressive panhandling. (Portland once had a sit/lie ordinance, but it expired in 2009 and appears unlikely to be reinstated, despite advocacy from the Portland Business Alliance.)

Did I mention Epstein's a Reed kid?