They appeared at the end of March: Around 20 round cement planters, about two feet in circumference diameter and perhaps a foot off the ground, placed in a row along a two-block stretch of sidewalk the west side of SW Naito Parkway. This wouldn’t have caught our attention if it weren’t for their placement—directly under the Morrison Bridge, where there’s absolutely zero sunlight. Not the ideal spot for the tiny shrubs stuck in the planters to thrive.
It is, however, a regular spot for homeless Portlanders to set up a tent or take a nap, and for understandable reasons: It’s on a strip of SW Natio without much foot traffic, protected from the rain, and walking distance to Old Town’s homeless services.
Since the planters were installed, the number of campers under the bridge has plummeted. We’re assuming that this is exactly what their installers had in mind: a quiet, harmless-looking attempt to boot homeless residents out of sight.
But we can’t be sure. That’s because no one knows where the planters came from.
“This has been a little bit of mystery to us, frankly,” says Dylan Rivera, spokesperson for Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT).
PBOT is the main agency that issues permits to businesses or other agencies wanting to encroach on the public right-of-ways—but Rivera found no permit linked to the sidewalk. And, a few weeks of investigating, Rivera confirmed that neither the city nor county has had anything to do with these planters. The Portland Business Alliance also had no involvement.
The only guess is that the adjacent property owners, City Center Parking, a company that runs dozens of parking lots across Portland, plopped the cement planters down sans permit. Which, according to Rivera, is entirely legal. PBOT only investigates these encroachments if someone files a complaint.
Management with City Center Parking did not return either of the Mercury‘s calls to confirm this hunch. Either way, the quiet arrival of these mundane planters represent another, less headline-catching way that private businesses enforce their own “no-sit” rules for Portland’s homeless.
If only someone had proposed re-purposing an existing large building to provide centralized shelter and services for the houseless many.
Yes, if only there was some kind of very large facility designed to shelter a significant number of people that already had bed, toilet, shower, cafeteria, and office facilities that was already constructed and owned by the city, where instead of under a bridge homeless folks could actually sleep indoors and receive on-site services.
Alas, how unrealistic that would be.
Alex, do you know the difference between circumference and diameter?
Remember: In the eyes of The Mercury, the homeless can do no wrong. If you question or challenge The Mercury’s opinion, or the opinion of the extreme homeless advocates, they’ll call you a NIMBY, a cold-hearted homeowner who thinks they get special rights just because you play by the rules and pay taxes.
Sadly, The Mercury has become the Left’s version of Breitbart.
Oh ffs, please, go to 94/Gladstone/MUP and see what entrenched camping does to a community, Make sure to talk with all the POC/working-class families that live there. If you decide this doesn’t fit your narrative, then let me share with you what is happening. They are in “lock-down” mode because of the fear brought upon them by complete strangers camping right up (and sometimes inside) their yards. The hypocrisy by people who identify themselves as progressive, sometimes, really does not know any bounds .. dog whistles Portland-style baby, dog whistles )-;
Yes, you’re right: it is strange that PBOT would be uninformed about this. But it’s hardly a bad thing. Unless you’re under the impression that downtown looks really, really good right now.
And no tears were shed.
As an avid cyclist..I am happy that this camp is gone…the smell was terrible under the bridge when riding to get onto the Morrison and the trash left behind was an eyesore.
For a city so eco-conscious, it astounds me how trash is socially acceptable…at least if it is done by these campers. As a minority, I am astounded at the levels of privilege exhibited by these bums have the lack of respect for common spaces and trash pile up in our city. Yes, privilege can also be an attitude.
Time to take these planters and destroy them! Placements of objects designed to make the lives of the homeless and ability to rest more difficult should result in those objects being removed and destroyed. City Center Parking is an enemy of the poor and should be treated as the scumbags they are! Let’s sabotage City Center Parking and drive them out of business! Wire cutters should open up that fence too! VOTE HAFNER FOR CONGRESS http://www.EricHafner.com
Hey Eric, didn’t you run for Congress in 2016…in Hawaii? As a Republican? You move fast, my man.
Eric Hafner’s unofficial campaign slogan is “Impotent Rage.”