Portland property owners have been growing increasingly creative when it comes to blocking homeless campers from resting on the sidewalks adjacent to their properties. From giant concrete planters to piles of boulders to turning galvanized livestock troughs into sidewalk gardens. But, just when you think the city’s passive NIMBYs have run out of ideasโallow me to introduce perhaps the most Portland form of “hostile architecture“: bike racks.
On Wednesday, a reader shared with the Mercury a photo of 22 newly-installed single U-shaped bike racks on one block along the eastern sidewalk of NW Broadway between Flanders and Glisan. There is about about four feet between each rack. Notably, this wall of bike racks appeared in front of what appears to be a vacant, boarded-up building with no attractions that would require hoards of bike parking. Bicyclists do frequently use SW Broadway’s bike lanes, but there is no business or destination in the nearby vicinity that would call for such an extreme amount of bike parking (aside from neighboring Pacific Northwest College of Art, which already has ample bike parking.)
The property does lie next door to one of the city’s homeless villages at NW 6th and Hoytโwhich announced its closure last week due to rising crimeโand is in the middle of the city’s Old Town neighborhood, which boasts many of the city’s homeless services. It’s not unusual for multiple tents and other ad-hoc shelters to line this block in particular. The city’s homeless encampment reporting system shows that members of the public have repeatedly reported campers on the sidewalk that’s now dotted with bike racks.
Using bike racks to deter homeless camping isn’t a novel idea. In 2017, Seattle’s transportation department coordinated with police to install bike racks on a sidewalk shortly after sweeping a homeless camp in the area. In this case, however, it’s not a city-sponsored program.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), which regulates sidewalk use and bike rack installation, said the new racks were completely off their radar.
“We were not aware of this and did not permit this bike rack installation,” said PBOT spokesperson Dylan Rivera Thursday. “We’re taking a look at the situation and considering our next steps.”
The vacant property adjacent to these bike racksโ622 NW Glisanโis owned by Harsch Investments, a private real estate company owned by Portland’s Jordan Schnitzer. Schnitzer is known for bankrolling the transformation of a vacant jail in North Portland into a private homeless shelter called Bybee Lakes Hope Center. Since before the creation of Bybee Lakes, Schnitzer has lobbied City Hall and state politicians to find solutions that would remove unhoused people from populating downtown Portland blocks, arguing that it’s “unfair” to downtown property owners like him.
The property manager for the Harsch building declined to respond to the Mercury‘s inquiry Thursday on why the 22 bike racks were installed. Perhaps an homage to Pedalpalooza? We’ll update this post if we learn any new information about the racks.
To call this NIMBY behavior is so insulting. Do you live here? Do you spend any time here? When unchecked, the area is filled with tents – structures – that last months, or until they catch on fire or become part of a violent crime. It’s not like the bike racks are meant to prevent people from “resting” for a moment, in fact, they’ll probably work as a great seat to catch a smoke a rest while walking. This sidewalk has been unusable because of the compounds there. Whenever you would get near, you would be threatened. Do you remember that a little kid was shot on the same block recently? The block was previously lined with chain – where was your story then? Measures like this suck, but they are becoming necessary because the city isn’t helping, and neither are articles like this one. Sure, the structure looks abandoned and is only used for parking cars, but next to it are businesses and residences filled with people that are fatigued from the constant struggle of trying to keep themselves and their property safe. If you don’t already live in Old Town, why not rent a place for a few months before writing anymore commentary on the activities of residents that are just trying to a live a life that doesn’t involve daily vandalism and threats of violence.
I guess we now know who installed these staples (@1), I hope they are fined and whichever contractor did the work without a permit loses their license. However, I’m pretty skeptical at the claim no one at the city was aware. They do this kinda crap every year in the weeks leading up to Rose Fest (same goes for the closure of the camp this week). It is pretty ironic though when you think back on all the battles over trying get the city to install more racks. If anything, with these being about 4′ apart that would make for some pretty sweet framing. Throw a tarp over a few of those, tie it down, and you’ve got yourself a nice shelter!
@1 – Perfect response.
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Yes to @1. No to everything else. This article is a garbage take.
Not seeing a problem here. There is still plenty of room in the camping lane.
Gee…I WONDER WHY THE BUILDING IS VACANT
The degree of understanding both sides of this situation exhibited by the writer is pathetic.