PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A week after Portland’s newest low-barrier overnight shelter opened on NW Northrup Street, some Pearl District residents said they are not happy, but the effects are not as bad as they expected.
One big gripe for residents is that some tents are a few blocks away from the shelter near the interstate.
“A
city sidewalk along a street that runs under I-405 is something that the city can sweep,” Linda Whipp with the Pearl District Neighborhood Association said. “But those rough sidewalks that run the whole length of 16th. We understand from an email I just got 10 minutes ago that those cannot be swept by the city. So, you know, it might be months before they’re swept by ODOT because ODOT doesn’t have the funding.”
A City of Portland spokesperson confirmed they cannot conduct law enforcement on ODOT properties.
Across the neighborhood, residents said living near the shelter in the first week is not so bad. Sharon Callen said she did not even know it was open.
“That’s good if they can, you know, keep it contained right there,” she said. “And you know, I have sympathy for these people. It’s not like we’re not sympathetic to the situation where you are without a home and without shelter. We are. But it seems like they just need to make solutions that treat everyone fairly.”
The number of visitors is growing. According to Portland Solutions, the shelter only had 13 visitors each of the first two nights, but got 30 over the weekend and 27 on Sunday night. There are still plans to increase shelter capacity to 100 before October 1. With eventual plans to fit up to 200 people in the shelter, some residents are still worried.
“The most concern that people have is their livability and their security,” Whitt said. “Obviously, we don’t want to see crime going up because, you know, when you let 200 people out of a shelter and a lot of them have mental illness and they have drug addiction, you let them out in the morning. Where do they go?”
Even when they increase capacity, the city does not expect to hit 100 visitors right away. But a spokesperson said already, the number of visitors is increasing a little faster than expected.