PORTLAND, Ore. — It’s not abnormal to see homeless camps lined across the highway when driving through Portland. Community members KGW spoke to said what’s often overlooked is the neighborhoods behind these camps. They express that they are constantly dealing with the spillover of trash, crime, prostitution and now fires.
William Harrington said he bought a home in the Rose City Park neighborhood at the start of the 2020 pandemic, dreaming of settling down with his wife, who had just had a baby. Unfortunately, the area did not live up to his hopes.
"The neighborhood is heavily afflicted with the homeless epidemic," Harrington said. "We also have problems with other crimes like prostitution."
Harrington said his concerns recently started to escalate.
"Oh, I am constantly terrified," he said, referencing a fire on Sept. 6 and another on Sept. 7. Portland Fire said both were started at homeless camps.
"I feel an immense amount of rage at this situation all the time. Ultimately, what it boils down to is me and my family are going to leave. We are going to leave because they obviously care more about these homeless people than they do us," Harrington said.
We spoke to one homeless man who said he used to camp out in the same Rose City Park neighborhood, living off I-84. He asked not to reveal his identity for safety reasons.
"We kept the nastiness and criminal element out of it. We just wanted to live," he said, admitting that some homeless individuals taint the public perception of the entire community.
"When we kind of figured out the individual who was responsible for that, we had very stout communications with this individual," he said.
Although he acknowledges the issue, that doesn’t do much for people like Larry Browning, who has been living in the Northeast Portland neighborhood for 15 years.
"It started out that I was getting robbed, then fires began," Browning said.
He credits the city for putting up boulders as a deterrent while wishing there was more that could be done.
"I have no retort. I don't know where to go to get this to be stopped. That is what I need to know," Browning said.
Harrington and his wife said they have contacted the city many times and are considering legal action.