GRANTS PASS, Ore.– Next month the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case out of Grants Pass regarding criminalizing sleeping in public spaces. Martin v. Boise and Grants Pass v. Johnson have prevented cities from punishing people for sleeping in public spaces when they have nowhere else to go. The Ninth US Circuit Court […]

“Martin v. Boise and Grants Pass v. Johnson have prevented cities from punishing people for sleeping in public spaces when they have nowhere else to go.”

  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldOPM
    423·
    8 months ago

    The reasons people choose not to go to a shelter are wide and varied, but the most commonly stated is “I want to be free!” which reads as “I can’t bring my drugs and booze!”

    See the article I linked:

    “I couldn’t do it,” said Cooper, sitting next to a shopping cart filled with his sleeping bag and other belongings. “Being out here, it’s freedom.”

    “I prefer to be outside because that way I can get up and move,” Varner said, while resting in the grass at Sewallcrest Park. “I can sleep in a nice area.”

    A KGW survey of 100 people living in tents in Portland found 89% would rather stay in a tent over a shelter.

    “I think that shelters are too temporary and there’s too much stimulation. I’m high functioning autistic. I just couldn’t. It’s not something for me. There’s too much going on,” he said.

    • treefrog@lemm.ee
      151·
      8 months ago

      I read that article. You cherry picked it just now. See my previous comment. I edited it to be more clear.

        • treefrog@lemm.ee
          21·
          8 months ago

          But cherry-picked.

          “I don’t want to go to a shelter,” explained Dave Cooper, an unhoused Portlander who sleeps outdoors at Sewallcrest Park in Southeast Portland or other public spaces.

          Cooper said shelters aren’t a viable option because of concerns over privacy, personal safety and a strict curfew.

          “I couldn’t do it,” said Cooper, sitting next to a shopping cart filled with his sleeping bag and other belongings. “Being out here, it’s freedom.”

          A 2019 survey of 180 people experiencing homelessness in Oregon, conducted as part of an Oregon Statewide Shelter Study by Oregon Housing and Community Services, found that the top barriers for using shelters were personal safety and privacy concerns, restrictive check-in and check-out times and overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.

          Emphasis mine.

          It would have been very easy for you to link the reasons in your original comment, or even your first reply to me, had that been your intention.

          And I get it, homelessness is annoying. But homeless people aren’t the issue. The article goes on to talk about some ways to make shelters more livable for homeless people as well as paths towards permanent housing, both are good solutions. And, if we can empathize with why people are choosing campsites over shelters, maybe we can find a fix instead of complaining like you did here about them trashing things without paying taxes.

          The sanitation and safety issues of campsites on public property are costing cities money they don’t have, for people who aren’t paying taxes to fund it.

          Which, I already pointed out, is a bullshit argument to begin with. Be annoyed if you want to be annoyed. But maybe next time just say that instead of going all NIMBY.