As the city of Portland, Oregon, clawed its way out of the pandemic, it faced a new set of crises: The city’s homeless population was growing. Tents lined some city blocks. High-powered business associations held press conferences demanding the city remove homeless people and touted self-funded surveys saying that without action, businesses and residents would flee the city.
By late spring 2021, the city committed to a new strategy that then-Mayor Ted Wheeler said would “reprioritize public health and safety among homeless Portlanders,” ultimately allocating $1.3 billion by the end of 2024.
But although the city spent roughly $200,000 per homeless resident throughout that time, deaths of homeless people recorded in the county quadrupled, climbing from 113 in 2019 to more than 450 in 2023, according to the most recent data from the Multnomah County Health Department. The rise in deaths far outpaces the growth in the homeless population, which was recorded at 6,300 by a 2023 county census, a number most agree is an undercount. The county began including newly available state death records in its 2022 report, which added about 60 deaths to the yearly tolls.
So the bit of the article quoted doesnt cover the salient points its making. It reads as if its saying “spending more on the homeless is bad” when actually its saying “bad policy can cost more and make things worse”.
The death rate went up because Portland started aggressive anti-honeless techniques of sweeps to clear homeless encampments and a reduction of longer term stable housing in favour of short term shelters.
What the article is saying is Portland enacted bad and expensive policies that have made the situation worse not better.
Who is surprised that systematically destroying the meager shelters that people have created to protect themselves, would amount to more deaths from exposure and malnutrition?
I don’t understand how anyone can look at that and think of it as a solution unless they would prefer the homeless people die.
Many taxpayers would prefer the homeless die.
Well it turns out, I too, would prefer that those taxpayers died. They can literally eat my shit.
City leaders began moving homeless people out of public view by removing tents at a rate far surpassing those of its West Coast peers. Since 2021, it carried out 19,000 sweeps, and it dismantled over 20 encampments per day in 2024, according to city records.
We are very puzzled why spending more money on harassing homeless people increased the death rate?
Homeless residents in Multnomah County die, on average, more than 30 years earlier than the average U.S. life expectancy of 78
WTF?! That’s a life expectancy for homeless people of only 48 years!!
Another example of how American society is sociopathic. According to the numbers of the article, the death rate was an insane 8% !!!
USA is not a civilized country.These deaths came during the same period that Portland began a two-pronged response to public pressure over homelessness. City leaders began moving homeless people out of public view by removing tents at a rate far surpassing those of its West Coast peers. Since 2021, it carried out 19,000 sweeps, and it dismantled over 20 encampments per day in 2024, according to city records.
At the same time, the city reduced money for stable permanent housing while dramatically increasing its investment in temporary shelters. The city spent $19.4 million to house formerly homeless Portlanders in 2019, according to the city budget. By 2024, the city budgeted $4.3 million, which housed 391 people.
They got what they paid for
Terrible policy had a terrible outcome, what a surprise. Of course spending more money on harassing the homeless caused more deaths, especially with the winter they just had.
We could have spent 1.3 billion building affordable homes. That also, by definition, makes them not homeless.
but the dream of the 90s…
Let me let you in on a little secret: television isn’t real.
Only rich asshats get to pretend Portland is still like that.
A bohemian artist hasn’t been able to make solid living and afford rent in Portland since probably a few years before the show even started.
Anyone else remember the video of Fred Armisen going through downtown Portland surrounded by corporate culture and being like “this is the real Portland”?
Fucking New Yorkers man.
