A collaborative effort that appears to work there might be brought to San Francisco and it has the kind of compassion with results that might also work here, with the big question being, will the downtown business interests pay for it as they are in Portland.
S.F. leaders hear about Portland's approach to homelessness
C.W. Nevius
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Mike Kuykendall says the criticism never seemed to let up.
"We were barraged with people complaining about conditions downtown," he said. "There were people sitting on the sidewalk, there were guys with sleeping bags and pit bulls, and there was aggressive panhandling. We had visitors and conventioneers saying they didn't want to come back."
Sound familiar?
No, it isn't downtown San Francisco.
Kuykendall is the head of the Business Alliance of Portland, Ore. Last week, he led a group that came to town to pitch San Francisco officials on Portland's downtown plan, called "Street Access for Everyone."
Sponsored by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and President Steve Falk, the delegation met with Mayor Gavin Newsom, District Attorney Kamala Harris, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, and Supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier and Sean Elsbernd. Frankly, that is an audience that would be expected to be very sympathetic to the idea. Clearly, this is an attempt to build political support for an initiative that could address one of the most persistent problems in downtown San Francisco - the unpleasant, and infamous, street scene.
Granted, there have been lots of attempts to solve this, and none seems to have made much of an impact. But before rejecting the idea out of hand, take a moment to understand the overall concept.
The San Francisco effort began when Falk took a trip this year to Portland. The city, which resembles a mini-San Francisco in many ways, has come up with an innovative model to keep people from camping on the sidewalk. Falk, who was impressed with the plan and thought a version of it might work here, suggested the Portland group visit city officials.
It is easy to see why the concept sounds attractive. The Portland group has accomplished the seemingly impossible. They've reduced the presence of street people, decreased street crime (down 40 percent in the last year, according to Kuykendall), and insist that they haven't alienated homeless advocates. Making all that come together is a minor miracle, and by all accounts it sounded great to the locals.
"It was a terrific meeting," said Newsom's press secretary, Nathan Ballard. "The mayor was intrigued by the ideas."
The Portland ordinance simply says that "sitting, lying down, or leaving one's belongs on a public sidewalk in a (designated) High Pedestrian Traffic Area during certain times (7 a.m. to 9 p.m.) would not be permitted." But the twist is that local businesses have contributed extra services. For example, although sitting on the sidewalk will earn a citation, benches are provided as an alternative. In addition, a lack of public restrooms - a persistent complaint about life on the street - is addressed by using private funding to build small restrooms, which are private, but not completely enclosed, to avoid the problems San Francisco ran into with its large, locking public toilets. In addition, there are plans for a "day center," where truly homeless individuals could store their belongings, get a shower and do laundry.
The result is an ordinance that moves the street people off the sidewalk, but also gives them amenities that make life more pleasant.
