A sad side effect of a very permissive city-wide camping policy means that public sanitation has reached dangerous levels. To the level that we’re having outbreaks of communicable diseases related to feces.

Bans on urban camping and home codes have been a thing since Hooverville days. Public sanitation can become life and death health concern for urban residents. Sadly, it appears Portland has reached that tipping point, despite spending $75,000 a month on 130 public toilets (that were all destroyed or stolen)

Articles:

• News:
  • https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/dysentery-cases-rise-in-portland-metro-area-health-department-reports/
  • https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2025/03/03/dysentery-portland-oregon/81175188007/
  • https://mynorthwest.com/ktth/ktth-opinion/rantz-homeless-fecal-matter-behind-explosion-shigella-cases-portland/3944857
• Local forum reports
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/comments/1ht35nm/what_can_i_do_about_the_human_feces_in_my/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/czpg2f/is_it_really_legal_to_take_a_dump_on_the_sidewalk/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/Maine/comments/1gg4bjm/bodily_fluids_feces_found_in_front_of_business/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/120id9i/today_i_learned_about_the_multnomah_county_pooper/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1iv05ga/this_city_never_ceases_to_amaze_me/