{"id":13119,"date":"2025-01-20T13:10:56","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T20:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?p=13119"},"modified":"2025-01-04T13:34:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T20:34:53","slug":"removing-hoboats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?p=13119","title":{"rendered":"Removing Portland’s hoboats in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Portland’s homeless don’t just camp on the streets – they’re also living on ramshackle and abandoned boats at an ever-increasing rate. Unfortunately, they are a source of a lot of solid human waste and pollution – especially when they sink or are abandoned<\/a>. Recently they’ve been parking them right in the middle of downtown right beside OMSI children’s museum<\/a> or St Johns<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The problem is only getting worse. 44 boats were removed from the river in 2024 through funding from the Oregon State Marine Board and the American Rescue Plan Act. Over the past three years, a total of 88 boats were retrieved from the river including 25 in 2022 and 19 in 2023. It doesn’t help that the parks department is forced to store the boats for 30 days before they can clean up the mess<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either way, it’s costing us millions to get rid of them<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In a step sideways; the city is spending a lot to dispose of voluntarily surrendered boats before they’re abandoned. It prevents them from being abandoned\/taken by homeless, but still costs taxpayers to dispose of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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