PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — City officials in Portland, Oregon, are set to vote on a plan that aims to move homeless people from roughly 700 encampments across the city to a few large, designated campsites. Mayor Ted Wheeler has said the aim is to gradually move people closer to needed services. Republican-led states including Texas and Missouri have passed laws in the past couple years prohibiting street camping while diverting money from affordable housing projects to short-term shelter solutions. Now, after decades of struggling to tackle homelessness, some progressive West Coast cities are considering similar plans. Opponents say the restrictions effectively criminalize homelessness without addressing the root causes.
Cities seek to control camping amid growing homeless crisis
