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This spring, Portland and Multnomah County officials were contemplating a plan to permanently eliminate “The Pit,” an expansive homeless encampment under the west end of the Steel Bridge, according to senior officials in the mayor’s office.
The plan, they say, was simple: The city would hold off on cleaning up the site until the county could “rapidly rehouse” its occupants. City officials say they initially believed the project would be done by May.
But things didn’t go according to plan. As The Oregonian has previously reported, the county struggled to find a contractor willing to do the work of finding the campers housing. Ultimately, Transition Projects began work in June, with the understanding that the encampment was not going to be swept. Then, months dragged on as outreach workers rushed to sign leases—a challenge given the fact that many of the campers didn’t have identification cards, let alone furniture.
By August, city officials had run out of patience. TriMet was eager to install boulders under its onramp to deter camp fires—a man had almost died when a fire broke out in a cinderblock chamber where he was living under a street nearby. And the camp had become a national spectacle after a New York Times photographer snapped photos of conditions inside. In August, the mayor’s office decided to pull the plug.
By the time city cleanup crews surveyed the site in October, they found 50 people still living there. The county had successfully rehoused a total of just 18 people in private apartments—moving 20 more to one of the city’s large new temporary pod shelters in Southeast Portland.
“The pit” is now surrounded by red fencing and “no trespassing” signs paid for by the city.
The conclusion of the saga left a sour aftertaste for some. “Transition Projects does not support camp clearing,” the nonprofit said in a statement. It says it will continue trying to find housing for 150 people its workers met at the encampment, and is hoping to expand its outreach further into Old Town.