PORTLAND, Ore. — As the city of Portland pushes to open hundreds more overnight shelter beds by winter, it’s still struggling to deter homeless camps in parts of the city where they’ve long accumulated, even with the addition of more and more hostile architecture.
Off Southeast 57th Avenue and Powell Boulevard, the city’s Public Environment Management Office has installed chain-link fences and concrete blocks meant to deter some types of camps.
“I thought it was ridiculous,” said Lois Milare, who lives in this part of Southeast Portland. “Where the fencing is now was parking spaces.”…