Portland Mulls Costly Plan To Build Shed-Like Sleep Pods At Homeless Camps

Portland, Oregon will improve the conditions of its homeless camps through the replacement of tents by “sleeping pods”, which it can finance with state aid.

Mayor Ted Wheeler stated Tuesday that “tents will work,” during a virtual town hall. “But, if we can also find an efficient way to finance and deliver pods — that’d certainly be an improvement from my perspective.”

According to Oregon Live, Wheeler is focusing on creating six large outdoor camps to help him reduce homeless camping in public spaces.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek stated that the city’s camp would not be eligible for the $200 million in emergency housing and housing funding plan. This is because the tents don’t meet the governor’s requirements.

However, a spokesperson for Governor Wheeler confirmed that sleeping pods may be eligible for funding from the county. Cody Bowman, Wheeler’s spokesperson, said that the city is looking into the pods as well as other options.

Bowman stated that “we hope to have a part in deciding where these money are directed.” If possible, we will push for investments to go towards the temporary shelter sites of the mayor.

The $27 million that Portland City Council allocated to build and maintain three of the six tent sites over a year includes plans to hire homeless outreach workers, and to fund the city’s office that cleans the encampments. Within the next two-years, three more camps will be built by the city.

Los Angeles has already opened a few of these small home villages. The non-profits that built one of them are also in talks to create one in Portland.

Wheeler acknowledged that the plan cannot be funded by the city on its own and needs support from the state legislators, the regional government, and the count. The current plan is supported by 82% of the city’s residents. However, similar support has been given for a ban on camping in cities.

Advocates for the homeless argue that mass encampment plans would be inefficient and could traumatize or harm residents.

Portland has explored pods before. A study by Portland State University last year found that pod-living residents were satisfied with their accommodations but not with food security.

It was also revealed that neighbors who live near pod-based villages became less concerned over them over time. “Most neighbors who expressed concerns when they first heard about villages being in their area reported not having these concerns after moving closer to the village.”

Dignity Village is the oldest pod village or tiny house community in the county. It was founded in 2000. There are “about 60 villages at any one time.” According to the study, the village is approximately $33,000 annually and contains 45 pods.

Toddy Ferry, the lead researcher and writer of the report, stated that the structure alone does not solve the problem and that the government must “really think about social infrastructure and its effects.”

Ferry said that self-governance is not possible in every case, but that thinking about how to create an agency can have a huge impact on the lives of others. Ferry spoke to OPB in an interview.

Although he acknowledged the fact that villages can provoke “a reaction from neighbours”, he said that it was important to not pay too much attention to what neighbors think about it, since they often change their minds over time.