There had been some news reports that the city of Salem had been cleaning up Cascades Park this year. Running off the homeless, clearing out brushy areas, and removing all the trash left by the homeless. They’ve been doing the same by the Willamette River downtown.
Since I’d been gone for 6-7 months, I wanted to see for myself. I haven’t explored the Willamette area much yet, but did check out Cascades Park today. One obvious change is that more than half of the parking spaces are now closed off. Not sure of the rationale for that. I know that some vehicle dwellers like me would often hang out in the park during daytime hours. But I don’t think they were causing much problems. And there is less parking but we aren’t banned from the park, other than larger rigs like RVs. They were already banned before. So I don’t get it!
The bathrooms are still closed, have been for years. So several Portapots are placed nearby. Real attractive! I assume that gangbangers and vandals were trashing the bathrooms. That’s usually why cities do that.
I went walking to the back part of the park, where dozens of homeless used to camp. Right away I saw a couple homeless women that were cleaning up their campsite. They had gathered a lot of trash and placed it in a shopping cart. I talked with one for a few minutes. She said that she didn’t want the public to have such a bad impression of the homeless and they were trying to clean up their act. Glad to see that! I thought about helping, but they seemed rather nervous about me being around. So I headed deeper into the jungle.
I took a wrong pathway that ended up a dead end. But a woman lived at the end of the trail. She had a lean-to shelter. It was somewhat messy, with clothes drying in the sun and rather overstuffed with junk. She saw me and came out to say Hi. She was just wearing a bra for a top, despite the chilly temperatures. Her face was fairly attractive but her body was not. Her stomach had been wrecked by pregnancies and she was overweight. Not that I can really judge, since I’m far from perfect. I’m guessing her age at about 35-40. I have no idea why she would be without a shirt or blouse on.
She told me that she had been living there for six months and told me that the cold didn’t really bother her. I tried to converse with her, but her mind didn’t seem all there and her voice would trail off as she lost her train of thought. Finally, she pulled out a bunch of pot and a bong, and started smoking it. I wished her well and headed off. I don’t know if she lives alone or not.
As I went further, I started seeing little groups of tents that were semi-hidden in blackberry bushes and scrub brush. They had lots of trash scattered around them. Shopping carts were everywhere; along the trails, around the tents, and mostly thrown into the mud or water streams. I’d estimate that I saw 75-100 carts. Apparently the homeless like to take them, but not return them. There were also dozens of bicycles laying everywhere, mostly cannibalized for parts. I’m sure those were stolen! Paper, plastic, and food scraps are just everywhere that you look. That attracts rodents and birds. If I were those homeless people, I’d be burning the trash after dark, for warmth and to keep the rodent population away from the tents.
I did meet several men along the trails, but didn’t talk to any of them. They seemed suspicious of me, even though I had dressed down with work clothes. The total homeless population does seem less than I remembered, by maybe half. But the city definitely isn’t trying to keep them out. I’m guessing the camps were cleared out once in the spring and never again.
I’m going to keep track of what going on with the homeless in this area, for the time that I’m here. Still need to look at the Willamette camps. I did see some small encampments in Riverfront Park, mainly under bridges. I’m surprised that they haven’t been kicked out immediately, because of being so visible! I feel a little bit of kinship to the homeless, but most are very unlovable with their mental issues, addictions, and criminal tendencies. I do tend to want to fix people, but that never works out. So I mostly observe only, with little interaction.
Addendum…
I returned a couple weeks later and even more of the parking lot was blocked off. The whole east side was barricaded by a couple iron posts across the road. And the west side had big boulders and a gate, blocking most of the parking area. So, over 75% of the parking spots were eliminated. New signs are up that say, 4 Hour Parking Only.
The parking lot was jam packed, with many cars having to leave because of no space remaining. I found someone pulling out and grabbed their place. I did find a recent news story about the changes. Apparently, many homeless in vehicles had started parking there overnight, plus staying all day, too. One guy said that he’d been there for six months. So some government officials decided to crack down. Supposedly the police are coming through more often, too. Some parking tickets are being written. Personally, I think that cutting down the parking area is just stupid. That punishes everyone, not just the homeless in vehicles, like me. What’s next, a fee for parking?
Really, there does need to be an on-site person to deal with things. Someone to open and close the gate in the morning and evening. The bathrooms should be reopened and cleaned often. Problems should be nipped in the bud, not allowed to accumulate and fester. It would take some money, but is worth doing.
iggyvandweller 