Boulders to Replace Rose Bushes in ODOT Effort to Inconvenience the Homeless

To disrupt illegal camp sites set up by homeless in Portland, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is moving boulders onto the roadsides. The project will eventually cost about a million dollars, but ODOT argues this cost is less than the cost of dealing with existing campsites.

Many have pointed out that this policy does nothing to address the underlying problem or help the people in the camp, but only forces them to move somewhere else.

Still, some neighbors support the move, including Tiffany Hammer, who spoke with reporter Lindsay Nadrich. "Personal safety is something Hammer and other neighbors said they have not had in years," Nadrich writes for NBC affiliate KGW. There had previously been reports of fires breaking out in the camp and of people defacing rose bushes. The bushes at least will no longer be an issue.