Portland Coming to Grips with the Deaths of Four Homeless People

It's been a cold winter in Portland, and after four homeless people died during a cold snap, the city has been pushed into action. "These deaths rattled the residents of a city that — like Seattle — has seen its urban landscape defined not only by a burst of new construction, but a backdrop of tent cities and, each night, bedrolls unfurled in store entryways," reports Hal Bernton in the Seattle Times. Among other measures, government buildings have been converted into emergency shelters. "This was the first time The Portland Building — adorned by the massive copper Portlandia statue of a kneeling woman holding a trident — had ever welcomed the homeless," Bernton writes.

Mayor Ted Wheeler was sworn into office December 30, just before the deaths took place. "Homelessness was a big issue in the mayoral campaign, and Wheeler has proposed policies that include a push to increase shelter space and experimentation with clusters of tiny houses with running water and other amenities," Berton reports. The emergency shelters are now closed as temperatures have moderated, but many in the community hope the response is part of a lasting change to policy toward the homeless.