# Portland accused of violating ADA by allowing camping on sidewalks



## MetalBryan (Sep 9, 2022)

Interesting intersection between folks who need mobility devices or are visually impaired and legal(ish?) sidewalk camping.


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## Sidewayssam (Sep 11, 2022)

This is a complicated issue for sure. The two parties in conflict here both clearly have needs that are not being met. Navigating life as a disabled person in a world that simply does not accommodate you or even recognize your human needs is difficult beyond what words can really describe.
That being said, this video's working pretty hard not to recognize the humanity of homeless folks.

In my opinion it's really unfortunate that a lawsuit against another marginalized group was the chosen approach. The result, if it goes anywhere, will likely just be more systemic violence towards people experiencing homelessness - it'll be used as justification for future sweeps, and we know that sweeps kill. 

I think there is a missing part to this conversation. Why do people need to sleep in tents on sidewalks in the first place?Rather than attacking the homeless population, who are largely not there by choice... I think it would be more productive to look to the real estate industry in Portland (and elsewhere) and the widespread commodification of housing in general. There are enough vacant homes in Portland for all of those people to stay in. If we were willing to discuss steps toward making those resources more available, this would be solved fairly easily..

What a world. That video left me feeling super gross. 

Funny how they can film peoples' camps all day but can never seem to find any homeless people to interview. Hate news channels


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## SleeplessInSeattle (Oct 12, 2022)

I agree with you. I think its half why are they on the streets and half why are they on sidewalks specifically? 
Why in the world do they have to be directly on public sidewalks? 

Welcome to the 2020s. Where the handicapped and homeless are at arms.


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## Forth (Oct 12, 2022)




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## spider (Jan 2, 2023)

this was wack honestly. portland doesn't give a shit about ADA or disabled people, they are just using this to target homeless people. in fact portland's anti-homeless shit has made the city so much worse for disabled people. and "disabled people" and "homeless people" is a pretty overlapping group anyway, seems absurd to pit those groups against each other when most disabled people I know have been homeless, are housing insecure (being disabled is expensive), disabled due to housing issues, etc.

it is very hard to find parks here that have full sized benches, public single stall accessible restrooms, covered areas, and drinking fountains, because they don't want to provide amenities that would make camping easier, even if these amenities are also necessary to use the park at all for many disabled people. 

The bus stops have been being built with tiny little seats attached to the poles instead of full benches and shelters (to discourage sleeping on the benches, but it also means only one person can get to sit while waiting for the bus, which means my cane-using ass has to sit on the curb a lot).

but of course they aren't campaigning about that as an ADA issue are they? because improving these things would improve life for homeless people. so they cherry pick the one ADA violation by the city (there are so fuckin many) that also aids their agenda to torment homeless people. 

so yeah it's not really the intersection they think it is. and even if it was the issue, their solution is always going to be sweeps and government camps, when solution should be free housing for any who want it, and more public amenities so that if people want to camp they can have a place to ditch their trash and go to the bathroom and shower.

portland government hates homeless people and disabled people


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## TheDesertMouse (Jan 3, 2023)

This is so god damn American I cant even….


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