Dozens of leaders, mostly from Western states, have asked the Supreme Court to overturn lower court decisions that restrict enforcement against public camping.
What it boils down to are most of the shelters have restrictions, like "no drugs or alcohol" and the homeless who refuse shelter either can't or won't abide by those restrictions.
Also, aren't the shelters notoriously unsafe, even moreso than living on the street? I know they are in New York, don't know if it's also the case in Portland…
It might be hard to imagine if you don't know much about it, but situations like this is sadly not uncommon in New York shelters:
Our review of nearly 3,000 pages of internal records of dangerous and criminal activity inside 30th Street in 2017 and 2018 found:
Serious incidents — such as assaults, death threats and possession of significant quantities of drugs — won’t necessarily get someone arrested or even kicked out.
Violations of shelter rules often go without punishment.
Repeat offenders have no trouble bedding down for the night in a shelter, even after multiple incidents in various city-run facilities. That was the case with the man accused of the Chinatown killings.
You may note that it's an old article, but things have gotten much worse since then, in large part because the current mayor is a fascist cop, but I repeat myself.
Portlander here:
What it boils down to are most of the shelters have restrictions, like "no drugs or alcohol" and the homeless who refuse shelter either can't or won't abide by those restrictions.
Also, aren't the shelters notoriously unsafe, even moreso than living on the street? I know they are in New York, don't know if it's also the case in Portland…
The claim is they are less safe, but it's hard to imagine being less safe than homeless in a place where you can't put your back to a wall.
It might be hard to imagine if you don't know much about it, but situations like this is sadly not uncommon in New York shelters:
source
You may note that it's an old article, but things have gotten much worse since then, in large part because the current mayor is a fascist cop, but I repeat myself.