PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) – In one Southeast Portland neighborhood, frustration is boiling over. Residents say they are living with two problems that never seem to get solved: massive potholes and recurring homeless camps. Many now feel the city has written them off.
Living Beside Potholes the Size of Craters
For Christina Hungerford, her dog Maverick, and roommate Ryan Hanley, driving down their street feels more like navigating an obstacle course than a neighborhood. The potholes outside their home aren’t just inconvenient—they are deep enough to damage vehicles.
“They’re more like craters than potholes,” Hungerford said. “If we filled them with water, we could swim in them.”
Neighbors say they regularly watch cars bottom out, trucks swerve, and dust clouds rise every time a vehicle passes. The state of the street has even affected property values.
“So this guy tried to sell his house,” Hungerford explained. “But when buyers came, the realtor had to drive through these craters just to get here. Who’s going to buy a house on a road like this?”
Hungerford admits she would move if it weren’t for her neighbors. “I love the people here. But the conditions are unbelievable.”
Homeless Camps Bring Safety Concerns
Just a few blocks away, Charlie Leavitt points to another pressing problem: sprawling homeless camps lining 112th Avenue and Clinton Street, directly across from where schoolchildren catch the bus.
Leavitt’s eighth-grade child and other students must pass through the encampment to reach the pickup location. “At the end of this street is the bus stop,” Leavitt said. “There’s only one pickup for kids, and they have to walk through the camp to get there.”
Neighbors recently reported seeing a man slumped over with a needle in his arm while children walked past. Others captured video of fires breaking out among the tents and tarps, one blaze coming within feet of a homeowner’s backyard.
“They clear it out, and they come back,” Leavitt said. “We’ve watched fire crews respond here more than once. And every time, the cycle repeats.”
A Neighborhood in Decline
Residents say the combined impact of dangerous camps and failing infrastructure has left them feeling abandoned by city leaders.
“This place has fallen apart,” Hungerford said. “We’re living in a city that somehow allows streets like this to exist. On top of that, we’re surrounded by unsafe conditions. How are we supposed to feel anything but forgotten?”
Hanley echoed the frustration. “We could complain all we want, but it’s not a priority to them. Out here, we don’t have the same tax base as some other neighborhoods. It feels like we’re treated as a barren wasteland.”
Why the City Won’t Pave Their Street
Neighbors say they’ve been told their road is classified as a “private street”, which means the city will not maintain it. According to the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), many of these streets were originally rural roads built decades ago with gravel or thin pavement, well below county standards.
When Portland annexed these areas to extend sewer service, the roads were never upgraded or accepted into the city’s maintenance program.
In a written response, PBOT explained:
“Private is probably not the best way to describe these streets. They are open to the public, but their maintenance responsibility lies with the adjacent property owners until they are brought up to city standards.”
Bringing such roads up to standard is costly. Neighbors say they were told paving their street could cost up to $1 million, an expense they would have to pay themselves.
PBOT confirmed the figure, noting that substandard roads often lack essential infrastructure like storm drains, proper rock base, and structural systems. While residents may patch or repair the roads with similar materials without permits, building modern streets requires major investment.
The City’s Response on Homeless Camps
Regarding the encampments, a spokesperson for the city’s Impact Reduction Program acknowledged the issue.
“There previously were some vehicles camping there, but it looks like those lived-in vehicles have since left,” the spokesperson said, adding that crews plan to return soon to remove “any tents, trash, and property related to the camps.”
But for residents, the reassurance feels hollow. They say encampments are cleared temporarily, only to return within days or weeks. The cycle has left parents anxious about their children’s safety and homeowners fearful of property damage.
Residents Demand Action
Neighbors stress that they are not against helping unhoused individuals, but they believe the city needs to balance compassion with accountability.
“I understand people are struggling,” Leavitt said. “But kids should not be forced to walk through camps where there are needles, fires, and no security.”
Hungerford added: “We’re asking for the basics—safe roads, safe sidewalks, and safe communities. Right now, we don’t have any of that.”
A Broader Issue Across Portland
The situation reflects larger struggles across Portland, where deteriorating infrastructure intersects with the ongoing homelessness crisis. City leaders have invested in shelter expansion, housing programs, and outreach teams, but residents in Southeast say those efforts rarely reach their neighborhood.
Instead, they feel trapped—responsible for roads they cannot afford to fix and surrounded by camps they cannot keep away.
Looking Ahead
For now, the neighbors say they will continue contacting city offices, documenting conditions, and speaking out in the hope someone listens.
Hanley summed up the neighborhood’s sentiment: “There are a lot of good people who live out here. We pay our taxes. We care about this community. But we need help. We can’t do it all ourselves.”
Conclusion
As Southeast Portland residents contend with both crumbling streets and encampments that return as quickly as they are cleared, many feel abandoned by a system that seems to work better for other neighborhoods.
The city says property owners are responsible for substandard roads until they are rebuilt to meet standards, and officials pledge to continue encampment cleanups. But for families on 112th Avenue and Clinton Street, those explanations do little to ease daily realities.
Until more lasting solutions arrive, potholes and camps will remain the defining challenges of a neighborhood that feels increasingly overlooked.
Leave a Reply