Portland.gov (Impact Reduction Program) · on last week's campsite removals and shelter referrals
The Impact Reduction Program removed 140 campsites during September 21-27 and received 1,898 new campsite reports, including 475 reports of people living in vehicles. Assessment teams visited 345 active campsites. 33 people expressed interest in a shelter referral, 13 accepted one, and 3 used a shelter bed for at least one night.
The prior week (September 14-20) the program removed 155 campsites and received 1,524 reports; 15 people accepted referrals and 6 used a bed.
Vancouver Homeless Assistance and Resource Team manager Jamie Spinelli, responding to the outlet's question of why the city does not ban camping citywide after adopting a 1,500-foot buffer around the 120-bed Bridge Shelter, said neither the city nor the county system has the enforcement, jail or shelter capacity to resolve unsheltered homelessness through enforcement. She cited a county report that the jail has had no available beds 88% of the time since January 2025 and asked where the 500+ people living outdoors would go. The outlet counted more than 100 tents and tarps within a few blocks of the Share House in downtown Vancouver on Thursday.
The city already bans camping within 1,000 feet of its four Safe Stay communities.
Worcester city councilors on Tuesday rejected City Manager Eric Batista's proposed encampment ordinance, which would have fined homeless people $25 per infraction for camping in tents, sleeping on streets or sidewalks, or living in vehicles parked 24 consecutive hours in public lots. Councilor Gary Rosen filed a motion, supported by most councilors, sending the broader homelessness strategy back to Batista with instructions to remove the ordinance. Councilor Khrystian King called the measure a "homeless incarceration act" and said the city failed to consult social service experts.
This year's point-in-time count identified 1,187 unhoused people in Worcester County, down from 2,862 last year, against a supply of 197 permanent shelter beds across four shelters.
The Vancouver City Council voted unanimously Monday night, after a public comment period, to approve an amendment to Vancouver Municipal Code 8.22 establishing a "Camping and Outside Habitation Impact Area" spanning 1,500 feet around the new 120-bed Bridge Shelter on Northeast 94th Avenue. Homeless Response Manager Jamie Spinelli said the city sets a 1,500-foot buffer for the larger facility versus 1,000 feet at smaller city shelters. The 24-hour shelter, operated by Do Good Multnomah, is set to open this winter.
The council had tentatively set the 1,500-foot boundary on September 14, with camping prohibited beginning November 1, per The Columbian.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League released a 30-second television ad Friday criticizing Councilwoman Nithya Raman's opposition to Municipal Code 41.18, the city's anti-camping law, ahead of the November 3 mayoral election between Raman and Mayor Karen Bass. The union provided $620,000 for the campaign and the Los Angeles Professional Manager's Association contributed another $100,000, for a total of $720,000.
LAPPL president Ricky Mendoza said in the ad campaign that Raman voted more than 75 times against banning encampments near schools, parks and daycares; the runoff is November 3.
Vancouver City Council held the first reading of a camping ban covering 1,500 feet around the 120-bed Bridge Shelter under construction, with the ban slated to take effect November 1. A city spokesperson said the ban gives the Homeless Assistance and Response Team and other agencies the ability to work with people living unsheltered in the area before the shelter opens, which officials expect by the end of the year. A public hearing and second reading are scheduled for September 21.
Vancouver already bans camping within 1,000 feet of its Safe Stay sites.
The city received 1,554 new campsite reports, including 387 reports of people living in vehicles, assessed approximately 648 reported campsites and removed 144 campsites during the week of September 7-13. Of the people teams contacted, 28 expressed interest in a shelter referral, 11 accepted referrals and 3 used a shelter bed for at least one night.
The prior week's report (August 31-September 6) recorded 1,758 new campsite reports and 146 campsites removed.
The Renton City Council voted Monday night to send a proposed camping ordinance back to its Committee of the Whole after roughly two hours of public testimony. The ordinance as written would prohibit camping, storing personal items and keeping shopping carts on city property, with violations of trespass orders punishable by up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. Councilmember James Alberson proposed amending the language so people are "encouraged to accept a referral" rather than required to accept services; the city attorney said the ordinance is unenforceable as written unless the council determines consequences for people who decline services.
Neighboring Tukwila's camping ban took effect July 28, and its police chief said no arrests or citations have been issued under it.
Phoenix City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a zoning change extending the special permit for the city's Safe Outdoor Space, a sanctioned camping site that opened in 2023. The 5.5-acre property at 15th Avenue and Jackson Street can hold up to 200 camp sites, with tents provided by the city under a shade structure. Vice Mayor Kesha Hodge Washington credited the city's Office of Homeless Solutions for its work with residents at the site.
The site opened in 2023 near the former "Zone" encampment, which a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ordered Phoenix to clear that year.
City Manager Eric Batista sent the City Council an ordinance, for its September 15 meeting, that would prohibit camping, sleeping or lying on public property and bar living in vehicles on public ways or in public parking lots for more than 24 consecutive hours, with a $25-per-day fine for people who remain after a notice to vacate. The ordinance is part of Batista's "Disrupting the Cycle" framework, which pairs enforcement with expanded shelter capacity, a live bed-availability dashboard, and centralized shelter access. Worcester has 197 beds across four permanent year-round shelters, with 136 temporary beds added last winter.
The 2026 Point in Time count identified 1,187 unhoused people in Worcester County, down from the previous year.
The Jackson, Michigan City Council voted 4-3 on September 8 to approve an ordinance prohibiting tents on public property and allowing seizure of unattended property, and of attended property exceeding a 32-gallon container, following posted notice. The ordinance takes effect in 30 days. It was drafted in July after a since-removed homeless encampment developed downtown; opponents at public comment said it would make life harder for the city's homeless population.
An August second-reading vote was postponed because Vice Mayor Freddie Dancy was absent and three councilmembers said they would vote no, which would have defeated the measure.
Street Roots · on shelter acceptance rates under Portland's camping ban
Street Roots reviewed city data on Portland's public camping ban and reported that the Impact Reduction Program has swept over 6,000 encampments since the ban took effect. Impact Reduction Program weekly reports showed 308 of 1,362 people accepted shelter when offered, and Portland Police Bureau data showed 539 of 1,397 people accepted shelter offered by PPB, for a combined acceptance rate of about 31%. Shelter residents interviewed cited belongings restrictions, daily room inspections, theft, and curfews as reasons for declining; Path Home executive director Brandi Tuck put average shelter cost at about $4,000 per person per month.
Portland's ban on sleeping in public took effect Nov. 1, 2025.
Olympia launched a pilot program allowing people to live in RVs and other vehicles for up to six months with a permit: residential properties can host one vehicle in a driveway and churches up to two in their parking lots, and any host site must provide restroom access, with outdoor storage, garbage and septic hookups prohibited. City Manager Jay Burney authorized the program, citing an ordinance declaring a public health emergency over homelessness, and Community Development Director Tim Smith presented it to the city council this week.
Olympia city code previously barred parking a vehicle used for camping in one place for more than 24 hours.
Street Roots reported that Portland's Impact Reduction Program had conducted 5,491 sweeps between the citywide camping ban's November 1 effective date and August 1, more than 1,248 of them since June, and that coordinated camp removals are suspended during excessive heat warnings while police can still ticket for camping-ban violations. County data cited in the story showed total homelessness in Multnomah County rose from 17,155 people in November to 18,248 by May, and that 75% of people exiting shelters as of May remained homeless.
Portland Police Bureau data cited in the story showed 492 of 1,134 people offered shelter as of June accepted it.
Councilmember Dan Strauss's RV legislation package allocates $5 million — $1.5 million one-time and $3.5 million ongoing — and funds eight new positions, pairing a one-time permit program for people living in RVs with a ban on RV street parking from midnight to 6 a.m. and a two-hour daytime limit. Permit holders could decline up to six shelter or housing offers before losing the permit; the city's Unified Care Team has tallied 145 vehicles meeting the program's definition, a figure Strauss said he believes is an undercount. The package sets an April 30 deadline to stand up the permit program and parking restrictions, with enforcement beginning by July 31.
Strauss said he expects the public safety committee to discuss the package again on or before September 22; one safe-parking lot, Glassyard Commons in West Seattle, opens in November.
LAist · on the removal of 41.18 anti-camping zones in LA's Council District 13
The Los Angeles City Council voted 10-3 Tuesday to erase some Municipal Code 41.18 zones — areas where unhoused people cannot sit, lie, sleep, or keep belongings — in Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez's district, covering underpasses in Silver Lake and Echo Park and 101 Freeway overpasses in Hollywood. Soto-Martinez, who introduced the motion to remove zones established by his predecessor Mitch O'Farrell, said he believed it was the first effort to have 41.18 zones removed rather than put in place. Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, voting no, said the law "was never intended to be the solution to our homeless problem" but is "about protecting public spaces."
A 2023 report from the city's lead homelessness agency concluded the 41.18 policy had not kept most areas clear of encampments and was "generally ineffective" at connecting people to housing.
Portland.gov Impact Reduction Program · on the week's campsite-report, assessment, and removal figures
The city's Impact Reduction Program reported receiving 1,470 new campsite reports in the week of August 3-9, including 403 reports of people living in vehicles, and said it assessed approximately 652 reported campsites and removed 141 that it said posed a risk to health and safety. Of people contacted, 11 expressed interest in a shelter referral, 3 accepted, and 3 used a shelter bed for at least one night.
The prior week's report (July 27-August 2) recorded 1,701 new campsite reports and approximately 538 campsites assessed.
The Tennessean reported that Tennessee's felony anti-camping law is drawing renewed scrutiny after Metro Nashville Police charged an unhoused man and woman with felonies for camping in an East Nashville park in June — the department's first charges under the statute — and the cases were dismissed days later.
Tennessee's 2022 law made camping on local public property a felony, the only state law of its kind in the country.