MediterraneanGrocery Wholesalers in Portland, OR

North Portland’s rampant homeless problem has residents fleeing the city, according to a report.

Real-estate broker Lauren Iaquinta told KGW8 that she’s seen an uptick in residents packing up and heading to the suburbs because of a homeless camp in the neighborhood’s Peninsula Crossing Trail.

“You can be driving through North Portland and you’re in this lovely area where there’s no issues, and then you can make a turn around the corner and have homeless camps there,” she said. “It’s kind of sad. I’ve been doing this for 10 years here in Portland and it’s changed quite a bit.”

Iaquinta said she now has to vet areas when selling homes because clients don’t want to live near homeless people. She did not cite any data about people moving because of the homeless encampment.

“Most people don’t want to have to worry about if they can leave their car parked in their driveway overnight without maybe having it broken into,” she said. “It’s a pretty testy subject.”

The mayor’s office says there are about 6,000 homeless people in the Portland area, though many believe the number is actually much higher.

Resident Greg Dilkes, who lives near an encampment along the Peninsula Crossing Trail, said seeing homeless people near his home “makes you not feel that great about living here.”

“It makes living in the neighborhood harder, not as congenial as it could be,” he told KGW8, saying the encampment is ruining the area. “It’s the first time in a long time that we’ve actually seriously thought about moving.”

Another resident, Mark Smith, said he is scared to walk alone or tend to his garden because he shares a backyard with the encampment.

“Every day if you go from one end of the street to the other, you’re confronting some very difficult situations, people in really dire straits,” he said.

But a homeless neighbor told the location station that the residents’ fears are overblown.

“We are the most harmless people you’ll ever meet,” TT Sanchez, who lives on the trail, said.

“They shouldn’t be scared of us for what because we live outside? That’s the only reason you should be scared of us because we live outside so if we lived in four walls and a house and stuff would you still be scared of us?” Sanchez continued.

Some knew Sato as “Mr. Portland” or the “Mayor of Portland,” his friends tell KGW. Others knew him from his mobile knife sharpening company, Sato Sharpening.

PORTLAND, Ore. — This past weekend, the Portland community lost a dear friend, a small business owner and a theater enthusiast.

Some knew Yohhei Sato as “Mr. Portland” or the “Mayor of Portland,” his friends told KGW. Others knew him from his mobile knife sharpening company, Sato Sharpening.

"[There] was some Japanese pride there too,” said one of his best friends, Noelle Eaton, referring to Sato's knife sharpening. “He was like, ‘I know how to do it right.'"

Sato sharpened the knives of some of the best chefs in Portland, and his technique was widely honored.

Sato's friends held a memorial at the Landmark Saloon on Wednesday night, where his friends and loved ones had the chance to reminisce on moments they each had with Sato.

“Whiskey Wednesdays at the Landmark was his night,” said Sato's friend Scott Weidlich. “Like, he promoted it maybe more than the bar ever did. So, now I can come here and I can talk to people that remember him ... but he's not gonna be here with me, unfortunately."

The Landmark Saloon, one of Yohhei's favorite places to hang out and pass the time, took to Instagram when the devastating news broke.

Writing in part, "The overwhelming privilege of knowing this human has been such a precious gift … you are forever loved."

Here’s what Sato's friends said they will miss most about him:

“I miss that he would accept you in any state that you were in. If you were at rock-bottom he would sit there with you. If you were on cloud nine he would be your biggest celebrator. He had a profound impact on a lot of people. He gave a lot to a lot of people and we're just trying to honor him the best we can and the last part of his life,” said Logan Loughmiller, a friend.

“I mean, he was my best adventure buddy. Like we went on so many epic camping trips and hikes and we camped every single weekend for a summer. And I think part of spring too. Just every weekend we wanted to see the seven wonders of Oregon,” said Noelle Eaton, one of Sato's best friends.

“I consider him one of my best friends and I'm not the only one. There's 50 or 100 people who consider him one of his best friends and that's really incredible, and there are people that I have seen the outpouring of grief and shock and sadness. People who just went to his food cart and knew him through that or had him sharpen his knives and knew him through that and he still made them feel like they were the most important person in the world,” said Kristopher Mahonuy-Watson, a friend.

If you'd like to help, Yohhei's friends have started a GoFundMe page to cover his parents' travel expenses to and from Japan and memorial services preparation expenses. Anything raised over the $50,000 goal will go to his family.

The order expands an existing ban on camping in high crash corridors to include areas around school buildings and on 'priority routes' for walking to schools.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced an emergency declaration Friday to ban camping near school campuses and along walking routes leading to and from schools.

"With the start of the school year approaching, I am taking this additional action to help ensure the safety of school-age children, especially those in elementary and middle schools, as they travel to and from local schools," he said in a statement. "School-age children should be able to walk, bike, and ride buses to get to and from schools without potentially dangerous hazards as a result of encampments, including trash, tents in the right-of-way, biohazards, hypodermic needles, and more."

Wheeler's office said he would be unavailable for comment Friday.

Wheeler's office describes the ban in a news release as an expansion of a prior emergency order that the mayor enacted in February to ban camping along high-crash corridors after a report revealed that 70% of the city's pedestrian fatalities last year were homeless residents.

The updated declaration prohibits camping within 150 feet of school buildings and along "Primary Investment Routes," which refers to a network of streets and corridors identified as likely to have a high density of students walking to and from school.

The routes were identified in 2016 by Safe Routes to School, a program developed as part of the implementation of a gas and heavy vehicle tax that Portland voters passed that year to raise money for street maintenance.

The city's map of the Primary Investment Routes is embedded below. Schools are marked in purple and the Primary Investment Routes are highlighted in gray (the map needs to be zoomed in to a certain level for the routes to be visible).

The declaration will prioritize the removal of camps in those areas, according to the news release, and will enable staff to keep the sites free of camping with no right of return.

Portland mom Kathryn Schmidt has two teen daughters. One is going into 6th grade and the other will be in 9th grade when the school year begins. While she believes the mayor's expansion of the ban is a step in the right direction, she thinks more needs to be done.

“I, along with most people, hope for a permanent solution, where having to bring emergency order repeatedly — which have to be re-enacted regularly — it’s not a solution, it’s a stopgap measure,” said Schmidt.

Her daughters often independently walk to and from school, as well as around their neighborhood. Schmidt said they’ve encountered homeless encampments and are no strangers to homeless issues in the city.

“They don’t feel safe with that, so they’ve had to reroute a few times,” she said.

Schmidt said she understands the reality of living in Portland. Her kids are learning to be careful. But as a parent, she gets worried.

“On the one hand it’s reality, so (my kids) need to understand they live with a lot of privilege and what can they do to make the community better? But it also, as a parent, makes you furious on a daily basis because I don’t want to be here at work worrying about their safety,” said Schmidt. “They’re so much savvier than I am, and not savvy in ways I necessarily wanted them to be.”

The expanded version of the declaration takes effect immediately and is set to expire Aug. 31, but a spokesperson for Wheeler said the mayor's office intends to renew it every two weeks.

The original version of the high-crash corridor camping ban was similarly scheduled to only last about two weeks, but was repeatedly renewed and has remained in effect constantly since it was first implemented.

Homeless camps along the Peninsula Crossing Trail have prompted some nearby families to sell their homes.

PORTLAND, Ore. — For sale signs line what were once sought-after neighborhoods in North Portland. Many families are selling their homes due to an increase in violence and homeless camps in that area.

“It makes you not feel that great about living here,” said Greg Dilkes, who has lived in North Portland for 30 years. “It makes living in the neighborhood harder, not as congenial as it could be.”

Dilkes said the homeless camps along the Peninsula Crossing Trail near his home have changed the area.

"It’s the first time in a long time that we’ve actually seriously thought about moving," he said.

"Mental health, drug addiction and just not having access to housing,” added Mark Smith, who shares a backyard with the camp.

Smith said he and his partner often don’t feel safe walking alone or tending to their gardens. “Every day if you go from one end of the street to the other, you’re confronting some very difficult situations, people in really dire straits."

“It’s a little scary because I know there is mental illness and that concerns me,” said Smith’s partner Maria Inocencio.

“We are the most harmless people you’ll ever meet,” said TT Sanchez who lives in one of the camps along the Peninsula Crossing Trail. “They shouldn’t be scared of us for what because we live outside? That’s the only reason you should be scared of us because we live outside so if we lived in four walls and a house and stuff would you still be scared of us?”

North Portland neighbors told KGW at least three families along McKenna Avenue are leaving due to nearby homeless camps. Real estate broker Lauren Iaquinta sees it first hand.

“I would say the migration to the suburbs, I’ve seen quite a bit in the last two years,” she said. “Most people don’t want to have to worry about if they can leave their car parked in their driveway overnight without maybe having it broken into. It’s a pretty testy subject.”

When working with clients, Iaquinta now vets the areas to see if there are nearby homeless camps.

“It’s neighborhood by neighborhood. You can be driving through North Portland and you’re in this lovely area where there’s no issues, and then you can make a turn around the corner and have homeless camps there. It’s kind of sad. I’ve been doing this for 10 years here in Portland and it’s changed quite a bit.”

The city is planning to build a Safe Rest Village along Peninsula Crossing Trail where many homeless campers in the area could go, but there's no timeline for when that project will be completed. And when it is completed, it will be a temporary village that will only be there for about three years. After that, there are plans for a permanent affordable housing development to take its place.

As for the people currently camping along the trail, the city's Safe Rest Village team said Portland's Impact Reduction Program outreach workers and navigation teams have visited weekly, since before the Safe Rest Village was announced, to offer them services, shelter options and other resources to meet their immediate needs. Additionally, the Safe Rest Village team has met with some of the campers, and many have expressed interest in the outdoor shelter model.

(KTLA) – It’s no secret that Americans love their pets. In some places, it’s not unusual to see dogs chasing each other at the beach, a dog in a shopping cart, or a couple enjoying a restaurant on an outdoor patio with their loyal pup by their side.

But frankly, it’s easier to enjoy time with your pet in more dog-friendly environments and with animal-focused amenities.

Here are the 10 most dog-friendly cities in America, according to SmartAsset:

So if you’re a dog lover and you’re looking for the best city for you and your best friend, you might want to make sure you find a place that is considered to be “dog-friendly.”

But what exactly makes a city dog-friendly? There’s no perfect answer, but according to SmartAsset, an online hub for consumer finance information, there are a few ways to figure out which cities might be best (and worst) for you and your furry friend.

SmartAsset looked at dozens of cities and analyzed a few factors, including the total number of dog parks, dog-friendly restaurants, the concentration of pet stores and veterinarians, and walkability — because your pooch needs exercise. Population was also taken into consideration before cities were evaluated and ranked by their cumulative scores.

St. Petersburg, Florida, took the top spot thanks to its large number of dog-friendly shopping centers, pet stores and veterinary offices. The city, which held the No. 7 spot last year, has two dog-friendly beaches and many more nearby, according to BringFido.com.

Tucson, Arizona, which held the top spot last year, took the No. 2 spot in 2022. With the 16th-lowest number of rainy days on average annually, it’s not hard to see why it remained in the top three. There are lots of opportunities for pet owners to get out and about with their furry companions.

Tampa, Florida, also dropped down a peg, from second place in 2021 to third in 2022. It has the fourth-highest number of dog parts per capita.

San Francisco was the highest-ranking California city, boosted by a healthy amount of dog parks per 100,000 residents and plenty of dog-friendly restaurants.

So if you’re looking for a place to live and the comfort of your dog is near the top of your list of considerations, you should beware of cities that just aren’t up to snuff — or, in this case, sniff.

More information from SmartAsset, including a complete list of dog-friendly cities and the methodology used in the ranking, is available at the company’s official site.