Addressing Homeless Encampments on DOT Land: The Case of Oregon’s Baldock Rest Area

摘要

Homelessness is a widespread societal problem—the National Alliance to End Homelessnessestimates that 636,071 persons were homeless in January 2011, of whom 243,701 were“unsheltered,” meaning that they lived on the streets or in other places not intended for humanhabitation (http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/4362). Given the scale of theproblem, it is not surprising that employees of state and local departments of transportationregularly interact with homeless individuals and households living on DOT rights-of-way andrest areas. Little research exists in the transportation literature on the scale and operationalimplications of homelessness for these agencies; no literature has addressed what might beconsidered “best practices” for addressing the problem.This paper presents a case study of the relocation of homeless households from the Baldock RestArea near Wilsonville in metropolitan Portland, Oregon in 2010-11. Drawing from keyinformant interviews, archival materials, and two national surveys of DOT/rest area managers,the paper analyzes the approach used in the Baldock relocation, identifies the key actors andprocesses used to address the problem, and evaluates the outcomes for the public agencies andthe homeless individuals themselves. We find that interagency collaboration and the utilizationof both push (sanctions) and pulls (incentives) were critical to this successful relocation. Giventhe emphasis on environmental justice embodied in the Obama Administration’s renewal ofExecutive Order 12898 of 1997, we suggest that DOT maintenance managers, supervisors andengineers be proactive in adopting procedures and practices that effectively and humanelyaddress homelessness on DOT property.