I agree with Carrie Parks’ letter (“Help homeless, don’t push aside,” Feb. 16). Hostile architecture doesn’t help anyone. It just makes a homeless person feel more unwanted.
The real need, as Carrie points out, is to find open space where the homeless can camp on a long-term basis. We may, or may not, be able to build all of the shelters and affordable housing we need. In any case, it will take time to do what we can do.
The people on the streets need a place to camp today and tomorrow, a place where they can leave a tent up and not have to carry all their possessions around town with them. Surely, there is open space available somewhere in Vancouver or Clark County where homeless people could throw up tents and not be disturbed, where joggers and bicyclists don’t feel they have a priority over people that just want a place where they can lay down their head in peace.
