Readers Respond to an Instagram Account That Asserts Portland Looks Like Shit

Since June 2020, anonymous Instagram account @portlandlookslikeshit has been posting images of homeless encampments and unhoused people, many of whom appear to be experiencing mental distress (“Bad Influence,” WW, July 21, 2021). The account has grown in popularity in recent months, accumulating over 53,000 followers and hundreds of likes per post amid civic frustration over conditions on the streets. Critics of the account claim it exploits and dehumanizes Portland’s most vulnerable citizens. Here’s what our readers have to say: Mary Thiel, via Facebook: “I walk through many neighborhoods and I see beautiful, well-kept gardens and lovely houses. Yes, there is an increase in homelessness with an increase in the lack of ability to dispose of trash that a housed person has and just takes for granted, but it is confined to certain places, and by no means is the whole city. This deeming Portland as trashy is Trump-inspired right-wing BS, designed to make sure that the truly filthy people, the rich, don’t have to pay taxes to fix anything, And it is also a way to cruelly scapegoat and demonize the homeless.” Galaxy, via wweek.com: “Living in the Portland metro area, I can confirm that the title of this article and the @portlandlookslikeshit Instagram…
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