On the trail in Simpson Park late on Saturday afternoon.
Three years ago I took the bike down the trail in Albany’s Simpson Park and made a video of the experience. Not many people saw it, but just yesterday somebody left this comment: “This park today is absolutely filthy and infested with homeless encampments.”
I thought I would check it out. Here’s the result, such as it is:
By my furtive glances at the end, you can tell I was beginning to attract attention from one or two denizens of the neighborhood who had climbed up from the riverbank. Which is why that impromptu video is so short and ends abruptly.
The trail itself was pretty clean, at least in the section I explored. There were a few bits of refuse, like an unused wire cart in the bushes, and some wooden pallets that might have been components of a shelter.
I didn’t see any camps, but I didn’t venture down the numerous side paths that lead deeper into the woods.
Clearly Simpson Park, along the Willamette River in Millersburg but administered by Albany, is a haven for people who have nowhere else to live. Near the parking lot, I saw people going back and forth, walking or on a bike, carrying their belongings or pulling stuff in little wagons.
This particular Saturday evening, a thin old guy, very tanned and naked except for briefs, was sitting on the ground in the parking lot, picking up bits of gravel and examining each one.
In Simpson Park, you’ll find people with a variety of problems, and having no other shelter is just one. Aside from that, the wooded trail is still a good place to go for a walk or take a slow ride on your bike. (hh)
Nobody wanted the homeless to camp out in an organized locale, so the City, which set-up the camping site, got all bothered and busted up the site. So now, when the homeless are encamped in the weeds along the river, Albany’s privileged Hiking Class don’t want them there either. Apparently the criteria is, outta sight, outta mind. Sadly, trying to ignore something rarely makes it go away.
Sounds like Hartman is volunteering his yard for an encampment.