PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 29, 2022
Earth Day marks the unofficial start of cleanup season. In Portland, where I live, a fair amount of the trash that has been picked up appears to be incidental (e.g., from cars). But the bulk of the refuse includes items left behind, or stored, by members of the unhoused population: clothing, bedding, sanitary (and unsanitary) items and food containers. Nearly all of these types of items are found in the in-between or “forgotten” spaces on or adjacent to Maine Department of Transportation land where unhoused people seek refuge. But redeveloping the land on both sides of the MDoT fences for housing would not only make the spaces cleaner but also would provide much-needed housing so that many of our most vulnerable residents would not have to sleep out in the first place. ~ Zack Barowitz, Portland