Recently in Portland, we have seen a proliferation of new condos from the East End to West End of the peninsula, all expensive, some outrageously so.
Homeless people camp on a spur of the Fore River Trail in Portland. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
The Maine Sunday Telegram’s property section, an infomercial of sorts, features gushy descriptions complete with photos extolling those necessary features that come with seven-figure asking listing prices. Multiple decks, garages, hot tubs and water views are, at a minimum, mandatory; concierge, dog wash stations, bike storage and fireplaces are increasingly too common to be mentioned. Upscale restaurants, art galleries, museums and entertainment venues are within walking distance.
The news pages then describe the latest in downtown “camp” sites for our homeless, as well as, lately, the new suggestion that the rural Unity College (where dorms are empty because of distance learning and the moving of some operations to Pineland Farms) could be a place where 600 immigrants, preferably without school-age children, could take some of the heat off Portland.
Out here in suburban Gorham, First Parish Church won a grant to house refugees and is moving ahead with a modest construction of communal apartments in an underused Sunday school. Their pastor says: “What we have is not just for us” and “Why do we have all this extra space and how can we better utilize it?” Other Portland-area churches and synagogues are already sheltering asylum seekers. Yes, a drop in the bucket, you might say, but does it not suggest there might be other housing opportunities for this part of Maine to explore?
Most of our Lakes Region Senior Center members in Gorham own our own homes, many live alone, and a few share a spare room with University of Southern Maine students or teachers who likely can’t afford area rents. During World War II, with the South Portland shipyards roaring 24/7 building Liberty ships, every possible living space housed 30,000 mainly out-of-town workers – workers who needed transportation, entertainment and other resources. City governments worked with community leaders to ease the burden. No doubt they packed them in attics, basements, garages and sheds. Certainly, strangers were given the spare room to rest in after their shifts pounding rivets and welding sheets of steel.
The current shortage of affordable apartments within commuting range is well known and not likely to go away any time soon. Both our Maine homeless people and an endless stream of immigrants are bound to be with us for some time. The short-term facilities (Portland Expo, hotels and motels) are just that: temporary. Portland and surrounding municipalities must continue to fill the need for more permanent apartments.
When the new owners of these “high-end” condos drive into Portland’s downtown, perhaps to show visitors our historic waterfront, Commercial Street marinas, ship activity and Casco Bay islands, will they take a circuitous route to avoid a sign-carrying homeless person with a dog on a string? That tent city adjacent to the interstate is hard to avoid for northbound traffic, isn’t it?
Will the condo dwellers have to shoo away an unwelcome sleeper from their doorway before they drive off? Will the well-heeled cruise guests have their eyes opened as they stroll along Commercial Street and the piers?
Like many of us seniors out in the ’burbs, I don’t get into downtown Portland very often. When I do, for medical appointments or a visit to Harbor Fish Market for seafood, I have a guilty feeling as I avoid catching the eye of “those people.”
The housing problem for both new and old residents exists not only in Portland, but also in other Maine communities, as well as in cities across our nation. Compared to similar situations during the Great Depression and World War II, it should be solvable now.
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