From Cully to Couch Street: Portland’s kids deserve safer streets

Neighborhood group calls for action from political leaders

Where the Sidewalk Ends, the Syringes Begin
There is a place where the chalk fades out,
And hopscotch squares give way to doubt,
Where crayons roll past a used needle’s pin,
That’s where the sidewalk ends and the syringes begin.
Where no one’s in charge and no rules apply,
And questions from parents float up to the sky,
Where helpers arrive but forget who they serve,
And the ones needing safety are forced to observe.

It’s back-to-school season in Portland. The time of year when families adjust to new routines and rhythms. Kids will soon begin filing into classrooms with nerves and excitement. It’s a season full of promise.

In “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” Shel Silverstein offers a world of imagination, innocence and open-ended possibility. A place where children are free to wonder, wander and dream. The collection is a metaphorical invitation to step away from structures that stifle and run toward something more honest, curious and alive.

Contrast Portland today, where the sidewalk doesn’t end in freedom. It ends in confusion. Not the kind that sparks wonder, rather the kind that sparks fear because children aren’t skipping into a world of poems and trees and chalky skies. They’re walking past discarded syringes and harm reduction tables parked just blocks or feet from their classrooms. Parents won’t be letting go of their kids' hands with a sigh of relief as they walk back to school. They will be gripping tighter, scanning the sidewalk for foil, needles, or strangers offering supplies out of unmarked white vans.

The only people consistently asking, “Why is this happening here?” are the children who notice and the parents and residents who are left without answers. Silverstein’s sidewalk ended in possibility. Portland’s sidewalks end in the normalization of danger as an unfortunate but accepted part of progressive policy.

Groups like Portland People’s Outreach Project (PPOP) and Portland Street Medicine (PSM) co-locate and operate in or near school zones in multiple Portland neighborhoods. Syringes, overdose kits and drug-use supplies are being distributed where families live, work and play, and the local government has failed to draw a single legal line to say: this is not acceptable near our children. There is no city, county or state ordinance that protects children from this. No policy that says “not here.” No line drawn in chalk, in law, or in leadership.

That’s why Stadiumhood spearheaded a community effort that led to draft legislation at the state level. HB 3956 would create clear protections around school zones and set guardrails on where harm reduction activities can take place.

We are also working with other neighborhoods in Portland who are experiencing the same unregulated activity. PPOP and PSM have moved out of the Stadium neighborhood as a fixed locale, but are moving across districts, setting up where oversight is weakest and resistance is slow to organize. This is a citywide challenge and we need a citywide solution.

Many of my neighbors are asking a question that shouldn’t be controversial: Why can’t harm reduction be moved indoors? So far, I have found the answer, unfortunately, exposes more about policy inertia than public health logic.

Outreach groups claim that people won’t come inside, or that immediacy on the street is essential. I think that overlooks who else shares the sidewalk.

I haven’t met anyone who consented to walk through an open-air drug supply site in Stadiumhood or any other community. Have you?

Unlike alcohol or cannabis businesses, Portland harm reduction groups operate without zoning or proximity limits. Indoor settings offer the chance to monitor behavior, connect people with services, and reduce public consumption and waste. If a practice can’t be done indoors, should it be happening in front of children? Public safety and public health are not in conflict, we just need the political will to draw the line. Why does this topic have to be so controversial?

San Francisco has significantly revised its harm reduction strategy amid a growing fentanyl crisis. Under the Breaking the Cycle initiative by Mayor Daniel Lurie, city-funded programs distributing supplies like clean needles, Narcan and smoking kits must now also provide counseling and direct connections to treatment or recovery services. As of April 30, the city also banned the distribution of smoking materials in public spaces, requiring such services to be moved indoors or into Department of Public Health approved settings.

Dear local leaders: We need you to support Stadiumhood’s effort through ordinances that mirror the protections in the state bill. We need to make sure our public health strategies don’t turn into public endangerment. School zones should be safe zones. There should be no syringes on the sidewalk where kids line up for recess. No drug handouts next to hopscotch and four-square. No “mutual aid” groups operating with zero oversight next to the places children congregate. Outreach groups in Portland and beyond are not required to clean up, track outcomes or engage with the communities they affect. Without that feedback loop, there's no public trust.

Call to action

If you agree that school zones and other areas where children congregate should be off-limits for syringe distribution and other harm reduction handouts, contact your elected leaders today.

Tell them three easy things, just copy and paste from here: that you support buffer zones around children, that Portland aligns with HB 3956 and that you expect them to act now. City Councilors and Multnomah County Commissioners need to hear directly from the people they represent. We’re asking for your support to make our public spaces safe for the kids who use them every day.

For your reference here are your esteemed electeds:

District 4 Councilors:

• Olivia Clark: councilor.clark@portlandoregon.gov

• Eric Zimmerman: councilor.zimmerman@portlandoregon.gov

• Mitch Green: councilor.green@portlandoregon.gov

District 3 Councilors:

• Angela Morillo: councilor.morillo@portlandoregon.gov

• Steve Novick: councilor.novick@portlandoregon.gov

• Tiffany Koyama Lane: councilor.koyamalane@portlandoregon.gov

District 2 Councilors:

• Dan Ryan: dan.ryan@portlandoregon.gov

• Elana Pirtle-Guiney: councilor.pirtle-guiney@portlandoregon.gov

• Sameer Kanal: councilor.kanal@portlandoregon.gov

District 1 Councilors:

• Candace Avalos: councilor.avalos@portlandoregon.gov

• Jamie Dunphy: councilor.dunphy@portlandoregon.gov

• Loretta Smith: councilor.smith@portlandoregon.gov

County Commissioners:

• County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson: mult.chair@multco.us

• Meghan Moyer, County Commissioner District 1: district1@multco.us

• Shannon Singleton, County Commissioner District 2: district2@multco.us

• Julia Brim-Edwards, County Commissioner District 3: district3@multco.us

• Vince Jones-Dixon County Commissioner District 4: district4@multco.us

Mayor and Submittals:

• Keith Wilson, Mayor: mayor.wilson@portlandoregon.gov

• Testify at City Council

• Testify at Multnomah County Board Meetings

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Stadium neighbors host virtual calls each Saturday at 1 p.m. Our calls are open to the public and anonymity is not an option inside these regular weekly chats.