Woman assaulted while biking on Columbia Slough path

Add the I-205 path to that list. Many people have given up using riding these MUPS. I’d rather take my chances with with cars. : (

You don’t have to be a woman to feel unsafe on our off street paths ever since Hales ceded them to lawlessness.

Don’t feel bad. I have an extreme risk tolerance compared to most people. My backcoutry/sea kayaking nickname is “Canary Kyle” — i.e. see if he dies and then make a decision before proceeding.

But I refuse to ride these paths. Instead, I opt to ride the streets with the drunks because I think it’s safer.

Anyone who believes otherwise is free to ride the paths.

I’m a woman and not very fast on a bike, but I feel perfectly safe on the Springwater path during the daytime.

You seem to be conflating the issue of homeless people residing along the path with the issue of sexual assault.

Much of the arguments I’ve seen regarding our MUPs have been about the issue of homelessness and whether or not we should do a “sweep” in order to “make the path safer”. As far as I could tell, no one has argued for not doing anything regarding assault, and I don’t think anyone who believes in treating homeless people humanely (ie. not raiding their tents and tossing their belongings because they decided to set up camp in the wrong place) is condoning this incident. Nice straw man there.

Advocating for homeless people and advocating for sexual assault victims are not in conflict with each other. They both involve treating people humanely. If we treated homeless people better as a society, then maybe they wouldn’t have to resort to living along the MUP.

In fact, while I can’t really speak for women in general, I don’t exactly get the sense that most women would appreciate having an issue that disproportionately affects them be co-opted in this way.

Yet several people above have just complained about the paths being unsafe, and they got dozens of “likes” and nobody said anything negative in reply.

Then there’s the fact that all the comments are in response to an article that’s critical of the safety on the paths, and that’s one of several similar articles that appear regularly here.

The Rock Creek trail is a FAR cry from the I-205 path in central eastside Portland. Apples and Oranges.

This points out the sad irony of streets vs. “trails”. Streets are marvelously, if not terribly “self-cleaning”. Cars do a terrific job of sweeping everything out of their way, but in the process make those swept places utterly inhospitable for anyone else wanting to use the road. Trails, on the other hand, are much more peaceful and people-friendly, but they are not “self-sweeping”, and so become hospitable for all types, not just those wanting to travel on the trails. If all trail or trailside “users” were friendly or at least compatible and left each other alone, it wouldn’t be a bad arrangement, but human nature being what it is, situations like the one described here are bound to arise.

Yeah it could be that the rate of crime or assault is similar to other parts of the City. I think it’s more the feeling of isolation (typically no other ‘eyes on the streets’) and territorial behaviors. In some of these ‘sketchy’ sections, I feel like I’m impeding on campers territory (in their eyes) in way that I don’t feel biking on regular streets. I don’t necessarily feel this way on all paths where people camp nearby, but do in areas where camps spill out onto the path, where chop shops or fires are present (have run across this on the slough trail beneath overpasses). I mainly worry about people experiencing mental heath crisis or drug-induced mania that suddenly perceive me as a threat. Or I just plain worry about getting shoved off my bike and having it stolen.Maybe that’s misplaced, I’ve only really heard about that happening twice.

But you’re right, what’s to be done? Honestly I don’t see any answer. We’ve decided camping is legal, and I don’t think sweeps would solve anything though it would be great if we could maybe just enforce some kind of set-back of stuff from the paths and keep them clean from glass and sharps. I don’t think patrols would improve anything for anyone. At this point, it’s just the reality of living in Portland. To quote the most inept leader in history “it is what it is.”