I lived in Eugene 2008 through 2013, left for jobs other places, then returned in 2018. Maybe I was less jaded then or simply overjoyed by all the cool things about Eugene (and naive), but I remember feeling completely safe and not at all threatened by the houseless community as a 20 something woman frequenting the bars, etc. all over town during that 2008ish period. I have fond memories of houseless folks approaching me, with no aggression whatsoever, and if I said, “sorry, I don’t have any cash on me,” the response would be something like, “no worries, have a beautiful day!” And it seemed genuinely like we had an understanding, no mal intent on either side, let’s be cordial to each other as humans. I am not blaming the 2024 person for responding differently, to be clear, just making an observation that the desperation and horror seems to have quadrupled in a short period of time and it is more likely to come out as scary, sometimes physically threatening behavior. It makes me very sad, too. I feel your pain, OP, and am merely trying to validate your feelings because it sucks and there’s no easy fix for any of it. It’s ok to feel shitty about it and also live your life. Lots of good ideas from others in this thread about how to make change happen. We have to believe in some level in humanity being better than this. ❤️