Placing the homeless (or anyone) in a condemned building with asbestos would be a P.R. disaster. I'm guessing the PPH posted the photo expecting some controversy so that they could "sell more newspapers." It's de facto shoddy reporting. I think homelessness and people in need of housing (asylum seekers) has become the new normal, or now that Portland is talked about as the place to go. I've said this before, that bringing together a few of Portland's top architects to discuss creative ideas to address this serious and pressing problem is a good start. A few years ago, Kaplan Thompson built the Friends school in Yarmouth in the Passivhaus style, and it has won not only design awards, but the Going Green feel-goods too. The cost of that school was only $4 million. What is the usual or today's projected cost to build a school? $30 million or more? Give a good architect a problem, and he/she will fix it. It's what they do. The housing should also have a business attached, one that can employ people part time with minimal skills and the city and state and Uncle Sam should mandate an exemption for asylum seekers so that they can also work here. Otherwise, people without a daily school or work structure often turn to drug use and consequently, crime (to feed the habit). The city needs to wake up and be proactive, instead of reactive.