As we reported in this week's issue, the city's quietly considering a big increase in the amount of downtown sidewalks that largely ban sitting or lying down. In the map above, the red block faces are already designated pedestrian-only zones, where the homeless are banned from sitting or lying from 7 am to 9 pm daily (most downtown sidewalks have a designated portion on the margin where sitting is permitted). The yellow block faces are those the Portland Bureau of Transportation is considering adding to the list at the request of the Portland Business Alliance.

Those changes would ban sitting in some popular spots. Powell's would be ringed by no-sit sidewalks, as would Pioneer Courthouse Square and much of the area around Pioneer Place. The Safeway at SW 10th and Jefferson would see no-sit designations on one side. And the enormous food cart pod near SW 10th and Washington would be thrown in, too.

Advocates for the homeless say they're deeply concerned about the potential expansion (in some ways it's a retread of the fight over Portland's vanquished sit-lie law). But it could have been much bigger. PBOT's currently considering an expansion of a little more than 30 block faces, which would about double the amount of no-sit sidewalks downtown. The PBA was pushing for 90 more block faces, effectively barring city from the entirety of central downtown. Here's what that would've looked like.

The problem with most of those requests, PBOT found, is that they didn't have basis in the safety concerns the city's supposed to go by when designating no-sit sidewalks— factors like proximity to light rail or busy streets, narrow sidewalks, and heavy foot traffic. Here's the bureau's lengthy analysis of all the PBA's asks [pdf].

What's unclear at this point is how PBOT will move forward. Director Leah Treat has the power to make the sidewalk designations without any public input, and Transportation Commissioner Steve Novick told the Mercury he's not sure if there will be additional public process before the call is made.