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--> --> Homeless finding life fine at village PORTLAND (AP) - Howard Henry, a homeless man from Arizona, was sunning himself on a chair Thursday at a new tent village that has replaced one abandoned by homeless people on orders from city officials. "They made it sound like a hell hole, but it's not that bad," said Henry, speaking of the new tent village called Dignity 2. The food bank delivers meals to Dignity 2. The city maintenance department will be bringing in a trailer with pay phones. The city may provide free bus passes. There's also talk of barbecue pits. Dignity 2 is the successor to Dignity Village, a homeless camp that had existed for months beneath downtown's Fremont Bridge. City officials had ordered the 75 or so people at Dignity Village to relocate by Wednesday to a new site about six miles away, near a composting facility and the airport. On Wednesday, a few of the homeless people said they would not budge. They complained that the new site was too far from services and grocery stores, and had a hard asphalt surface. But on Thursday, all that was left of Dignity Village were a few homeless people who had stayed behind to clean up the site. About 22 tents have sprung up at Dignity 2. Some of the people there said life on the asphalt-covered patch of land near the composting facility wasn't as bad as they thought it would be. James Johnson said he liked the quiet surroundings after the constant racket of the downtown freeway. "They're talking about open air pits out here so we can do some barbecue on our own," he said. Erik Sten, City Commissioner in charge of housing, said it's not the city's policy to provide resources to Dignity 2 but that bus passes for the homeless will be necessary because of the remote location. Sten said the village has done well with private donations. "Dignity has got an incredible amount of support from the greater community," he said. Sten said he believed several thousand dollars have been donated in recent weeks, in addition to food and services. The city council had ordered Dignity Village to relocate after neighbors complained and because the site under towering freeway pillars was said to be unsafe. Some of the homeless people moved to the site near the airport. Others went to donated private land near Forest Grove. Others simply left without saying where they were headed. Only a fraction of the city's homeless had lived at Dignity Village, but the site had gained attention as a social experiment. Supporters said it gave homeless people who disliked shelters or were not allowed in because they have pets a safe place to sleep. Dignity Village has moved five times since homeless people set up a first camp under the Broadway bridge last year with the blessing of Street Roots, a homeless publication. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing