There are a number of news articles highlighting the recent struggles of the city of Portland, OR. The pandemic, civil unrest, trash everywhere, and homelessness appear to be the top reasons for the city’s tarnished image. Conservatives universally condemn the state and city’s liberal leadership for the problems, as expected.
My memory of Portland is from a few years ago flying into PDX with our bicycles for a tour down the Oregon coast. The airport has a bike assembly area, so I knew the city was friendly to bicyclists. We rode from the airport across the city to the Amtrak station downtown (to catch a bus to Astoria), stopping at a couple of breweries along the way and enjoying lunch. The city and downtown appeared well-ordered, clean, and friendly. Hardly the impression being seen today in the news:
What happened in the last few years? Might this once-fair city get back to where it was? Are any of the conservative criticisms accurate? I am especially interested in opinions from Dopers in Portland, and Oregon in general.
Wow, that article is histrionic. Its focus on “investors, lenders, and developers” tells you a lot. Look out for a pithy riposte from one of the alt-weeklies. God willing, real estate values will continue to decline!
I was there early in July, (after getting vaxxed and back when we thought the pandemic was well on its way out) which I’ll note was well after this article was written.
And had time to experience some fine weather compared to Texas and enjoy some brewpubs and almost feel normal again.
Yes, some boarded up businesses and more homeless people than I would have thought, but nothing like the description given. And that was primarily downtown. The rest of the city was more or less what I would expect of any city.
I will also note the parents of one of our group of tourists begged us not to go. Due to watching primarily right-wing news, they also thought downtown Portland was a lawless, bombed out hellscape and we’d be lucky to leave intact and in possession of our personal effects. Never felt remotely unsafe, unless seeing unmasked people indoors counts.
I lived in Goose Hollow, on the edge of downtown 20 years ago. Homeless camps in the bushes,
constant car prowls, I had 2 car batteries stolen and knew people who brought their batteries in at night. So there have always been problems. I live in the far western 'burbs now and don’t have those problems.
I’m not sure what has caused it but I’ve lived in the Portland metro area for 50 years now and Portland proper is now a dump. People may not notice it in a short visit but I see the change every time I go downtown. Maybe I’m just getting old.
I have friends there. There are a couple square blocks with mucho graffiti, too much litter, and a lot of homeless. Not to mention boarded up store fronts. Not good.
Literally TRUMPed up. Portland is pretty much as it has always been. I have family that lives there, and despite what Faux News says, it didn’t burn to the ground.
One of my nieces lived in Portland for several years, now is near Eugene for the past 5 yrs or so. She is as far to the left and unconventional on just about every issue as a white hetero woman can be. I remember her saying she was really fed up with the homelessness and trash.
Yup, prolly. but honestly a lot of towns are like that now. It’s a sign of the times. But being a dump is a far cry from the nightmarish hellscape it’s portrayed to be.
People have the audacity to be homeless?? Have you all seen the housing prices in Oregon? It’s one of the biggest issues we face. We are seeing an increase in homelessness everywhere in Oregon. Probably just like everywhere else.
Portland resident here. It’s not all media hype; Portland does have some real challenges. But as noted, most of what you see from the media is a strong exaggeration from right-wing media looking to score political points, or from downtown business and real estate interests trying to drum up support for a “fuck the homeless” approach.
Here’s what I see:
The homeless problem is big and inescapable. The number of tents and large encampments has exploded in the last two years. I think this is the biggest driver of the drop in reputation among residents. I’m glad we don’t take the same approach as some other cities that “solve” the problem by making it very uncomfortable for the homeless, but it still sucks to deal with. If some progress isn’t made on this in the next few years, there will be lasting impact.
There’s been an uptick in gun violence this year that matches most other large cities. It’s mostly gangs and drug deals gone wrong, but the hype in the news makes it feel like it’s happening to everyone.
Most downtown offices are still mostly work-from-home, so downtown is pretty empty. It makes the homeless issue more apparent, and restaurants and shops that cater to commuters are suffering. So overall downtown feels depressing.
All the above would be a non-event outside Portland except that Trump thrust us into the spotlight last summer by making Portland a campaign issue and sending goons to stir things up. So the media is primed to focus on it, and it creates its own reality by depressing the residents who read about it every day.
I don’t feel any more unsafe than I did 5 years ago, anywhere in the city. We still go out in the city and I still love the place (but I don’t have much reason to go downtown). If we find a way to get some of the homeless into housing, the other issues fade into nothing-burgers.
So it’s more Beyond the Forest than A Clockwork Orange?
I gotta wonder about the manhood of some of these alt-right types. There’s this guy on the bus that I talk to sometimes, and I happened to mention that I went to the Uptown neighborhood in Chicago recently.
He gave me a horrified look, “Were you armed?”
I smirked, “No!”
He shook his head, “I would never go there without my guns.”
Wow, I wanted to ask, Just how big of a coward are you? But I just shrugged and said, “I’ve never had a problem.”
After all, I still have to ride the bus with the guy.
Not a Portland resident, but I’ve visited a friend there a handful of times over the last, oh, 4 years, and… yeah, there are issues there that I haven’t seen anywhere else. Every city has homeless encampments, but Portland’s are truly on another level. And, probably consequently, there’s trash everywhere. I never felt unsafe, but my friend said that he’s concerned that when his kids get older, he’s not sure he’ll want them walking certain places by themselves as they’d have to pass by one of the camps.
Sure, it’s not the hellscape that the right wing media wants it to be, but it’s not exactly a triumph of liberal policies either. Kudos to Portland for not running the homeless out of town like basically every other city. But… where are the social programs that should help get those residents into, you know, homes? That’s what I couldn’t figure out. It certainly can’t be a lack of political will, and I have a hard time believing it’s a lack of money, although I don’t know enough about Portland politics to know the many ways the rich are avoiding paying local taxes.
I think it’s somewhere between ‘it’s all bullshit!’ and ‘it’s a total apocalypse!’. I have family who lives there, and they say they can see the change from a few years ago, and the general change has been downward, but nothing like dogs and cats living together in total anarchy or whatever. I admit I haven’t been there for a few years, but that has more to do with Covid restrictions (I just am not traveling much these days) than because I fear for my life.
Lack of social programs isn’t the problem, it’s the lack of homes. Housing prices have exploded and there just aren’t any empty places sitting around waiting to house everyone.
And money is always a problem. The main way the rich avoid taxes is by moving to one of the suburbs (and usually one which is kicking its homeless out and letting Portland deal with them).
Yeah, the homeless issue here in Northern CA is closely tracked to the cost of housing as well. Altho, some are in denial of this fact and quickly point to “liberal homeless policies drawing people in from around the country”. I believe there are quite a few studies supporting the notion that most of the homeless individuals one may see in their own city are former residents who were on the bubble in terms of affording housing and just could not afford to stay housed as the cost of housing rises.
You think the solution to homelessness is to just move? Correcting all the misunderstandings in that question is beyond the scope of this thread. Maybe start another one where your question can be properly addressed.
What I’m reading about Portland is what I see for Seattle as well. A larger number of homeless lately (and this started well before Covid) and more problems than usual but very far from a hellscape.
I worked for many years in downtown Seattle and there have always been homeless. I was friendly with some of them back in the day because I’d see them daily and would chat with them a bit on my way to work. The biggest difference to me is the encampments. The size and number of them is shocking compared to the past. But aside from that it doesn’t seem all that different.
Yeah, not alone a solution to homelessness as a whole, and likely beyond this thread.
But for an individual who is unable to make their housing costs in one location, for the price of a bus ticket they could move to any number of towns near me in the Chicago area where housing is much less expensive and there is good transportation to any number of companies that are hiring. Now if, instead, for any number of reasons they choose to remain where they are…
Nope, I’m not terribly sympathetic to the idea that homeless folk should be able to camp in public.
but honestly a lot of towns are like that now. It’s a sign of the times. But being a dump is a far cry from the nightmarish hellscape it’s portrayed to be.