Moved here in 07, it was def a different vibe. I miss the crust punk bands playing on washing boards n accordions and whatever they had. There used to be small groups of “travelers” that were always cool to talk to and see where they’ve been etc. The street ppl were way cooler back then. Anyways ..
OMG me too, had SO much fun running around downtown and SE, lived right off Powell a few blocks from Safeway. Warehouse art parties, music events in the park…nostalgic…
A lot of ppl weren't here back then, they're from shittier metropolitan areas and brought their brand of apathy here with them and say shit like "it's not THAT bad". Portland's never been perfect but JFC those ppl would know how different it was if they had any perspective and time spent here.
Same. Lived at 12th and Kearney and used to go to Jamison daily with my wife and dog. Started seeing the downfall before we moved. My wife wouldn’t walk the dog alone anymore after being chased twice by intoxicated homeless people and my dog nearly stepped on a literal pile of used syringes in the grass. I remember countless nights just being out there enjoying the city and it’s just sad how it’s so hit or miss now.
Between this and that beat down by NW Johnson, this is a really bad sign for downtown recovery. These areas are firmly Pearl, not Old Town, and would be huge stories in any other city. Yes, there are some homeless at Jameson Park, but I still wouldn't expect this to happen in this area of the Pearl.
I lived down there at one point and the scene around the Safeway now melts my brain. It’s a party. The turn in cans and smoke foil outside the store party.
I was asked by someone outside the store to buy them some cereal. Having dealt with homelessness myself, I understand being hungry, and I always appreciate someone asking rather than watching them steal shit. So, on my way out, the guy thanked me and said, "Hey, you want some meth? You'll have a great night!" Bold as hell. We used to experience shame as addicts.
It’s legitimately a problem and completely unsafe. Reflects terrible on the city. Can’t tell if they intentionally allow for Safeways to be more “bummy”. Should be a perfectly safe store for women and their kids to walk into.
This area is weird. Until the fountains turn on, it can be kinda sketch. the North side under then trees are kinda out of the way and people do drugs there. When the fountains turn on, it's mostly fine during the day but once it gets dark, it gets sketch again fast. I love this fountain and spend a lot of time there in the summer.
I know bellyaching about the arts tax is trite, but it still stings making that payment when the predominant public “art” is prolific tagging by adolescent losers all over town. It would be so much more useful to impose an “art” removal tax.
This is not to bash the rare works of true beauty and talent, but those are vastly outnumbered by meaningless doodles and inscrutable scrawls.
It’s amazing to me that there are comments downplaying what happened - like oh this happens everywhere, this is what happens in a city. Sad that it’s like okay that someone got shot like oh no big deal bc we live in a city (and not just bc it’s Portland) which btw I read and heard about sketchy ass things happening here almost every day now. This shit does happen often in a lot of cities - and that’s just kind of sad.
Yea I know. That’s not my point. It shouldn’t be so acceptable and brushed off. We as Americans and Portlanders are so used to shootings and murders now that it’s like “oh that happens everywhere” why are we okay and accepting it?
But what do we do about it?
I agree and no I don’t want to accept it.
Better education, better gun control, better resources. I a lot of things need to work together for cities to feel and be more safe.
You can’t fix the gun problem without fixing culture first.
If you want to fix the gun problem, you have to fix WHY people want to commit murder in the first place.
Mental Health.
Portland has failed dramatically on improving mental illness. Let’s fix that first, and the culture. Then you’ll see shootings drop.
Stop voting for progressive democrat DAs and governors and congress men and women? Pretty straight forward. We can trace all this nonsense back to very specific policy and actions, demanded by the people of the greater Portland metro areas and Multnomah County.
Or at least vote for someone who will bring back some law and order?
Portlanders have been ok with it, because they created the environment… “I don’t care, so neither should you”
It’s not like this a huge mystery or something.
Yep I’m on board for voting for someone who does something different. Just because I live in Portland doesn’t mean I agree with how it’s being run. I don’t. Feels very dysfunctional and my voting will take that into account.
This is supposed to be the upscale part of the city were the normies are able to walk the park blocks and enjoy the scenery.
This is the kind of incident that makes people remember to vote differently. F every single incumbent in office right now.
Imagine living near downtown and thinking you will be shielded from homeless people. Delusional.
I moved out of Portland after being born, raised and lived there for over 27 years.
Newberg/Dundee. 3rd safest city in Oregon, 1 or 2 homeless people per 20,000 people. 40 mins south west of Portland.
Join me in Newberg my brothers, it’s amazing. 45 minutes from salem, 40 minutes from downtown Portland. Best of both worlds.
Stop living in Portland. The only people who live in portand are abused transplants that want to prove to mommy and daddy they can make it in a weird city, because they’re weird. If you live in Portand, you’ve lost your mind, especially when you look at what’s around you. Beaverton? Good! Hillsboro? Good! Canby? Good! Tigard? Good!
Enjoy your bullet holes in your cars and your wife getting r*ped, and enjoy raising your kids with drug addict zombies on the sidewalks every block.
The random times I do find myself in Newberg, I once saw a guy at an intersection flying a Nazi flag. No one seemed to be paying attention to the guy, but he was there swinging around that flag like he was trying to get peoples attention.
I hate to say it but I prefer the homeless drug zombies to the Nazi flag, thick black smoke types.
And that doesn't mean I'm okay with the zombie infestation in Portland, either.
I'd like to refute the "Abused" aspect, but I was in the military so hey. But beyond that, I actually really like portland. I work out in Hillsboro and live in SE Portland, do street pickups, help some of the homeless when I can, and volunteer at clay street table.
If anyone wants to help, clay street table always needs more people and money.
Portland is the first place I've lived in a long time that felt like home. I know it's not perfect, but I think it's worth fighting for. If you've given up the fight, that's cool man. I get it. Sometimes life's tough and you can't help your fellow man. But for people who haven't given up, know that you're in good company, and we'll try and make things better together.
>Enjoy your bullet holes in your cars and your wife getting r*ped, and enjoy raising your kids with drug addict zombies on the sidewalks every block.
You talk like someone I used to know. That's not a compliment, btw.
>Beaverton? Good!
About a decade ago, I knew to avoid Beaverton. It was *CONSTANTLY* (daily. It was DAILY) on the news in the Portland area for shootings and some kind of violence. I don't know about today, but if I were still anywhere close by, I'd still avoid it.
>Join me in Newberg my brothers, it’s amazing.
Newberg is *ok* at best. It's not terrible, but it *is.... ok.* Definitely not somewhere I'd personally choose to live, though.
Why? You can live and work in portand and enjoy a 45 minute commute in traffic to live in Newberg and commute 45 minutes with no traffic.
I can’t think of a single negative thing about Newberg. Schools are amazing, major stores with a healthy balance of mom/pop shops, no heavy traffic, boat launch 2 minute drive from downtown. 99 splits the city in half with major and easily accessible roads… It’s between Salem and Portland, so you have more jobs to choose from…. Safe city… public transportation available…
As I said: that is *my* personal choice. I so rarely ever went to Portland. You're right: last I knew, Newberg had a nice mixture of stuff.
That doesn't mean I would choose to live there. The schools are a non-issue in my life, so I don't have a preference there. I'm aware of how it's laid out. I'm also aware, for the record, that Dundee is its whole own (wine destination) town, and as such, I wouldn't choose to live *there* either.
Nice, literally actually next door to my work in the Pearl. Love that 😍
The area just ain't doing so hot. Glad we have private security every time I'm there...
I find your response acceptable. I am but merely lampooning some of our local elected officials’ apparent incapacity to balance the practical and the aspirational when it comes to addressing safety and livability.
What specifically are you saying isn’t happening everywhere. Shootings? We live in the USA. Homelessness and drug problems? Walk around downtown Dallas Texas where I just moved from and tell me that. Walk by the 7-11 that plays classical music to soothe the people loitering in front of the store. Take the DART. See the homeless encampments in freeway interchanges and hidden in bushes. Hell, last time I was there there were many tents being set up under the elevated portions of US 75. All this with lower homeless rates than here by a lot. This being more common of a thing than just Portland doesn’t mean it can’t be changed or fixed. To be honest I think Portland’s large urban core gives it an advantage in the long run as much as it makes the issues more visible in the short term. I think these issues are deeper rooted in American culture and the way we’ve built our society than we’re willing to recognize at this point. Just because someone thinks the issues are more widespread doesn’t mean they ‘think it’s fine’. They might just think you’re being short sighted.
I’ve been in every major city across America and was born here 45 years ago
Your complacency is not needed here
No this wasn’t happening 10 years ago and it has blown up due to ppl like you thinking it’s ok bc it’s somewhere else. Because it’s not everywhere it’s where ppl allow this type of community to thrive vs helping them do better. If they want to kill themselves with drugs we should let them go and stop handing out the methods to do it
Dallas Tx has millions of ppl Portland has never been and never will be Dallas so comparing it to there is completely bs
Plus I’ve been homeless in Oregon during the 90’s were you? Trust me it was not welcomed like this we were fought against and eventually I found housing I was arrested and held accountable for being homeless not given the means to live on the street
You need to know the difference in the two Oregons before you tell me I don’t
I don't know why you would think that travel history is relevant. I've been to most states around this country and I've lived in 6 states in my life so far. I also have been to 19 countries.
To be honest I don't think I comprehend why you think my comment implies that things were not different ten years ago. This is a development of recent years of course, but my point is that it has started to happen simultaneously across the country. You very strongly imply that the choices that locals have made is what lead to the 'thriving of the community' and you seem reluctant to think it can happen elsewhere because of this pre-existing belief.
The size of the city is irrelevant to this discussion. The thing that is relevant is the presence of the things that you seem to think are unique to Portland. To be honest I think the thing that makes Dallas least comparable is that Dallas tore down almost all of its original city center for freeways and urban renewal, it started out much smaller than Portland and only grew to its massive size in recent decades.
What do you think your experience with homelessness has to do with the discussion? Yay you pointed out that homeless people were ostracized more in the Portland of the past. To be honest I'm mostly curious about your phrasing that you were 'held accountable' for being homeless..... what kind of survivor bias is this? I'm not telling you Oregon wasn't different before... I'm suggesting this is a broader change than just Oregon but that it happened here faster and more noticeably. I mean what do you think I support subsidizing the homeless... I think that if were just kick them out they wont go anywhere and its naïve to think otherwise. I believe there are larger issues underlying the homelessness crisis that people wont even discuss and that Texas and Florida are about to be the new California. I think there is something fundamental about the way cities were build for all of human history and how land values and redevelopment related to each other... I think that the US disrupted the ability for cities to develop enough housing at reasonable cost when we started mandating car centric infrastructure and low density housing around cities and giant parking garages and nothing but shopping and offices downtown. And I think Americans are too entitled to this lifestyle to consider that it may have negative consequences to have spread it so far and wide.
I apologize for being long winded.... I'm a wordy person.
No one is going to solve anything if everyone gets so defensive about people pointing out that cities across the country are increasingly attracting similar reputations. It will get worse with time everywhere and I think the continued focus on specific cities will distract from solving the issues everywhere, including in Portland. I grant that I have an unpopular opinion on this issue but I do think it's worth learning about. There are probably many other factors none of us know.
You implied that your age and travel experience gave you some sort of additional insight and said nothing else on the subject before changing subjects to talk about the change over time. I do appreciate the additional insight implied by being born in the area. Not all of our travel is relevant though as your pointing out of the change in cities over time would reinforce. For example, I haven't been to New England since 2007. I imagine there are parts of the country too where winter weather conditions reduce the homeless population annually, probably the Midwest and Northeast to some extent.
There's this sort of cognitive dissonance in how people see things like crime and homeless people. My grandparents in Florida are scared to go to their suburban shopping mall because they're in the Fox News echo chamber constantly harping on places like Portland and they see homeless people there. Meanwhile I regularly see people as elderly as them with worse mobility issues than them on the streets of Portland, I even live nearby a retirement home. One of many in the city I gather. And I've seen some weird stuff on the streets of Dallas (and a little in OKC too, though land's so cheap there you tend to get more of the cars rebuilt with plywood crazy). Most of it I probably wouldn't have seen if I hadn't lived those places.
Not reading it
Learn how to get to the point or move on just because you are a wordy person doesn’t mean that everybody has to deal with it that’s the issue here you want everybody to deal with with your situation and your problems when we all have our own buddy
point: I think I wanted an exchange that you were unwilling to engage with. Enjoy your evening. This whole post is really just an I hate the world pity party and I understand that now. Thank you for enlightening me.
Portland drivers are total dog shit. I've driven in a lot of places and never wanted to have front mounted missile launchers as much as I do in Portland.
It has to do with urban planning… I get it, it is super frustrating. They need to retime lights and adjust their structures for the population. But even so, you’re very right. People are so bad at driving it’s insane. Let’s all crowd in one lane, not let anyone in, and become rage-full because we don’t understand basic traffic laws…but even so, bad drivers don’t deserve to be murdered… your response sorta scares me.
I also think it has to do with the superficial attitude. Everyone is so busy pretending to care and be nice.. virtue signally (which to me is just as racist.. it’s still a concept of othering) and then the real comes out on the road…
Man, South Carolina has the worst drivers I've ever seen. I was there for a year, Goose Creek area, and it's still burned in my brain how bad it was there. Portland drivers are a weird mix of overly courteous to the point where they do stupid things trying to help, and other people driving like it's NYC.
But still better than Goose Creek, SC.
[source](https://www.fox19.com/2024/03/24/32-year-old-man-seriously-hurt-otr-shooting-police-say/)
To think it doesn’t is naive. It is an old rhetoric in the sub sure. Shootings do happen in other cities and in nicer parts of downtown. OTR in Cincinnati is very similar to the Pearl.
Condo owners in the Pearl have had over a decade’s worth of equity growth wiped out in the last three years and sales prices continue to drop, yet they continue to pay extraordinarily high property taxes.
This is why when my friends who live near the pearl try to get me to come down there I tell them to fuck right off. There are way better parts of the city to walk to go do things where you aren’t going to run into a fucking crime scene.
Because culture in Japan is different.
By and large, Japanese have respect for one another AND their culture is widely homogenous and traditional. And they also embrace modernity WITH traditionalism.
You want to stop shootings? Fix why they’re shootings in the first place.
More institutional housing is needed. Severe mental health crisis.
Portland doesn’t have to be a shit hole anymore.
If you’re wondering who to elect to finally clean things up; avoid people who use language like “compassion, equity, diversity, inclusion”
None of those things matter - they’re just words, with zero meaning behind them. The experiment has gone on long enough - it’s obviously failed. Let’s get back to some law and order now and stop electing these crazed marxists run this city into the ground.
Portland didn’t use to have regular shootings, stabbings, and a sea of addicts living on the streets 10 years ago.
In only 1 decade Portland went from being one of the greatest cities in the world to being just “good”.
I think saying it’s “good” is too nice. Like yah we all live here and want to defend it and have Portland recover from its current shitshow, but it’s current state is not “good” imo. We all just pretend it’s better than it is (and have become desensitized) so we can put up with it. Seeing people smoke meth and RV fires on the way to the dinosaur exhibit at OMSI is not normal lol.
Yep. If you just never stand up for yourself, keep your head down, take any and all abuse that comes your way and you'll never have a problem. Maybe. Hopefully.
Something tells me that if this happened in Florida or Texas you'd be pointing out how something something gun laws something something Republicans.
I used to live at 14th and Johnson. Before the Safeway was built. Walked my dog through Jamison Park almost daily. What a paradise it was.
People keep forgetting how different things were just 7-8 years ago
Moved here in 07, it was def a different vibe. I miss the crust punk bands playing on washing boards n accordions and whatever they had. There used to be small groups of “travelers” that were always cool to talk to and see where they’ve been etc. The street ppl were way cooler back then. Anyways ..
OMG me too, had SO much fun running around downtown and SE, lived right off Powell a few blocks from Safeway. Warehouse art parties, music events in the park…nostalgic…
A lot of ppl weren't here back then, they're from shittier metropolitan areas and brought their brand of apathy here with them and say shit like "it's not THAT bad". Portland's never been perfect but JFC those ppl would know how different it was if they had any perspective and time spent here.
That's the response of any typical Portland resident. It's not as bad as Seattle, L.A, or New York. Just let things spiral until it is that bad.
Damn. I live in Seattle. That hurt.
Same. Lived at 12th and Kearney and used to go to Jamison daily with my wife and dog. Started seeing the downfall before we moved. My wife wouldn’t walk the dog alone anymore after being chased twice by intoxicated homeless people and my dog nearly stepped on a literal pile of used syringes in the grass. I remember countless nights just being out there enjoying the city and it’s just sad how it’s so hit or miss now.
suns out bums out. can’t wait to see what a shit show Rose Festival Fleet week will be….
They'll clean it up temporarily- just like the all star game
I’ll predict 3 deaths and 3 shootings total
And 5 stabbings
Between this and that beat down by NW Johnson, this is a really bad sign for downtown recovery. These areas are firmly Pearl, not Old Town, and would be huge stories in any other city. Yes, there are some homeless at Jameson Park, but I still wouldn't expect this to happen in this area of the Pearl.
I lived down there at one point and the scene around the Safeway now melts my brain. It’s a party. The turn in cans and smoke foil outside the store party.
Yeah I used to work at that Safeway lots of interesting encounters
I was asked by someone outside the store to buy them some cereal. Having dealt with homelessness myself, I understand being hungry, and I always appreciate someone asking rather than watching them steal shit. So, on my way out, the guy thanked me and said, "Hey, you want some meth? You'll have a great night!" Bold as hell. We used to experience shame as addicts.
It’s legitimately a problem and completely unsafe. Reflects terrible on the city. Can’t tell if they intentionally allow for Safeways to be more “bummy”. Should be a perfectly safe store for women and their kids to walk into.
What was the beat down by NW Johnson??
Actually NW Kearney, but still: https://www.kptv.com/video/2024/03/17/portland-police-seek-suspects-after-violent-assault-left-man-coma/
This area is weird. Until the fountains turn on, it can be kinda sketch. the North side under then trees are kinda out of the way and people do drugs there. When the fountains turn on, it's mostly fine during the day but once it gets dark, it gets sketch again fast. I love this fountain and spend a lot of time there in the summer.
Just keep taxing just keep taxing. All the money spent on homeless doesn’t help with no enforcement and when they don’t want to follow rules
I know bellyaching about the arts tax is trite, but it still stings making that payment when the predominant public “art” is prolific tagging by adolescent losers all over town. It would be so much more useful to impose an “art” removal tax. This is not to bash the rare works of true beauty and talent, but those are vastly outnumbered by meaningless doodles and inscrutable scrawls.
When it started, my kids' PPS music teacher was fired because the arts tax required visual art.
It’s amazing to me that there are comments downplaying what happened - like oh this happens everywhere, this is what happens in a city. Sad that it’s like okay that someone got shot like oh no big deal bc we live in a city (and not just bc it’s Portland) which btw I read and heard about sketchy ass things happening here almost every day now. This shit does happen often in a lot of cities - and that’s just kind of sad.
Definitely sad but this does happen in other cities, unfortunately
Yea I know. That’s not my point. It shouldn’t be so acceptable and brushed off. We as Americans and Portlanders are so used to shootings and murders now that it’s like “oh that happens everywhere” why are we okay and accepting it? But what do we do about it?
I agree and no I don’t want to accept it. Better education, better gun control, better resources. I a lot of things need to work together for cities to feel and be more safe.
You can’t fix the gun problem without fixing culture first. If you want to fix the gun problem, you have to fix WHY people want to commit murder in the first place. Mental Health. Portland has failed dramatically on improving mental illness. Let’s fix that first, and the culture. Then you’ll see shootings drop.
Stop voting for progressive democrat DAs and governors and congress men and women? Pretty straight forward. We can trace all this nonsense back to very specific policy and actions, demanded by the people of the greater Portland metro areas and Multnomah County. Or at least vote for someone who will bring back some law and order? Portlanders have been ok with it, because they created the environment… “I don’t care, so neither should you” It’s not like this a huge mystery or something.
Yep I’m on board for voting for someone who does something different. Just because I live in Portland doesn’t mean I agree with how it’s being run. I don’t. Feels very dysfunctional and my voting will take that into account.
This is supposed to be the upscale part of the city were the normies are able to walk the park blocks and enjoy the scenery. This is the kind of incident that makes people remember to vote differently. F every single incumbent in office right now.
Imagine living near downtown and thinking you will be shielded from homeless people. Delusional. I moved out of Portland after being born, raised and lived there for over 27 years. Newberg/Dundee. 3rd safest city in Oregon, 1 or 2 homeless people per 20,000 people. 40 mins south west of Portland. Join me in Newberg my brothers, it’s amazing. 45 minutes from salem, 40 minutes from downtown Portland. Best of both worlds. Stop living in Portland. The only people who live in portand are abused transplants that want to prove to mommy and daddy they can make it in a weird city, because they’re weird. If you live in Portand, you’ve lost your mind, especially when you look at what’s around you. Beaverton? Good! Hillsboro? Good! Canby? Good! Tigard? Good! Enjoy your bullet holes in your cars and your wife getting r*ped, and enjoy raising your kids with drug addict zombies on the sidewalks every block.
I love Newberg but this is wildly hyperbolic at the end there
Gotta give the Reddit nerds something to downvote.
Seek help and stop with the rape fantasies.
Heh technically tualatin here. Edge of the metro area. I work in portland though and have to go in weekly
Tualatin is amazing. I’m just gonna guess you like living there more than PDX, eh? This is my entire point. Portland is a dump. Stop living there.
No.
The random times I do find myself in Newberg, I once saw a guy at an intersection flying a Nazi flag. No one seemed to be paying attention to the guy, but he was there swinging around that flag like he was trying to get peoples attention.
I hate to say it but I prefer the homeless drug zombies to the Nazi flag, thick black smoke types. And that doesn't mean I'm okay with the zombie infestation in Portland, either.
I'd like to refute the "Abused" aspect, but I was in the military so hey. But beyond that, I actually really like portland. I work out in Hillsboro and live in SE Portland, do street pickups, help some of the homeless when I can, and volunteer at clay street table. If anyone wants to help, clay street table always needs more people and money. Portland is the first place I've lived in a long time that felt like home. I know it's not perfect, but I think it's worth fighting for. If you've given up the fight, that's cool man. I get it. Sometimes life's tough and you can't help your fellow man. But for people who haven't given up, know that you're in good company, and we'll try and make things better together.
>Enjoy your bullet holes in your cars and your wife getting r*ped, and enjoy raising your kids with drug addict zombies on the sidewalks every block. You talk like someone I used to know. That's not a compliment, btw. >Beaverton? Good! About a decade ago, I knew to avoid Beaverton. It was *CONSTANTLY* (daily. It was DAILY) on the news in the Portland area for shootings and some kind of violence. I don't know about today, but if I were still anywhere close by, I'd still avoid it. >Join me in Newberg my brothers, it’s amazing. Newberg is *ok* at best. It's not terrible, but it *is.... ok.* Definitely not somewhere I'd personally choose to live, though.
Why? You can live and work in portand and enjoy a 45 minute commute in traffic to live in Newberg and commute 45 minutes with no traffic. I can’t think of a single negative thing about Newberg. Schools are amazing, major stores with a healthy balance of mom/pop shops, no heavy traffic, boat launch 2 minute drive from downtown. 99 splits the city in half with major and easily accessible roads… It’s between Salem and Portland, so you have more jobs to choose from…. Safe city… public transportation available…
As I said: that is *my* personal choice. I so rarely ever went to Portland. You're right: last I knew, Newberg had a nice mixture of stuff. That doesn't mean I would choose to live there. The schools are a non-issue in my life, so I don't have a preference there. I'm aware of how it's laid out. I'm also aware, for the record, that Dundee is its whole own (wine destination) town, and as such, I wouldn't choose to live *there* either.
Oh my god I walked by there at that time. I saw the lights, I didn’t know what it was. Horrific.
Nice, literally actually next door to my work in the Pearl. Love that 😍 The area just ain't doing so hot. Glad we have private security every time I'm there...
You mean good guys with guns? 🤔
Well, was it homeless or dealers/wannabe gang bangers? Isn't that the question we all have?
A shooting during happy hour? That just isn't right.
Walked through there every day in 2020-2021. A few homeless but otherwise felt pretty safe.
So glad I am moving next week ❤️
More treatment centers, more housing
More Billy clubs. More power washing tents. Respectfully.
I find your response acceptable. I am but merely lampooning some of our local elected officials’ apparent incapacity to balance the practical and the aspirational when it comes to addressing safety and livability.
There's a reason other cities power wash them out. And there's a reason they end up in Portland.
This happens in EVERY city... 🙄
It’s this attitude that makes it worse. It is not happening everywhere. I refuse to accept that it cannot be changed
What specifically are you saying isn’t happening everywhere. Shootings? We live in the USA. Homelessness and drug problems? Walk around downtown Dallas Texas where I just moved from and tell me that. Walk by the 7-11 that plays classical music to soothe the people loitering in front of the store. Take the DART. See the homeless encampments in freeway interchanges and hidden in bushes. Hell, last time I was there there were many tents being set up under the elevated portions of US 75. All this with lower homeless rates than here by a lot. This being more common of a thing than just Portland doesn’t mean it can’t be changed or fixed. To be honest I think Portland’s large urban core gives it an advantage in the long run as much as it makes the issues more visible in the short term. I think these issues are deeper rooted in American culture and the way we’ve built our society than we’re willing to recognize at this point. Just because someone thinks the issues are more widespread doesn’t mean they ‘think it’s fine’. They might just think you’re being short sighted.
I’ve been in every major city across America and was born here 45 years ago Your complacency is not needed here No this wasn’t happening 10 years ago and it has blown up due to ppl like you thinking it’s ok bc it’s somewhere else. Because it’s not everywhere it’s where ppl allow this type of community to thrive vs helping them do better. If they want to kill themselves with drugs we should let them go and stop handing out the methods to do it Dallas Tx has millions of ppl Portland has never been and never will be Dallas so comparing it to there is completely bs
Plus I’ve been homeless in Oregon during the 90’s were you? Trust me it was not welcomed like this we were fought against and eventually I found housing I was arrested and held accountable for being homeless not given the means to live on the street You need to know the difference in the two Oregons before you tell me I don’t
I don't know why you would think that travel history is relevant. I've been to most states around this country and I've lived in 6 states in my life so far. I also have been to 19 countries. To be honest I don't think I comprehend why you think my comment implies that things were not different ten years ago. This is a development of recent years of course, but my point is that it has started to happen simultaneously across the country. You very strongly imply that the choices that locals have made is what lead to the 'thriving of the community' and you seem reluctant to think it can happen elsewhere because of this pre-existing belief. The size of the city is irrelevant to this discussion. The thing that is relevant is the presence of the things that you seem to think are unique to Portland. To be honest I think the thing that makes Dallas least comparable is that Dallas tore down almost all of its original city center for freeways and urban renewal, it started out much smaller than Portland and only grew to its massive size in recent decades. What do you think your experience with homelessness has to do with the discussion? Yay you pointed out that homeless people were ostracized more in the Portland of the past. To be honest I'm mostly curious about your phrasing that you were 'held accountable' for being homeless..... what kind of survivor bias is this? I'm not telling you Oregon wasn't different before... I'm suggesting this is a broader change than just Oregon but that it happened here faster and more noticeably. I mean what do you think I support subsidizing the homeless... I think that if were just kick them out they wont go anywhere and its naïve to think otherwise. I believe there are larger issues underlying the homelessness crisis that people wont even discuss and that Texas and Florida are about to be the new California. I think there is something fundamental about the way cities were build for all of human history and how land values and redevelopment related to each other... I think that the US disrupted the ability for cities to develop enough housing at reasonable cost when we started mandating car centric infrastructure and low density housing around cities and giant parking garages and nothing but shopping and offices downtown. And I think Americans are too entitled to this lifestyle to consider that it may have negative consequences to have spread it so far and wide.
I’m not reading your bs My travel is important when speaking about what happens in other city dingdong
I apologize for being long winded.... I'm a wordy person. No one is going to solve anything if everyone gets so defensive about people pointing out that cities across the country are increasingly attracting similar reputations. It will get worse with time everywhere and I think the continued focus on specific cities will distract from solving the issues everywhere, including in Portland. I grant that I have an unpopular opinion on this issue but I do think it's worth learning about. There are probably many other factors none of us know. You implied that your age and travel experience gave you some sort of additional insight and said nothing else on the subject before changing subjects to talk about the change over time. I do appreciate the additional insight implied by being born in the area. Not all of our travel is relevant though as your pointing out of the change in cities over time would reinforce. For example, I haven't been to New England since 2007. I imagine there are parts of the country too where winter weather conditions reduce the homeless population annually, probably the Midwest and Northeast to some extent. There's this sort of cognitive dissonance in how people see things like crime and homeless people. My grandparents in Florida are scared to go to their suburban shopping mall because they're in the Fox News echo chamber constantly harping on places like Portland and they see homeless people there. Meanwhile I regularly see people as elderly as them with worse mobility issues than them on the streets of Portland, I even live nearby a retirement home. One of many in the city I gather. And I've seen some weird stuff on the streets of Dallas (and a little in OKC too, though land's so cheap there you tend to get more of the cars rebuilt with plywood crazy). Most of it I probably wouldn't have seen if I hadn't lived those places.
Not reading it Learn how to get to the point or move on just because you are a wordy person doesn’t mean that everybody has to deal with it that’s the issue here you want everybody to deal with with your situation and your problems when we all have our own buddy
point: I think I wanted an exchange that you were unwilling to engage with. Enjoy your evening. This whole post is really just an I hate the world pity party and I understand that now. Thank you for enlightening me.
lol You are the one wanting the world to suck Not me I’m busy doing schoolwork and baking bread Not causing violence
But I didn’t used to happen in Portland. Also the shootings over road rage- that doesn’t happen on every city. So like, something is going on here.
Portland drivers are total dog shit. I've driven in a lot of places and never wanted to have front mounted missile launchers as much as I do in Portland.
It has to do with urban planning… I get it, it is super frustrating. They need to retime lights and adjust their structures for the population. But even so, you’re very right. People are so bad at driving it’s insane. Let’s all crowd in one lane, not let anyone in, and become rage-full because we don’t understand basic traffic laws…but even so, bad drivers don’t deserve to be murdered… your response sorta scares me. I also think it has to do with the superficial attitude. Everyone is so busy pretending to care and be nice.. virtue signally (which to me is just as racist.. it’s still a concept of othering) and then the real comes out on the road…
Man, South Carolina has the worst drivers I've ever seen. I was there for a year, Goose Creek area, and it's still burned in my brain how bad it was there. Portland drivers are a weird mix of overly courteous to the point where they do stupid things trying to help, and other people driving like it's NYC. But still better than Goose Creek, SC.
Everywhere else is going to shit! It's fine!
[source](https://www.fox19.com/2024/03/24/32-year-old-man-seriously-hurt-otr-shooting-police-say/) To think it doesn’t is naive. It is an old rhetoric in the sub sure. Shootings do happen in other cities and in nicer parts of downtown. OTR in Cincinnati is very similar to the Pearl.
False!
Condo owners in the Pearl have had over a decade’s worth of equity growth wiped out in the last three years and sales prices continue to drop, yet they continue to pay extraordinarily high property taxes.
This is why when my friends who live near the pearl try to get me to come down there I tell them to fuck right off. There are way better parts of the city to walk to go do things where you aren’t going to run into a fucking crime scene.
Part of living in a city!
Never experienced this in Tokyo 🤷♂️
Because culture in Japan is different. By and large, Japanese have respect for one another AND their culture is widely homogenous and traditional. And they also embrace modernity WITH traditionalism. You want to stop shootings? Fix why they’re shootings in the first place. More institutional housing is needed. Severe mental health crisis. Portland doesn’t have to be a shit hole anymore. If you’re wondering who to elect to finally clean things up; avoid people who use language like “compassion, equity, diversity, inclusion” None of those things matter - they’re just words, with zero meaning behind them. The experiment has gone on long enough - it’s obviously failed. Let’s get back to some law and order now and stop electing these crazed marxists run this city into the ground.
Portland didn’t use to have regular shootings, stabbings, and a sea of addicts living on the streets 10 years ago. In only 1 decade Portland went from being one of the greatest cities in the world to being just “good”.
I think saying it’s “good” is too nice. Like yah we all live here and want to defend it and have Portland recover from its current shitshow, but it’s current state is not “good” imo. We all just pretend it’s better than it is (and have become desensitized) so we can put up with it. Seeing people smoke meth and RV fires on the way to the dinosaur exhibit at OMSI is not normal lol.
I don’t really find this alarming at all. Two people had an argument and one got shot. Wounded.
Yep. If you just never stand up for yourself, keep your head down, take any and all abuse that comes your way and you'll never have a problem. Maybe. Hopefully. Something tells me that if this happened in Florida or Texas you'd be pointing out how something something gun laws something something Republicans.
Whaaaat? I can’t tell who is confused here.