Starting to get a little freaked out about Oregon (Portland: crime rates, neighborhoods)

[trid2bnrml]

"Trust me - you don't want to live here. And the latest crime analysis documentary on Oregon Public Broadcasting reveals that yes, Oregon is the meth capitol of the US. While California may be dealing with drugs and drugs are seemingly everywhere, Oregon leads in meth manufacture - a true disgrace."

Don't let the "meth manufacturing" label fool you--in Oregon the statute is written deceptively, and the truth of the matter is most "manufacturing" arrests have nothing to do with making meth. As a research assistant who focuses on such cases, I find that mostly only the simple possession of meth, and sometimes just the paraphernelia are what gets prosecuted as "manufacturing", based on possession of more than 10 grams.

Oregon IS NOT the meth capital, especially since the chemicals needed to make meth have been taken out of reach.

Biases and predjudiced opinions will not help you decide what you want to do. Don't believe me, check the stats yourself.

[PNW-type-gal]

Try this report
State Estimates of Past Year Methamphetamine Use, SAMHSA Office of Applied Studies

which ranks per capita use as:

Figure 1 Table. Percentages of Persons Aged 12 or Older Reporting Past Year Methamphetamine Use, by State: 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 State Percentage

Nevada 2.02
Montana 1.47
Wyoming 1.47
Idaho 1.24
Nebraska 1.24
Oregon 1.24
Arkansas 1.23
Arizona 1.22
New Mexico 1.16
California 1.13
North Dakota 1.13
South Dakota 1.12
Hawaii 1.09
Colorado 1.07
Iowa 1.07
Washington 1.03
Utah 0.94
Kansas 0.92
Kentucky 0.91
Missouri 0.91
Oklahoma 0.89
Minnesota 0.88
Alabama 0.84
Mississippi 0.83
Indiana 0.68
Alaska 0.64
Texas 0.62
South Carolina 0.55
West Virginia 0.52
Georgia 0.48
Louisiana 0.48
Florida 0.39
Michigan 0.36
District of Columbia 0.34
Wisconsin 0.32
Delaware 0.27
Ohio 0.25
Tennessee 0.25
Virginia 0.21
North Carolina 0.20
Pennsylvania 0.20
Rhode Island 0.20
Illinois 0.19
Maine 0.18
Vermont 0.17
New Hampshire 0.15
Maryland 0.14
Massachusetts 0.14
New Jersey 0.11
New York 0.10
Connecticut

Elsewhere the report notes that rates in Oregon and Washington are dropping sharply as the sale of precursor materials was limited and the states ramped up programs for dealing with the problems.

As with all of these reports, you'd really have to read the methodology - do all states collect and report data in the same way (bet not), is the problem in some states low because the state isn't yet actively reporting it and dealing with it as a separate crime?

[Imperial1904]

Originally Posted by trid2bnrml

"Trust me - you don't want to live here. And the latest crime analysis documentary on Oregon Public Broadcasting reveals that yes, Oregon is the meth capitol of the US. While California may be dealing with drugs and drugs are seemingly everywhere, Oregon leads in meth manufacture - a true disgrace."

Don't let the "meth manufacturing" label fool you--in Oregon the statute is written deceptively, and the truth of the matter is most "manufacturing" arrests have nothing to do with making meth. As a research assistant who focuses on such cases, I find that mostly only the simple possession of meth, and sometimes just the paraphernelia are what gets prosecuted as "manufacturing", based on possession of more than 10 grams.

Oregon IS NOT the meth capital, especially since the chemicals needed to make meth have been taken out of reach.

Biases and predjudiced opinions will not help you decide what you want to do. Don't believe me, check the stats yourself.

Oregon isn't sophisticated enough to manufacture drugs. What I mean is, Oregon isn't on the same level of drug trading as California.

Oregon the meth capital? I don't think so.

[bobmulk]

I wouldn't listen to the bad attitudes by some of the people in this forum. I'm sure you're enlightened enough to tell when someone has a chip on their shoulder.

Oregon isn't hell, but it sure is close to heaven. It all depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for perfection, keep looking because it ain't here--it ain't anywhere. What you'll find is a beautiful state with the ocean, high desert, rain forests, rivers, mountains, farmland. Portland is a decent-sized city with all the urban delights. We have a world-renowned wine country, festivals, produce stands. We have high tech, lumber, food processing, software, health care, biotech, computer programming, pretty much anything.

People I feel are pretty libertarian. They don't want anyone telling them how to live and that includes special interest groups from both political sides as well as the government. Land use is a religion and it causes some problems, such as an artificially high housing sector. But, our farmland and forests are protected.

[RuralSeeker]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

Most Oregonians won't encourage anyone to move here. It's really pretty crowded. The Federal Government owns 1/3 of the state, big timber companies own 1/3 of the state, which just leaves 1/3 of the state where people can live. Most of that is in the Willamette Valley, a strip of land 140 miles long and 40 miles wide. Much of the Willamette Valley is farm ground, and not suitable for immigration.

You might be happy to know that we have established reservation land for Californians in Central Oregon, in the town of Bend. You should check it out. Not many people from Oregon live there any more, but the population is booming. There is also some reservation land on the border, at Ashland, but it's pretty full.

So now Californians are going to be treated like American Indians and put on reservations? "...suitable for immigration"? Californians are foreigners, too? For your information, most of these so-called "Californians" are not even originally from California, nor do many of them have big bucks, either. That is why they had to leave California. Stop using Californians as scapegoats for all your problems, OK?

[tigress]

Historically, most of Oregon is conservative; the liberal cities of Salem, Eugene, and Portland just outnumber the rest of us in the state. My kids both went to the U of O, so I have been there when it is beautiful (mimosa trees and sunshine) and when it pours rain for several days at a time. My kids both love Eugene, but one moved to NYC and the other to Portland for employment. Miss Oregon to the nth degree, moved away for a good man. Small towns boast polite people, larger ones not so much. Lived in big cities and small towns. Prefer the small ones due to traffic and crime myself. Like the weather in the Eastern side of the state better.

[vanight]

As long as you stay away from certain parts of Eugene/Ashland and the Portland Metro area, Oregon is fairly normal. Dont let the "Keep Portland Wierd" signs freak you out. It like a mini version of our country, 1% of the whole screems and complains about Christmas and tries to make policy for the rest. That being said, compared to california, Oregon would probably seem conservative. At least southern California. If you move here, get used to driving behind farmers and mexicans who drive 40 in a 55. Bend has really turned into a micro-southern california, unfortunate really, but I am a capatalist at heart so more power to them.

One thing you need to think about is the seasonal change you will exp. for some it may be no problem. Most of my family actually moved from here too s. cal because its so damn dark and rainy and depressing most of the year. My mom and adopted dad built a house in prineville for the same reason. Be aware that Oregon is definately a big government state since Ted K. has been governor. The property taxes are high as is the state income tax, and they are constantly trying to scam more taxes to fund their special interest projects. All that money going out and still terrible school scores (with the exception of a few good ones) absolutely terrible roads, and now we are recovering from a pointless public transit project, a bankrupt PERS and State run healthcare system (OHP).

A couple good things: we have gun ownership rights laws written into our state constitution. You can still go places where there are no people, though that is going away VERY VERY quickly. Luckily, my family has 200 acres bordering 1000's of acres of warehauser tree farm. If your a hippy or ex hippy turned yippy (yuppy hippy hybrid), we do have medical marijauna cards endorsed and funded by our socialist state government.

There is excellent hunting and fishing in Oregon, however our socialist governor and all his environmental freak freinds are trying to shut that down as well. There was even a government funded pilot to require GPS units be installed on vehicles so they can tax on on exactly how much we drive! We have the Mayor of portland wanting to constantly rename roads including renaming one in honor of a communist dictator, Chavez.

To be honest, if your looking for a truly traditional american town, I would take the other post up on his offer to move to Oklahoma. At minimum find a small town in Oregon way out of the way.

[little peg]

Originally Posted by vanight

As long as you stay away from certain parts of Eugene/Ashland and the Portland Metro area, Oregon is fairly normal. Dont let the "Keep Portland Wierd" signs freak you out. It like a mini version of our country, 1% of the whole screems and complains about Christmas and tries to make policy for the rest. That being said, compared to california, Oregon would probably seem conservative. At least southern California. If you move here, get used to driving behind farmers and mexicans who drive 40 in a 55. Bend has really turned into a micro-southern california, unfortunate really, but I am a capatalist at heart so more power to them.

One thing you need to think about is the seasonal change you will exp. for some it may be no problem. Most of my family actually moved from here too s. cal because its so damn dark and rainy and depressing most of the year. My mom and adopted dad built a house in prineville for the same reason. Be aware that Oregon is definately a big government state since Ted K. has been governor. The property taxes are high as is the state income tax, and they are constantly trying to scam more taxes to fund their special interest projects. All that money going out and still terrible school scores (with the exception of a few good ones) absolutely terrible roads, and now we are recovering from a pointless public transit project, a bankrupt PERS and State run healthcare system (OHP).

A couple good things: we have gun ownership rights laws written into our state constitution. You can still go places where there are no people, though that is going away VERY VERY quickly. Luckily, my family has 200 acres bordering 1000's of acres of warehauser tree farm. If your a hippy or ex hippy turned yippy (yuppy hippy hybrid), we do have medical marijauna cards endorsed and funded by our socialist state government.

There is excellent hunting and fishing in Oregon, however our socialist governor and all his environmental freak freinds are trying to shut that down as well. There was even a government funded pilot to require GPS units be installed on vehicles so they can tax on on exactly how much we drive! We have the Mayor of portland wanting to constantly rename roads including renaming one in honor of a communist dictator, Chavez.

To be honest, if your looking for a truly traditional american town, I would take the other post up on his offer to move to Oklahoma. At minimum find a small town in Oregon way out of the way.

Agree 100%-The state has changed alot in 20 years,

[wjriling]

Except for the people, it's a beautiful place!

[nm85]

I was born in Portland, grew up in the Aurora area & lived most of my adult life in Salem. Currently my husband & I have relocated to another part of the country for work reasons... I truly LOVE oregon, the entire Willamette Valley is great, really beautiful & there are friendly, accepting, warm people everywhere you look, I'd go back in a heartbeat. The Aurora area is a wonderful place to grow up. Small community yet close to everything, great people.