Oregon's future (3rd world)? (Portland, Salem: credit, how much, homes)

[modeerf]

The McCall doctrine of visit and leave is showing it's naivete'.

You can't expect people to visit a state with one of the highest unemployment rates, anti growth, anti business, not in my backyard BS that this state has, and expect to have a pleasant outdoor experience, or retirement mecca.

We have so much going for us, if the over regulation and anti industry " i've got mine" would let others prosper and start small business (jobs) then i think this state could avoid the looming disaster of class warfare, and eventual social unrest.

Portland and Salem have ignored the greater land of plenty and deemed it playground for the elite and selfish.

Can't cut a tree, can't mine for minerals, can't get a development permit in a timely manner (2 yrs.) is not going to cut it.

One could expect all their tax dollars going to a broken system, and no way prepared to protect the citenzenry from unemployed have nots.

Oregon is well on its way to 3rd world status. It is close to mass public layoffs. The dept of treasury for the state has had to close it's tax audit offices and lay off most of it's employee's (i'm torn on this one) but it means more insolvency and an eventual credit downgrade which hurts small business in this state.
The schools are horrible, no matter how much $ they try to throw at it. Most of the dollars are to prop up the PERS scam.

My advice would be for Oregon to.

Look to Texas!

Of the net jobs created in 2010 1/2 were built in TEXAS. HALF!!!!

[Cornerguy1]

Originally Posted by modeerf

Of the net jobs created in 2010 1/2 were built in TEXAS. HALF!!!!

So this means 49 other states sucked canal water?

[Fiddlehead]

While I will agree Oregon has some challenges, I would not trade Oregon for Texas in a thousand lifetimes. The primary reason that Texas was not damaged so much by the recession was because it did not bubble up. Housing in Texas boomed and busted years ago with the 1980s oil boom. So, it dodged the recent bubble. Oregon was very heavily influenced by the latest boom, and the bilk the Californians with overpriced McMansions mindset. It was hammered twice by the collapse of building and collapse of the forest product market. So, current comparisons are predictive of neither past nor future.

Moreover, Texas has a drug that Americans are addicted to (oil), it also has a lot of land, and very lax building laws. It shows. Yes, Texas is doing better than Oregon, but Oregon cannot remake itself into Texas for a hundred geographic, cultural, and historical reasons, and I say that is just fine.

Yes, we need a new vision for Oregon, and if your post is an invitation to a discussion of how we can reenvision our state, good for you. I also think it is fine to blow off a bit of steam. However, I don't think a deregulate log, mine, graze, and endlessly subdivide is a very creative approach, nor do I feel it leaves the best Oregon for our children. I think we are hurting primarily because Oregon has tried too hard to be extractive or exploitative at the expense of building a diverse manufacturing, high tech, service, and a lot more. When logging dropped in the 1990s, high school educated guys were screwed, but along came the housing bubble, and they could get a construction job and make the payments on the Ramcharger again. Then ten years later that failed too, and what did they learn, they are middle aged, angry, and without the education to compete for higher level jobs. Now, don't get me wrong, not everyone needs to be a software engineer, but people need to have a broad education, strong communication skills, and an ability to reeducate themselves for new challenges. The real challenge, it seems, is for Oregon to invent some industries that are uniquely Oregonian, not by aping other states. And we need to develop a real appreciation for diversity in extractive, agricultural, educational, health care, recreational, manufacturing, service, and other industries, so that the collapse of one does not implode the state budget. I do agree we need to look very closely at state spending and the retirement packages we have promised state employees-they are not sustainable at current levels.

When oil finally bites the dust, Texas will likely have a similar challenge as Oregon in reinventing itself. I hope they are looking to us for ideas by then.

[Pretzelogik]

Excuse me....mind if I pump my own gas?

[Silverfall]

Oregon has some serious issues, but I, for one, hope we become nothing like Texas. They have open zoning laws in many cities. Can you imagine developing a subdivision of homes, having families move in, and then having a food processing plant build right next to that? Why do you want that? I get the angst, as Oregon has some serious problems, but I don't think that is something to strive for.

I'm glad we have tree codes. It is what makes Oregon...well Oregon. I'm sorry but Texas is ugly. I hardly think raping the earth is a good plan for our children's future. I completely agree with Fiddlehead is that Oregon's problem is its complete lack of economic diversity. We went from lumber to construction now "green" manufacturing. If we had a major medical research center or some other major health care jobs that would help a lot of diversify our economy.

[Ryant]

I'm sorry but making it a place for the elite is the way forward. Talk about making it a third world, what is it they do in a third world country? The same things you want us to do chop down trees and mine. That's the way forward huh? Yeah lets have everyone making sweaters too, those counties doing that are so well off.

Wake up!! We are in the information era. You want us to go back to the industrial era like the current third world countries are. Ok, so we stop looking forward and start making sweaters again, what happens as technology progresses? More and more factories start being controlled by machines. We don't have the engineers designing the machines because we decided not to cater to them any longer. That would start to make us SOL. America is what it is (the most prosperous nation) because we took computers and ran with it. We make half of the worlds pharmaceuticals. We are a leader in high tech. Catering to these "Elites" as you call them is probably not a bad idea for Oregon. Cities like SF, Portland, Seattle, NYC, make so much money.. Those "Elites" are what gives America it's GDP. You want to live in a country/state without those? Everyone living on a farm? That sounds like the third world scenario..

[DoctorRain]

For new ideas.. I suggest to get Oregon new jobs, create more in the environmental sector or perhaps massage jobs incase more people switch to alternative health. That could create jobs.

I don't have tons of ideas.. but who knows. Oregon could face a boom in the future sometime. Portland cant just keep growing with no jobs being added. Something has to give sometime. It cant have the same situation it has now with 500,000 people, only with 1 million people.

[kapetrich]

I disagree on many different levels. Too many to even take part, but what I will do is ask you a question:

*Ref:Fiddlehead's first sentence here*

Why would we want Oregon to be like Texas in any way?

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

While I will agree Oregon has some challenges, I would not trade Oregon for Texas in a thousand lifetimes. The primary reason that Texas was not damaged so much by the recession was because it did not bubble up. Housing in Texas boomed and busted years ago with the 1980s oil boom. So, it dodged the recent bubble.

It might be partially that, but the main reason is Texas had lending laws that prevented a bubble from happening.

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

When oil finally bites the dust, Texas will likely have a similar challenge as Oregon in reinventing itself. I hope they are looking to us for ideas by then.

Texas will be hurt but not devastated when oil bites the dust. For several decades they have been diversifying their economy. It is now very diversified. The idea that the economy of Texas still depends mostly on oil is simply not true. For instance, they are the largest exporting state, even larger than California.

Economy of Texas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One thing, of many, that Texas is doing better than Oregon, is they are supporting their university system. Their public research universities are gaining in quality and reputation - Oregon's are heading in the opposite direction.

Quality of life is more than natural beauty - it's time Oregon realized this.

[Ryant]

And yet Texas unemployment rate is not the best, not by a long shot. Hawaii is a lot lower, a lot of deforestation and mining going on there. Look what they get for trying to keep their place nice, how ridiculous of an idea.

List of U.S. states by unemployment rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia