What do you think about Woodburn, Oregon? (Portland, McMinnville: apartments, high crime)

[lumiwa]

Originally Posted by malachai23

The OP asked for peoples' honest opinions about Woodburn. And they gave them. In my opinion, Woodburn is not a great place. And I would never make it out to be something it isn't, especially to someone who is relocating and is not familiar with the area. If I were relocating, I would expect people to tell me the truth as well. We are not being hypocritical. We are being honest. Woodburn is what it is.

I am from the foreign country and I like to know why Woodburn is bad, please.
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3.
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Thank you.

P.S.

Is it Ohio good? Diverse? Liberal?

[malachai23]

Originally Posted by lumiwa

I am from the foreign country and I like to know why Woodburn is bad, please.
1.
2.
3.
...
...

Thank you.

P.S.

Is it Ohio good? Diverse? Liberal?

Hi Lumiwa,

Whether you are just visiting or here to stay, welcome to the USA.

You asked for me to list three reasons why I think Woodburn is "bad". Well, I want to clarify something first - I said it was "not a great place" and that I wouldn't personally recommend it. In my opinion, there are FAR better places to call home in Oregon. However, I'm the first to admit htat 30,000 or so residents of Woodburn disagree with me.

OK, here is why I personally wouldn't recommend it:

1) Crime. Meth/gang issues in particular... which, yes, you will also find in other places in Oregon as well as in parts of Portland - and I wouldn't willingly live in those places either.
2) It is almost completely visually unappealing to me. To me, the majority of it looks trashy, dirty, and run-down. Yah, there are pockets that do not look that way - but I would prefer the place I live to be the other way around. And yes, I realize this is subjective. Remember, we are talking about my personal opinion.
3) The school system is awful. I went to school in north Keizer way back when, which at that time was not much better than Woodburn's is today. It was dumbed down to the point where I learned all they had the resources to teach me by the first semester of my junior year or high school, skipped my senior year, and went straight to college at 16. Not all children with potential who are stuck in bad school systems have the ability, motivation, opportunity, funding, maturity, family support, etc to get out and continue their educations and make something of themselves. And when they are surrounded by peers who are learning at grade levels far below them, that doesn't help either.

As for your "PS" about Ohio, you might want to check out the Ohio threads on City-Data, or post your question in the Ohio forum, so as not to hijack this Woodburn thread.

Cheers!

[lumiwa]

Originally Posted by malachai23

Hi Lumiwa,

Whether you are just visiting or here to stay, welcome to the USA.

You asked for me to list three reasons why I think Woodburn is "bad". Well, I want to clarify something first - I said it was "not a great place" and that I wouldn't personally recommend it. In my opinion, there are FAR better places to call home in Oregon. However, I'm the first to admit htat 30,000 or so residents of Woodburn disagree with me.

OK, here is why I personally wouldn't recommend it:

1) Crime. Meth/gang issues in particular... which, yes, you will also find in other places in Oregon as well as in parts of Portland - and I wouldn't willingly live in those places either.
2) It is almost completely visually unappealing to me. To me, the majority of it looks trashy, dirty, and run-down. Yah, there are pockets that do not look that way - but I would prefer the place I live to be the other way around. And yes, I realize this is subjective. Remember, we are talking about my personal opinion.
3) The school system is awful. I went to school in north Keizer way back when, which at that time was not much better than Woodburn's is today. It was dumbed down to the point where I learned all they had the resources to teach me by the first semester of my junior year or high school, skipped my senior year, and went straight to college at 16. Not all children with potential who are stuck in bad school systems have the ability, motivation, opportunity, funding, maturity, family support, etc to get out and continue their educations and make something of themselves. And when they are surrounded by peers who are learning at grade levels far below them, that doesn't help either.

As for your "PS" about Ohio, you might want to check out the Ohio threads on City-Data, or post your question in the Ohio forum, so as not to hijack this Woodburn thread.

Cheers!

Thank you very much to answer me. I am from Marseille - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and I just asked because I have a feeling that places where population is not 99% white are get a "bad score". It is just my opinion. And Woodburn is one of those.
Thank you again.

[malachai23]

Originally Posted by lumiwa

Thank you very much to answer me. I am from Marseille - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and I just asked because I have a feeling that places where population is not 99% white are get a "bad score". It is just my opinion. And Woodburn is one of those.
Thank you again.

Wow - you are a long way from home! I hope you are having a pleasant vacation or a good move, if you are relocating. I have a friend here in Dayton who is also from France.

I just want to make it clear that I'm not giving Woodburn a "bad score" because of its racial makeup, however that probably does factor into its gang problem ... and substandard school system. But whose fault is that? Not the children for sure and not their parents either. Everyone wants the best for their children. It's so easy to point fingers but it's much more difficult to solve the problems.

I'm not a Woodburn hater at all, in fact I've never given it much thought until I got sucked into this thread. It's easy to judge people quickly by the words they type here, and if anyone ever thought I were a racist in any sense of the word it would just about break my heart. In fact, racism is the main reason I can't stand where I'm living right now. Day in and day out, it sure gets old.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by lumiwa

Thank you very much to answer me. I am from Marseille - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and I just asked because I have a feeling that places where population is not 99% white are get a "bad score". It is just my opinion. And Woodburn is one of those.
Thank you again.

I don't think that is true about Woodburn. It gets a "bad score" from Oregonians for other reasons.

Most people prefer a downtown area to their cities. An area where members of the community can gather for events. Woodburn has a strip mall feel to the city without a cohesive downtown gathering space for residents of the community.

Woodburn needs rejuvination and beautification. It is a visually unappealing city from Oregon standards. Many of our cities have rivers that run through them which add to the "back to nature" feel for our cities. Woodburn does not have this feel. It is not nestled in hills, in a mountain, along a river etc. Remember many people move to Oregon because they want nature's beauty. Woodburn is located in the middle of flat farmland so it just doesn't have that feel.

Whoever the city planners were that laid out Woodburn were not thinking clearly. I think it is a poorly laid out city that is difficult to access.

I don't give Salem a bad grade and we are not 99% Caucasian. I don't give Portland or Eugene Oregon bad grades and they are not 99% Caucasian either. Sometimes cities deserve their "bad grade" for reasons that have nothing to do with race.

[Darryl D]

I worked there some 30 years ago, but I doubt too much has changed. For the most part, the comments you've been receiving are pretty much spot-on. If you like calm, uneventful days, and even quieter evenings, then you'll probably adjust pretty well.
Otherwise...keep checking out Salem. If you're as sensible and delightful as you sound, you'll find your "home-away-from-home" there.

[lumiwa]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

I don't think that is true about Woodburn. It gets a "bad score" from Oregonians for other reasons.


I don't give Salem a bad grade and we are not 99% Caucasian. I don't give Portland or Eugene Oregon bad grades and they are not 99% Caucasian either. Sometimes cities deserve their "bad grade" for reasons that have nothing to do with race.

I agree with you about Salem (77.7%) and Eugene (85?) but it is not important. They are liberal cities same as Portland. But could you tell me please how will accepted me as French (white) and my wife (black) in Tillamook for example or some little towns around Eugene, please. For the limited time we wish to live in one of the little town on the west part of Oregon. We were there and is beutiful but as a turist is difficult say anything about loval people.
Thank you.

[malachai23]

Originally Posted by lumiwa

I agree with you about Salem (77.7%) and Eugene (85?) but it is not important. They are liberal cities same as Portland. But could you tell me please how will accepted me as French (white) and my wife (black) in Tillamook for example or some little towns around Eugene, please. For the limited time we wish to live in one of the little town on the west part of Oregon. We were there and is beutiful but as a turist is difficult say anything about loval people.
Thank you.

I wouldn't exactly call Salem liberal! Eugene yes, but Salem no. Then again, we're delving into semantics and the word "liberal" is so subjective.

So I'm sensing that rather than a place that votes majority Democratic, you are simply looking for a place where you and your wife will fit in and be accepted. Yes? Well, hopefully you won't have trouble in any of the little towns in Western Oregon. Yes, your wife will probably "stand out" in a lot of them, possibly being the only black person in town (depending how small of a town you choose). But in general, I feel Oregonians are fairly excepting - yes, even in the small towns.

You may want to post a new thread on this topic and you will get many more answers to your questions and a lot more input from residents of the small towns you are interested in.

[Silverfall]

Salem is not a liberal city...moderate to slightly conservative in fact.

I think the bigger issue will be your wife's comfort level in being one of a few black people in our small towns. The African-American population is very small out here. Even in Salem, I think it's only 1-2%. It is possible in places like Tillamook that she would only see a few other black faces.

I think our small towns around our larger cities will be fine. How does your wife feel about a lack of diversity?

[lumiwa]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

Salem is not a liberal city...moderate to slightly conservative in fact.

I think the bigger issue will be your wife's comfort level in being one of a few black people in our small towns. The African-American population is very small out here. Even in Salem, I think it's only 1-2%. It is possible in places like Tillamook that she would only see a few other black faces.

I think our small towns around our larger cities will be fine. How does your wife feel about a lack of diversity?

A lack of diversity is not a problem. In France is also not everywhere Paris...
The problem is (if it is) racism. And I red many posts where people talked about racism in the Oregon small towns.