Portland looks like an awesome city- how do you guys do it? (Green: how much, to buy)

[Pretzelogik]

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll?

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Portland could have done a little better without going to the extremes, maybe?
Everything doesn't have to swing to the opposites.

Like you have mentioned before, when a place is growing it's always changing.
Portland's "character" is largely ephemeral.

Portland "character" does not look or feel anything like it did in 1908.
Heck, it doesn't much look like it did in 1972, either.
Too bad somebody already destroyed Portland's "character" a long time ago.

I think one of the best things Portland could have done early on was to develop Johnson Creek Blvd into a major east west thoroughfare.

Maybe, but I am not sure how effective that would have been. By character, I was referring to the built character of the city. There once was a proposal for an interstate that would have destroyed the area around 28th and East Burnside, and just about everything along 28th.

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

Maybe, but I am not sure how effective that would have been. By character, I was referring to the built character of the city. There once was a proposal for an interstate that would have destroyed the area around 28th and East Burnside, and just about everything along 28th.

the founding fathers of Portland were bigots--just saying

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

the founding fathers of Portland were bigots--just saying

Yes they were, and Oregon was founded as a whites only haven, and to top it off they were too lazy to write a state constitution so they basically plagerized from other states. What does this have to do with the built environment of Portland?

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

Yes they were, and Oregon was founded as a whites only haven, and to top it off they were too lazy to write a state constitution so they basically plagerized from other states. What does this have to do with the built environment of Portland?

Actually parts of the city are still that way--they just go about it differently

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

Actually parts of the city are still that way--they just go about it differently

Maybe, I don't claim all Portlanders or even Oregonians are the same....

[pdwpdx]

SF is a lot more dense than Portland so you have more people crammed in a smaller amount of space, which taxes the infrastructure more. More people in a smaller amount of space and the wear and tear and grime and litter they cause.

[oldtintype]

The difference is that you'll find this kind of stuff in all of the downtown SF areas, not just specific areas like we have here. When I go back to SF I do notice the trash and filth, which I also see here but in more specific areas of the city not everywhere. I don't remember it being as bad in the 80s and 90s as it is now in SF.

FilthySF

[Yankeemama]

I didn't find SF to be dirtier than usual when I went back home this year but I did notice how dirty NYC was the first time I went back after moving away. Now I notice the rats at the subway more than I did when I lived there. I have never seen a rat in Bart. You can't even compare Tri-Met because it doesn't have underground stations.

[makes no sense at all]

it's not true that all of SF is filthy. All of the photos on that blog are from one neighborhood, SOMA.

SOMA and 6th and Market area are indeed filthy, to a scary degree. It is unclear why the city has let that area be so gross for so long. There is another gross area, the Tenderloin. However, a lot of the loin isn't even that bad. It's mostly the parts that run into the civic center area.

The rest of SF is fine in terms of cleanliness. I'd go so far as to say it's even cleaner than a lot of other cities. The average level of cleanliness is definitely cleaner than NYC, which has a layer of grime covering basically the entirety of the 5 boroughs.

Relative to Portland, portland is much cleaner than either of these cities. However, it's also less populated, less dense and has fewer people commuting in to work.