How Bad Is the Gang Activity (Portland, Phoenix: violent crime, unemployed, to live in)

[Casportsfan]

Originally Posted by subsound

You're right, I would much rather live in Portland then LA...dramatically safer. I think there are areas of the city where prison would be safer. To contrast that it's a good deal better then other places around the world, like Mexico City, San Palo, or Haiti....no place in America even comes close to the crime rate and destitution there.

I would rather be in the safer places myself in comparison, but I'm not going to cheer "Whoopie!" when some one shoots up something a half dozen blocks from my home or get assaulted by a bum screaming in my face. If there is a place where that doesn't happen, I'm going to choose it over where it does happen.

I can agree with that, and I can say that I'm not really in a position to judge the city as a whole. But in response to the kid who is afraid of moving to Portland for the gang problem, the question is still "is there ENOUGH of a problem to prevent someone from moving there"? In my opinioin that's a resounding NO.

Now, if he was contemplating a move to Compton or East L.A., I would say that he'd better seriously consider gang activity. But honestly, most of Portland is fine. Like I said, you can tell Oakland is a place you'd NOT want to live on the first visit. In contrast, I and many others have visited Portland and patrolled around the city to check things out, and most of us have come back with the impression that it is a beautiful, safe, and laid back city.

What that tells me is that the problems you are talking about are centered in what or a few pockets of the city, and there is no reason to stay away from any city just because it has a few bad areas.

[ceeglass]

My precious neice, who was half Black and half Mexican, was murdered in downtown Portland by an all-white half-homeless street gang. The local paper was very excusing of these "unfortunates left to the fringes of society." The murder of a defenseless young girl or the fact that the ring leader had only been out of prison for 6 months on a murder charge, for which he only served 8 years (Oregon justice in action) with the State of Oregon helping to pay for housing for him did not seem to be the real story. The fact that the 2nd in command "felt their only recourse to support themself and the other members of the street family was through theft and distribution of drugs due to a lack of jobs and housing for the homeless in what is in many people minds an otherwise progressive city," seemed to be more the story. HELLO - we're talking first degree with malice of forethought murder here, not theft and drug selling, what did that have to do with them deciding to kill someone? How did that pay the rent? The horrible death my neice had to endure at the hands of these animals not to mention the heartbreak incurred by our entire family, especially her parents was a "by-product of Portlands failure to those of the edges of our society." Yes, our failures made them decide to kill not their own evil minds and decisions in life - a liberal left mindset readily found in the City of Roses.

I live in Southern California and, yes, OMG, there are absolutely neighborhoods I would never venture into - ever. But, in my experience, there is more crime in upscale and middle class areas and suburbs of Portland than in like areas of SoCal. At our children's California high school I never saw pot being smoked in the school parking lot in full view of parents dropping kids off or any local police driving by on Willamette Drive as I did regularly when taking my kids to upscale West Linn High School and Clackamas Community College. When I called the school to ask why that was being allowed it seemed to be no big deal to them or to the West Linn Police Department. In my 40+ years of living in California I have never had my car broken into or my or my neighbors belongings stolen. In Portland I had my storage facility broken into 2 weeks after moving to Oregon with literally half of everything I owned stolen, family keepsakes that can never be replaced, and my daughter had her car broken into at the Clackamas Town Center, twice. The Police told us it happened there all the time and as soon as they got one group of theives caught another seemed to take their place because "we have a large homeless population here." My next door neighbors home was broken into with thousands of dollars of property taken, again in West Linn, a very tony suburb of Portland.

Comparatively, the hispanic population in PDX was more well represented than the black population my view. I don't think I would feel threatened in Portland by the stereotypical gangs found in large cities such as LA or Houston as I would that of a large homeless population made up of former convicts, malcontents, drug addicts and mentally ill that seem to be pretty much tolerated and coddled to or that of common theives who seem to roam allover.

[LeftCoastee]

My heartfelt condolences for the loss of your niece.

[Casportsfan]

Originally Posted by ceeglass

My precious neice, who was half Black and half Mexican, was murdered in downtown Portland by an all-white half-homeless street gang. The local paper was very excusing of these "unfortunates left to the fringes of society." The murder of a defenseless young girl or the fact that the ring leader had only been out of prison for 6 months on a murder charge, for which he only served 8 years (Oregon justice in action) with the State of Oregon helping to pay for housing for him did not seem to be the real story. The fact that the 2nd in command "felt their only recourse to support themself and the other members of the street family was through theft and distribution of drugs due to a lack of jobs and housing for the homeless in what is in many people minds an otherwise progressive city," seemed to be more the story. HELLO - we're talking first degree with malice of forethought murder here, not theft and drug selling, what did that have to do with them deciding to kill someone? How did that pay the rent? The horrible death my neice had to endure at the hands of these animals not to mention the heartbreak incurred by our entire family, especially her parents was a "by-product of Portlands failure to those of the edges of our society." Yes, our failures made them decide to kill not their own evil minds and decisions in life - a liberal left mindset readily found in the City of Roses.

I live in Southern California and, yes, OMG, there are absolutely neighborhoods I would never venture into - ever. But, in my experience, there is more crime in upscale and middle class areas and suburbs of Portland than in like areas of SoCal. At our children's California high school I never saw pot being smoked in the school parking lot in full view of parents dropping kids off or any local police driving by on Willamette Drive as I did regularly when taking my kids to upscale West Linn High School and Clackamas Community College. When I called the school to ask why that was being allowed it seemed to be no big deal to them or to the West Linn Police Department. In my 40+ years of living in California I have never had my car broken into or my or my neighbors belongings stolen. In Portland I had my storage facility broken into 2 weeks after moving to Oregon with literally half of everything I owned stolen, family keepsakes that can never be replaced, and my daughter had her car broken into at the Clackamas Town Center, twice. The Police told us it happened there all the time and as soon as they got one group of theives caught another seemed to take their place because "we have a large homeless population here." My next door neighbors home was broken into with thousands of dollars of property taken, again in West Linn, a very tony suburb of Portland.

Comparatively, the hispanic population in PDX was more well represented than the black population my view. I don't think I would feel threatened in Portland by the stereotypical gangs found in large cities such as LA or Houston as I would that of a large homeless population made up of former convicts, malcontents, drug addicts and mentally ill that seem to be pretty much tolerated and coddled to or that of common theives who seem to roam allover.

First off let me say, the story about your niece is terrible. Sorry to hear that and that is something that should never happen.

As for the rest, I live in Northern Cali, in a suburban town, and the highschool in this very suburban area has had constant fighting, some shootings, drug problems, you name it, so seriously, give me a break about the "kids smoking pot" in Portand.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by Casportsfan

That's my whole point. Portland is not Oakland, or Richmond, or Atlanta or Los Angeles. It's smaller, less diverse, and I know in a heartbeat without doing any research that it has a much much lower per capita murder rate than Oakland or Richmond.

Portland has a lower per capita murder rate than many Canadian cities, let alone Oakland , Compton, or Richmond. This isn't to say that Portland lacks bad neighborhoods - it has them. But it's not in the same category.

[Casportsfan]

Originally Posted by majoun

Portland has a lower per capita murder rate than many Canadian cities, let alone Oakland , Compton, or Richmond. This isn't to say that Portland lacks bad neighborhoods - it has them. But it's not in the same category.

Very good point! You said in about 2 sentences what I tried to say in several posts. If Portland was really that bad, you'd be able to tell just driving in, as you can in the other places you mentioned (I worked in that area).

I am sure Portland has it's bad areas, like any city of its size. But the problems are no where even REMOTELY bad enough to sway someone from moving there. I have several friends who have moved there and absolutely loved it and haven't had one problem since leaving.


I live in Sacramento, which has one of the highest per capita crime rates in California. NO ONE in this town or even out of the area things of this as a "dangerous" place though. In 2004 Sacramento ranked 79th in the nation for murders per capita. Portland ranked 179th. http://www.morganquitno.com/cit04r.pdf.

If people aren't scared here and everyone agrees that it's a nice area, how is Portland supposedly so bad???

[Casportsfan]

Please go to this site and compare the number of violent crimes reported in Sacramento to those reported in Portland. Keep in mind that Sacramento is even smaller than Portland too. United States cities by crime rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I can personally attest that Sacramento is the friendliest, most easy going and welcoming city I have EVER lived in or even visited. I have a real hard time believing Portland is such a dangerous place when it has about HALF the number of violent crimes reported and it's a smaller city than Sac.

[ceeglass]

Originally Posted by Casportsfan

First off let me say, the story about your niece is terrible. Sorry to hear that and that is something that should never happen.

As for the rest, I live in Northern Cali, in a suburban town, and the highschool in this very suburban area has had constant fighting, some shootings, drug problems, you name it, so seriously, give me a break about the "kids smoking pot" in Portand.

I made it clear I was speaking of SoCal. I've lived in the Valley, Ventura County and Orange County and NEVER SEEN POT BEING SMOKED ON THE SCHOOL CAMPUS. I'm not so naieve as to believe pot smoking doesn't go on with teenagers attending the school my kids went to, I'm saying it wasn't tolerated on campus or would the parents and the police have turned a blind eye as happend in West Linn. I have no idea about what happens in NoCal. Politically, NoCal and Portland have more in common than SoCal and Portland.

[Casportsfan]

Originally Posted by ceeglass

I made it clear I was speaking of SoCal. I've lived in the Valley, Ventura County and Orange County and NEVER SEEN POT BEING SMOKED ON THE SCHOOL CAMPUS. I'm not so naieve as to believe pot smoking doesn't go on with teenagers attending the school my kids went to, I'm saying it wasn't tolerated on campus or would the parents and the police have turned a blind eye as happend in West Linn. I have no idea about what happens in NoCal. Politically, NoCal and Portland have more in common than SoCal and Portland.

My point was that the suberb in Norcal was a quiet, upscale area, 45 miles from San Francisco, and yet it's local highschool still had problems with violence, drugs, etc. This type of thing is literally everywhere. If you read my posts above though, the number of violent crimes reported in Portland was only roughly half of what was reported in Sacramento last year, where I currently live. I consider my area to be extremely safe, friendly, and overall a great family atmosphere.

The moral is that there are bad areas of any town, and you just need to stay away from those areas. I really think comparatively Portland is a pretty mellow town, and the kid that started this thread shouldn't be scared off with all of this non-sense about how "dangerous" Portland is. Hell, if he was asking about Sacramento I'd tell him to move here, so why should he stay away from a place with only half the crime??

[subsound]

It depends on the stats too, I know I did research in the differences where I came from (Denver) to Portland and the crime rates. I posted it awhile ago in the community, I would have to find it again. In general it had that felony violent crime in Portland is pretty low in comparison to the other cities its size, but general crime is pretty high (non felony assaults, thefts, and drugs really pushed the average up). I remember the index for the average US crime rate in the study was 100, with Denver being about 2x as likely to be a victim of a crime (average 200) in total and Portland being 3x likely to be a victim of a crime in general (average 300). Violent felony crimes were on average of about the national average in Portland while other crimes were nearly 4x, with Denver 2x the average for both. Large metropolises were much higher on both scales, actually kind of scary to see.

Of course the problem with stats is they change and can be affected by short term trends, these were from 2006.