Is all of Portland really this depressingly bad? (Roseburg, Cornelius: condo, how much)

[scone]

People aren't as ambitious as in other parts of the country, and I believe that attitude trickles down to the homeless in Portland. There are many who consider begging for change an acceptable way of life. The fact that so many do it emboldens younger people to start doing it too.

I would have to agree. The local "slacker culture" is causing some people to waste their lives and potential.

[TechmanOR]

The number of services Portland offers to bums is ridiculous. Perhaps there are ways nearby businesses can sue them for diminished property values and revenue from activities created by lines of bums created by the social services agency near them?

There are so many bums in Portland, because the community tolerate them and panhandling on highway ramps would not be so wide spread if the city aggressively removed them on the grounds of trespassing and creating hazards.

[Venusian_Artist]

Haven't read the whole thread, but came in here to chime in that many of the original poster's observations are true. That, and there are a number of people in this forum that will not let any negative opinion of Portland stand. They'll be coming after me next, I'm sure.

Having said that, though, there are pluses and minuses here, and if it's not for you, then it's not for you. Conversely, if you find this city to be Eden and can't abide criticism of it, you might want to do something about that cognitive dissonance problem and quit hounding people who don't see PDX through your rose-colored glasses--you know who you are...

[Sassberto]

I think the OP is trolling and hooked a lot of posters here pretty hard.

However, it is true that Portland has a very visible homeless / tweaker / druggie problem, anyone who has traveled enough to notice will see it.

It is a nice city but don't kid yourselves... all cities have these problems but in Portland, Vancouver (Canada), SF and Seattle it's easy to see.

[TechmanOR]

I think that the more accommodating the climate, the more incentives there is for them to travel.

[Oregon Transplant]

I had relatives come to visit my new home in Portland recently. They liked the scenery and thought the people at the nearby Washington Square Mall (in Tigard Oregon) reminded them of Minnesota, but they were shocked by the large number of people Downtown Portland with neck and face tattoos, long hair, begging, and who were homeless and scary looking. I think downtown Portland has more freaks than any City outside of maybe San Francisco.

[tiffela74]

Oregon Transplant,
After reading your posts, it really really seems you are quite unhappy here in Oregon. You think Portland has more freaks than almost anywhere else in the world, and you think the Oregon coast is tacky....why did you move here? Is there anything you DO like? Im honestly not trying to be rude, Im just saddened by your negativity towards your new home here and curious why you came here if you think of Oregon as you do.

[RodeosMom]

Originally Posted by DestinationSeattle

We're on vacation in Portland right now, and we are seriously underwhelmed so far. The scenery out in the countryside is some of the most beautiful I've ever seen, anywhere, but the city has so far given us the creeps.

We parked down along Naito Parkway to head to the Saturday Market, and one of the first things my wife saw as we left the parking garage is some guy crouched behind a bush, taking a dump. I smelled urine in at least three spots along the streets, and I saw one kid whip it out and take a leak at a park down by the Portland Building. There was some lunatic wandering around Pioneer Courthouse Square, wearing gloves and a winter coat on a nearly 80-degree day, stopping every few steps to look skyward, gesture, mumble something to himself, turn, take a few steps, and do the same thing all over again. There were bums everywhere, and lots of them were kids. One guy thrust his arm out at me and then another at my wife, explaining that perhaps his other arm was easier to read. He had something tattooed on his arm about giving him change for beer money. So this guy is apparently in a permanent state of begging, if he went to the trouble to get his begging mantra tattooed on his arm. And he didn't even want money for a meal, or a place to stay. He wanted BEER MONEY. Nice.

Then there are the strip clubs all over the place, and lots of lots of sketchy neighborhoods. Trailer parks, RV parks ... we were going to eat at a restaurant out on Alberta Street, but we turned on a side street to get there and thought we'd been transported to the world of tar-paper shacks down in the Mississippi delta. It was horrible. Our car probably wouldn't have been there when we came back, had we actually stopped.

Are there actually any nice areas in or around Portland? Anyplace with nice, clean neighborhoods, where the windows aren't boarded up or have bars on them? No strip clubs on every corner? A place where we can walk down the street without being accosted by some bum at every intersection? I've heard so many wonderful things leading up to our trip, and now that we're here, frankly, it's a dump so far.

Please don't lecture me about how I want too much, how I sound elitist, or whatever. We're a white couple in our mid-30s, and we now live in an older but safe neighborhood in Alexandria, Va. I've dealt with bums in D.C., but I've never had them throw their arms in my face, asking for beer money. We're out in the PNW now to scope things out for a possible move here, but right now, from what I've seen, I wouldn't feel comfortable moving my wife out here. We're just looking for a decent neighborhood. It doesn't have to be upscale yuppie heaven, just safe, quiet, clean, and family friendly.

We drove out to see Vancouver, Wa., today, to see what was there, and the west side wasn't too bad. From what I've been reading tonight, the east side, around Fishers Landing, is worth checking out. Would anyone agree with that? And are there are comparatively decent places on the Oregon side of the river?

Hi folks

I left Portland for Arizona in 1987 and now, 21 years later, I want to come home! I wonder if that old cliche' is true that "you can never go home." Maybe you can help me decide?

I've been reading the posts here and sure sounds like a lot has changed! The names of some streets and freeways have changed, but mostly what I notice is that downtown seems to have taken a turn for the worst? I've seen some documentaries on TV about how downtown Portland has become pretty (SADLY) overrun by teenage meth addicts and from some posts I've seen on here, it sounds like that's true. Particularly the post from DestinationSeattle http://www.city-data.com/forum/portl...ingly-bad.html That post made me a little ferclempt. For DestinationSeattle's sake, if he still cares, I'd like to reminisce a little about the way it used to be (I'm glad a lot of you locals chimed in to steer him in a more favorable direction for what is NOW - the best thing I remember about Portland is that the people aren't shy and they're very nice and very proud of their city)! But since I'm coming from the perspective of someone coming back after 21 years:

In the early 80s, being in a "van down by the river" didn't mean being on skid row. It meant you just parked your van within walking distance of the Burnside Bridge to attend the Saturday Market, the biggest and the best I had ever seen of it's kind (and still to date). In 1985, I was 18 and thought this was the bohemian paradise I should have been born into in the 60s. But, I was also a very responsible, employed bohemian-wanna-be. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED the culture of the Saturday Market back then. It was mostly stuff you didn't see in regular stores. I still have It had a flea market feel, but you could dive off into surrounding streets and find a guy who sold nothing but hammocks, then a guy with nothing but kites. I never felt unsafe at the Saturday Market and I never saw any homeless teenagers. You would see the occasional old scruffy bum and feel sorry for him and even though he didn't even ask you'd give him what you could because it was obvious he had hit bottom and you just couldn't stand yourself if you didn't try to help.

I went to the Saturday Market and also used to go to these concerts they held at Riverfront Park, many times just myself and another female, and the only time I ever felt unsafe was when my brand-new Mitsubishi Cordia had a dead battery after the Carlos _____ (on tip of my tongue, driving me crazy that I can't fill in the blank - I was HUGE fan of this local band - someone help me out?) concert. I was 18 or 19 and had my 16 yo niece with me and it was dark and I didn't have any jumper cables and this was before cell phones. This guy parked next to us came up and said he could help us, opened the hatchback on his car and pulled out an AXE! I told Sarah to get in the car and lock the doors and she did, but he just used the metal part of the axe to create a spark and he got my car started! HA HA

I turned 21 right before I left Portland for Phoenix, AZ to marry my husband and I've been in Arizona ever since, but most of my family is in Washington State. I've been divorced now since 1998 and since my Grandma in Walla Walla had a stroke my mom has moved back there to help her out - I'm the only one left here and I am thinking about coming on home to get closer to family - I could use some advice on where to land these days.

In the early 80s, I used to live near Emanuel Hospital - I don't remember the name of the neighborhood - (around NE Mallory Ave. & NE Killingsworth St.). We had a really cool 3-story Victorian house with turrets, basement, attic. Couple who sold it to my mom were architect and interior designer, so they had really spiffied it up. But it was in a pretty rough neighborhood. Does anyone know if that neighborhood is better or worse now?

I don't want to go back there at all, but I'm wondering if it will be possible for me to find a house I can afford (in $150-180K range) in a safe neighborhood (preferably close commute to downtown) **not surrounded by meth heads/labs.** It's just me and my border collie and I would be okay with downsizing quite a bit from what I've become accustomed to. Here in AZ I have a unique and probably non-reproducible situation of having a 2-bed, 2-bath 1250 sq ft patio home with attached garage in a very desirable neighborhood and my mortgage is $670/mo. For one, I KNOW that having 2 bathrooms is almost unheard of up there, in my price range. I can pay $800/mo. and more if I don't need a car.

The housing market is SEVERELY depressed right now here in Arizona. How is it up there? It doesn't seem to be depressed from what I can see on www.realtor.com but I appreciate any input. I plan to stick it out here in AZ until I can get more for this house and then move up there (might be a year or more from what the financial analysts say). I like to plan, though, and I am just not sure where to land and that's why I need some help from you wonderful people.

To give you an idea of what I miss about Portland:
Old Town Pizza in downtown
Huber's downtown
Dublin Pub near Beaverton
Powell's books downtown
Mass transit availability (a lot more available since I left)
Small town feel, big city available
Friendlies - people who just get in your face and make friends with you
Outdoor activities (waterfall collecting, etc.)
Dog lovers
Being near water
CULTURE!! Arts and entertainment and shopping and....

I have the same complaints as anyone about Portland:
*Sometimes dreary weater - weighing against HEAT of AZ I've seen both and it's six of one, half a dozen of the other - we make our choices in life.
*Drug culture - but I live in a small town in AZ and there is a lot of meth here too. I just probably don't get out as much to see it in action as I would in a big city like Portland.
*Traffic/driving in the rain: That will take some getting used to again after living in a "main street town" for the last 10 years, but I can and I am excited to get back to civilization!

I have almost a mirror complaints about where I live now, though:
*Months of weather so hot it's hard to make yourself go outside and get active.
*Drugs - they're not just in big towns - I wonder if the problem isn't almost worse in small towns.
*I hate that main street rolls up at 6:00 p.m. I hate that I can't go to a bookstore at 10:00 p.m. if I can't sleep.

So thanks for going along with me as I walked down memory lane, and if any of you has any suggestions for me, I would love to hear from you. Thank you (sorry this got a little long).

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by tiffela74

Oregon Transplant,
After reading your posts, it really really seems you are quite unhappy here in Oregon. You think Portland has more freaks than almost anywhere else in the world, and you think the Oregon coast is tacky....why did you move here? Is there anything you DO like? Im honestly not trying to be rude, Im just saddened by your negativity towards your new home here and curious why you came here if you think of Oregon as you do.

I know--I don't get it. Why do people stay here if they hate it so much? Or why do they even come? I think some people just choose to complain though probably no matter where they live.

[spacelord75]

Originally Posted by oldtintype

I know--I don't get it. Why do people stay here if they hate it so much? Or why do they even come? I think some people just choose to complain though probably no matter where they live.

In many cases, people will never be happy. They continue to look outside for changes to fix the problem, not really realizing the problem is within.