Is all of Portland really this depressingly bad? (live in, restaurant)

[starkt]

This book I read called "Stuff White People Like" had an entry on Portland.

It said that as the whitest big metro area of the country, Portland was like "The Lord of the Flies" for white people -- but set in the cool Pacific Northwest instead of on a tropical island.

It said that Portland was not quite at the stage where Piggy's glasses get broken.

[subsound]

Why does everything have to be about race? Only white people like to feel safe and not harassed by bums? You should tell the Japanese, they have fewer crimes and social ills then pretty much anyone in the world. No one desires to be in an area of indigents.

Racism is any negative actions or stereotypes to some one of any race, it applies equally to people of any skin color.

Life is more then that thin layer of cells that protect you from germs, the elements, and keeps you from bleeding on your clothes.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by tired of snobs

you summed up the basic truth to it all. I remember not to long ago that I was driving down alberta from about 45th to 20th and not seeing but two black folk and it really made me sad to think that it was sooo bad that we had to run every decent citizen out of there (home owners, business owners, families etc.) to make room for the well to do frightened coffee drinking yuppies who felt like improving on what they considered a blight of a nieborhood into a domain for these rich implants from out of state.

Hey, this happened everywhere. When I first moved to the Hawthorne area it had drug houses, skin heads, half-way houses for mentally disturbed who would periodically threaten passersby and gangs. But it also had cheap rents and many, many retired or disabled elderly people who couldn't afford to live anywhere else lived here. Much of the beautiful Victorian homes you see today were run down messes.

Then the "Gentrification" began in the 80's. Whether it was Yuppies or Schmuppies I don't know but the process began. The homes were made livable and pleasing to look at. Even over 20 years ago they were bought shabby for a song and fixed up to become worth triple the price. More working people bought in realizing what a great place this was to live being so close to downtown and having so many shops in the neighborhood.

Apartment owners saw this too. They prettied up the facades of their building and jacked up the rents on these run-down dives to the point where the old folks had to flee. More people moved in who could afford the high rents but they did something the old folks were too weary to do; demanded they get decent plumbing, electrical wiring and everything else the old folks and others who couldn't afford better put up with. Many of these were new landlords who bought up the old buildings to make a quick profit by jacking up the rents for these run-down places.

There was no help for the old folks, no city building projects or subsidized housing to speak of. Some of the ones I knew moved in with their adult children. Some moved to less "fixed up" neighborhoods. Those in my building and the surrounding ones had lived in the area for 20 or 30 years some in the same apartment.

So now you hardly see an elderly face (except mine maybe) when you "drive down the streets". The retirees are long gone. This is what happens. For better or worse the neighborhood improves and the incumbents, who could only afford to live there under less than desirable conditions, move out.

It has a lot more to do with economics as far as who gets pushed out than color or ethic origin.

[mxpl]

I just read this whole thread and I am a bit overwhelmed by the obsession with homeless bums. I have spent time in Barcelona, Spain; Frankfurt/Stuttgart/Munich Germany; various towns in Italy; etc, etc. I must say that I saw very little of a problem with homeless bums (except for the gypsies in Rome, which is not quite the same). I can only suspect that the city authorities there have an effective way to deal with the issue. So is Portland just sooo PC that it cannot protect normal citizens from harassment by homeless bums? The city wants to give bums bicycles with little carts? Come oonnnn!!! How does that help those poor people? Talk about avoiding the real issue!
Change of topic: I am considering moving to Beaverton. How does it compare to other Portland areas?

[Explorer Dave]

Originally Posted by mxpl

I just read this whole thread and I am a bit overwhelmed by the obsession with homeless bums. I have spent time in Barcelona, Spain; Frankfurt/Stuttgart/Munich Germany; various towns in Italy; etc, etc. I must say that I saw very little of a problem with homeless bums (except for the gypsies in Rome, which is not quite the same). I can only suspect that the city authorities there have an effective way to deal with the issue. So is Portland just sooo PC that it cannot protect normal citizens from harassment by homeless bums? The city wants to give bums bicycles with little carts? Come oonnnn!!! How does that help those poor people? Talk about avoiding the real issue!
Change of topic: I am considering moving to Beaverton. How does it compare to other Portland areas?

I have not yet been to Europe, but from friends who have, and from what I have read, I doubt that you would find as much homelessness most anywhere in Europe compared to the USA, they have better medical care at a lower percentage of GNP too.

There may be more freedom and business opportunity in the USA, but I think there is better care for most people in Europe.

[Durian Beach]

Originally Posted by starkt

This book I read called "Stuff White People Like" had an entry on Portland.

It said that as the whitest big metro area of the country, Portland was like "The Lord of the Flies" for white people -- but set in the cool Pacific Northwest instead of on a tropical island.

It said that Portland was not quite at the stage where Piggy's glasses get broken.

It's really not that bad and I never felt unsafe in Portland, but I do believe much of the shock in these DC people is the fact that the big cities in the Pacific Northwest contain a degenerate white underclass that I never recall seeing in such numbers back east except on the COPS TV show. There was a real culture shock for me at how common illegitamacy was amongst white girls in the Pacific Northwest. Tom Leykis frequently joked about this on his radio show.

The reality is there is not a lot of money in Portland for a big city it's size. A lot of the towns in the Pacific Northwest have a very impoverished, run down feel to them and look crumy compared to the cute little towns in say Wisconsin. Although no where near as bad as Montana, which outside of a few resort areas around Bozeman looked almost like a third world country to me. Portland is not really the seat of any fortune 500 countries and not the home of billionairs like Bill Gates and outside of Lake Oswego, I didn't see any suburbs that could compare to the many affluent suburbs ringing the Northern Half of Chicagoland. Very few solid brick constructed homes, more of an unincorporated feel like you get in the South. Yes you can make a decent living there, but for real hard core "overachievers" it is not really the place to go. I. E. Lisa Simpson wouldn't stay there(Yes Matt Groening grew up in Oregon and the Simpsons are widely believed to be set in a composite of the Portland-Eugene area with many major characters named after Portland Streets.)

However I did find the people in Portland to be reasonably friendly, the most scenic town in the Pacific Northwest in my opinion is Bellingham, but my oh my were the people cold and unfriendly there and jobs impossible to find even at the most menial level. A guy I met from Texas also came to that same conclusion about Bellingham. Once this recession ends, Portland should be a place where at least you can find a job and is full of transplants.

I liked Portland, but without the Natural Beauty in the outlying areas it is nothing to brag about, just another Indianapolis with a better wine selection in the grocery stores. I did like it much more than Chicagoland which is obscenely priced and the cops around the Chicago area are little more than thugs. Why o why all the kids in the midwest want to run off to that place is beyond me? At least the street kids that go to Portland have good taste.

[NWkat]

Wow! I call that just plain bad luck. Portland may have those things you mentioned, but all large metropolitan areas have their own fair share of that sort of thing. However that being said, it is something that most of us never really have to deal with. I don't know who your tour guide was, but you certainly didn't hit any of the areas you should have visited. Honestly, Portland is an amazing place to live. It really is very beautiful and very clean. Outdoor recreational activities abound! There are no limitations whatsoever in that arena. There are also many, many great neighborhoods to live in the metro area, depending on your personal preferences and price range. I personally prefer areas south of downtown such as Lake Oswego, West Linn, Tualatin, Wilsonville. However there are many great neighborhoods to live in on each side of the city such as: on the East side there is Laurelhurst, Alameda, Beaumont, Sellwood, Clackamas, Happy Valley; on the West side near downtown there is the Pearl District, West Hills, John's Landing, Portland Waterfront, then away from downtown on the West side is Tigard, Beaverton, etc. There are so many neighborhoods that I can't mention them all here. There are very upscale and expensive pockets in just about each neighborhood, and then moderately priced pockets as well.

If you like a city that offers many options like theater, outdoor concerts, festivals, recreation, skiing (water/snow), sailing, hiking, windsurfing, great restaurants, brew pubs, wineries, and so much more...this is exactly what you seek. Sorry you somehow missed it all. Next time, call or email me and I'll personally be your tour guide. You'll leave next time saying "I'm moving here someday!" Happens every day.

:-)

[Wilshire81182]

Portland has a lot of dumpy areas, but the areas you mentioned and the things you saw I did not see in my 23 years of living there! Like the last poster mentioned, there are several nice areas in the city and the suburbs. Generally the Western and Southern parts are nicer than the Northern and Eastern parts. There are some exceptions in all directions and quite a few cute neighborhoods in the central areas and NE Portland as well, like the already mentioned Laurelhurst.

I do not like Portland, so I do not really blame the OP for having the opinion they do, but I think I do not like it just because of the gloomy climate. Otherwise, Portland does have a lot of redeeming qualities.

[jeimuzu00]

dood you should of did some research before coming out here. thats funny that you happen to see weird stuff like that tho. thats just portland. i saw a girl just pull her pants down and pee all over the sidewalk... it was freakin hilarious. most of portland isnt like this.. you just got unlucky and had to witness it. and dont go to vancouver.. i lived in vancouver for a year... i hated it.. its just a suburb like any other suburb. se laurelhurst part of portland is absolutley beauiful.. i live in nob hill which is also a very nice neighborhood. sw is nice too but kinda expensive. just avoid st johns area and northeast, its all pretty run down. sorry about your visit. but trust me dont go to washington, itll make you just want to move to portland.

[xhwe]

You were downtown. Homeless people flock downtown for the services. Job trainings, internships, shelter, meals, showers, someone to talk to. I know you've had the luxury to have all those things but not everyone does. I'm homeless and I think you're a piece of **** that doesn't belong in Portland. That'd be my two cents if I could find a job in a jobless city.