Portland,Oregon ranks as one of safest cities!!!

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by malachai23

I'm sorry, but that is RIDICULOUS. Portland is one of the only larger cities in the US that doesn't even have a bad neighborhood! Of course "bad" is relative - but when I think "bad", I think of a place that I personally as a woman would be guaranteed to walk into and not make it back out of unscathed. And there is no neighborhood in Portland like that. Period. Portland is a lovely and vibrant city - ESPECIALLY at night! Portland is the area's hub of night-time entertainment and unlike many other cities in the US these days, people actually live downtown and walk around down there at night. It is not one of those sad little boarded up window ghost-town downtowns that look like a shell hit it. Some people prefer the 'burbs and to each their own, but to tell people to stay out of Portland at night? That is just ridiculous. I lived and worked in Portland (including downtown) for many many years and I am still in the "big bad city of Portland" every chance I get.

Agreed. I had a male friend who got assaulted by some thugs out on SE 82nd at night once--he was strolling along by himself out there for some reason--but that is, far and away, the worst thing I've heard that has happened to anyone I know. I used to live downtown and only got sketched out near the bus mall in the wee hours of the night. I know many people who would walk home from parties in Northeast all the way to downtown or Goose Hollow at 2 AM. It's smart to be streetwise anywhere, but Portland lulls you into being a little lazy about it sometimes.

[malachai23]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

Agreed. I had a male friend who got assaulted by some thugs out on SE 82nd at night once--he was strolling along by himself out there for some reason--but that is, far and away, the worst thing I've heard that has happened to anyone I know. I used to live downtown and only got sketched out near the bus mall in the wee hours of the night. I know many people who would walk home from parties in Northeast all the way to downtown or Goose Hollow at 2 AM. It's smart to be streetwise anywhere, but Portland lulls you into being a little lazy about it sometimes.

That's good advice, backdrifter. People should always be aware of their surroundings when they are walking - regardless of time of day or location. But one thing that always makes me feel a lot safer when walking alone is when there are other folks out and about. Generally someone looking for an easy target is not going to risk being ID'd by numerous bystanders. That's one of the things I love about Portland - there are always a TON of people out and about - even at night. One night recently I walked from an event here in downtown Dayton to my truck parked about 10 blocks away and I didn't pass by one single person. That type of situation sketches me out even more than the Portland bus mall!

[oscottscotto]

I'm sorry, but violent crime should carry much more weight than the other categories. Detroit at #11 or somewhere around that? No way.

Congrats to Portland for being #1 as far as the least violent crime. That's my kind of place ... where people don't kill other people that often .