Maybe Madison? (Portland: live, suburbs, deal)

[Nala8]

Originally Posted by gold*dust1

Good one Nala for humors sake In all reality I find that whole "west side is better thing" so pretentious and boring!!!

Thank you. All I can say is that whenever I visit that whole Willy Street area, I feel like I am home sweet home. Never boring. Love the vibes.

[gold*dust1]

Originally Posted by Nala8

Thank you. All I can say is that whenever I visit that whole Willy Street area, I feel like I am home sweet home. Never boring. Love the vibes.

I spent about a month or 2 on Willy St. living in walk up apt. top of some business with my then boyfriend. It was his gay sisters place. I was outside alone and got dragged into some bushes by a transient guy walking by. I screamed and it took 3 seconds for a neighbor guy to come rushing out of his house to chase the perp away. Yeah it was pretty cool way back then. Couldn't pay me to live there now.

[Nala8]

Originally Posted by gold*dust1

I spent about a month or 2 on Willy St. living in walk up apt. top of some business with my then boyfriend. It was his gay sisters place. I was outside alone and got dragged into some bushes by a transient guy walking by. I screamed and it took 3 seconds for a neighbor guy to come rushing out of his house to chase the perp away. Yeah it was pretty cool way back then. Couldn't pay me to live there now.

Jeez, that's horrifying, gold*dust1. So sorry you went through that. Just goes to show you that even good cities have their dark sides. I've lived in NYC for years now and have never had anything like that happen to me. To tell the truth, I have talked to people and read posts about this kind of crime, and I have been seriously considering resuming those karate classes I once took in Madison back in the day. Your story also resolves my long-distance apartment hunting dilemma. I think it would be best for me to search for an apartment and a good neighborhood for me in person. You know, really scope the place out and talk to potential neighbors. Thanks for your post. Kudos.

[gold*dust1]

Originally Posted by Nala8

Jeez, that's horrifying, gold*dust1. So sorry you went through that. Just goes to show you that even good cities have their dark sides. I've lived in NYC for years now and have never had anything like that happen to me. To tell the truth, I have talked to people and read posts about this kind of crime, and I have been seriously considering resuming those karate classes I once took in Madison back in the day. Your story also resolves my long-distance apartment hunting dilemma. I think it would be best for me to search for an apartment and a good neighborhood for me in person. You know, really scope the place out and talk to potential neighbors. Thanks for your post. Kudos.

Yep get your ducks in a row! Watch out on the bike trails, like the one behind Olbrich gardens for example, lots of attempts like what happened to me. I was young and the guy took off running, so it was an unreported crime and who knows what that person did next.

[ryanj0]

Originally Posted by Nala8

But he's a west sider and I'm an east sider. No, no, no... It will never work.

Yeah, I agree... Well too bad, haha... It's the infamous east side west side rivalry.... Remember Romeo and Juliet, they both died at the end, and I don't feel like dying yet, haha.... Yeah, I stick to the west side, not because I feel it better or anything, yet because I know it better and know much more people there, haha...

Jeremy Ryan

[ryanj0]

Originally Posted by gold*dust1

I spent about a month or 2 on Willy St. living in walk up apt. top of some business with my then boyfriend. It was his gay sisters place. I was outside alone and got dragged into some bushes by a transient guy walking by. I screamed and it took 3 seconds for a neighbor guy to come rushing out of his house to chase the perp away. Yeah it was pretty cool way back then. Couldn't pay me to live there now.

I am sorry to hear that... I remember there was a wave of sexually violent crimes a few years back... It's usually out of place in Madison I think though... The street I live on (Wickham Ct.) used to be a drug area, but now it's really cleaned up... I think very few people would feel unsafe walking there at night (now that it is cleaned up which is a more recent thing).... But it does border what is still a trouble area for Madison... But Wickham itself is very safe I would say... Just goes to show, areas in Madison could change for the better or worse, but no area really bothers me coming from a much different background....

[Winegal]

Originally Posted by applesoranges

I've heard many times over, how friendly Portland is. People are courteous on the roads and just downright friendly!

I spend a lot of time in Portland, and I have to say that while I love the city, the drivers are some of the worst I've seen.

[gold*dust1]

Originally Posted by ryanj0

I am sorry to hear that... I remember there was a wave of sexually violent crimes a few years back... It's usually out of place in Madison I think though... The street I live on (Wickham Ct.) used to be a drug area, but now it's really cleaned up... I think very few people would feel unsafe walking there at night (now that it is cleaned up which is a more recent thing).... But it does border what is still a trouble area for Madison... But Wickham itself is very safe I would say... Just goes to show, areas in Madison could change for the better or worse, but no area really bothers me coming from a much different background....

Thx for your concern but what happened to me was in the early 80's. Yes there was a rash of rapes, attempted rapes in the downtown area in the last few years and random rapes in different parts of the city. Then of course there are the ones that go unreported. I would say it "could" be unsafe for a woman to go walking about in certain areas alone at any time, just a fact of life. My daughter worked at a hair salon downtown and was approached by various unsavory characters while taking breaks outside.

[ryanj0]

Originally Posted by gold*dust1

Thx for your concern but what happened to me was in the early 80's. Yes there was a rash of rapes, attempted rapes in the downtown area in the last few years and random rapes in different parts of the city. Then of course there are the ones that go unreported. I would say it "could" be unsafe for a woman to go walking about in certain areas alone at any time, just a fact of life. My daughter worked at a hair salon downtown and was approached by various unsavory characters while taking breaks outside.

True... With rape, when it starts getting reported that's when you start having a major problem as I have heard the vast majority got unreported. I think it helped after the series of them downtown that people started really watching out and females started making sure they were not alone when walking around. Those "guardians" or whatever they're called (the group of men that would walk around giving literature and "preventing rape" as they put it" were good in concept, but from what I hear and have seen, their ego's got to them and now more or less they just pick fights with people.

[BornIntoThis]

I lived in Portland for five years. I can't say I utterly hated it, but I was also very happy to leave and would never consider going back permanently. Some generalizations:

First, there is way too much rain. I don't mind cold weather. I don't mind snow. I don't even mind a winter season generously sprinkled with rainy days. But Portland is overcast and/or rainy the majority of the time, year-round. For me, that alone is a deal-breaker.

Secondly, the faux liberalism is beyond annoying, at best. For the most part, the city is filled with comfy white people who have never had to deal with the nuts and bolts of race relations, class conflict, or even so much as neighbors who come from significantly different cultural backgrounds (for example, developing Asian countries as opposed to cozy, homogeneous suburbs). Yeah, Portland folk are all about diversity, so long as they don't have to experience it personally on a daily basis.

To make matters worse, Portlanders also tend to take a huge amount of pride in the lip service they render and tend to be extremely judgmental of anyone who fails to match their (rather narrow) image of what a diversity-honoring individual should look and sound like. Oh, the irony.

Try having a discussion with a diversity-loving Portlandite about social issue solutions that involve something other than doing yoga, eating organic veggies, hating corporations and, in general, simply being super-groovy. Ever seen that scene at the end of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" where Donald Sutherland points his finger and screeches? Yeah, that's pretty much the reaction you can expect.

No thanks. Even as a relatively comfy white person myself, I'm gonna have to take a pass.

Oh, and did I mention the rain?