Bad parts of Portland?

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Originally Posted by philwithbeard

(82nd street is just a simple bus ride down from a homeless "Bush-Cheney Homeless Shanty Town" not far from the airport.

You should really read up on the history of "Dignity Village".
It had absolutely nothing to do with Bush-Cheney except for the time frame of it's inception.
It was a totally liberal/Progressive Portland City government creation.
It sits on what I believe to be a Portland city owned leaf disposal site, and if I remember correctly, was paid for with taxpayer money.
The "homeless" protested for weeks outside city hall before our backbone lacking local government caved in to their demands, and gave them everything they wanted.
Anywhere else they would have said leave if you don't like it here. But not Portland.
It was quite controversial back then, but it's not in the news much anymore.
Lots of the "homeless" that live there have been there for years.


It should be called the "Eric Sten Shanty town".

[philwithbeard]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

It had absolutely nothing to do with Bush-Cheney except for the time frame of it's inception. .....

Well, as a self proclaimed flaming liberal, ALL evils in the world are the fault of Bush-Cheney.
I know, because I watch outtakes form MSNBC cable on my computer. I can even give links so you can watch the Rachel Maddow show on your home computer....

See, this is a take on the old "Hoover-villes" hobo camps of around 1931, 1932.....

Forgive me my progressive bias on this subject, but I don't think of 82nd street as the most crime ridden section of Portland. I have not found it to be so. It does have a lot higher percentage of Asians, Hispanics, and (lately) other non-whites moving into the inexpensive housing. But that doesn't automatically equate higher crime. It does equate lower cost housing with lower income households, and thus maybe (back to the OP question) not the most desirable for a Portland Newbie to consider, unless housing cost is a critical concern.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Originally Posted by philwithbeard

Forgive me my progressive bias on this subject, but I don't think of 82nd street as the most crime ridden section of Portland. I have not found it to be so. It does have a lot higher percentage of Asians, Hispanics, and (lately) other non-whites moving into the inexpensive housing. But that doesn't automatically equate higher crime. It does equate lower cost housing with lower income households, and thus maybe (back to the OP question) not the most desirable for a Portland Newbie to consider, unless housing cost is a critical concern.

This is exactly true. If you live in this area and own a car, other than the normal crap that happens you are somewhat insulated from the nasty things that may occur in this area.
However, if you rely on public transit, and have to spend time on foot getting around, a good grasp of "street smarts" helps out quite a bit to keep you out of trouble.

[Lee151]

The area around Mt. Hood Community College is perfectly safe. It is not urban at all and not suited to walking anywhere. It is mostly single family homes/neighborhoods. There are some apartments and condos right by the college but as far as night life or walking/urban lifestyle there is zip. Troutdale, Fairview, Gresham and SE Portland are all very similar neighborhoods. Lower income and older houses in most areas than Beaverton, West Linn and Lake Oswego. There are newer neighborhoods too. Commuting to MHCC from anywhere east of the Willamette River won't be a problem. If you have to cross the river especially if you move to Beaverton you are going to end up with a long commute. There are also really nice new neighborhoods like Fisher's Landing in Vancouver WA that are fairly easy to commute to MHCC.

The closest urban/loft/hip walking nightlife type neighborhood to MHCC is going to be the Hawthorne District.

There are serious problems in Rockwood and along Powell Blvd in Portland (Powell in Gresham has some nice apts) and on Burnside with low income apartments and 82nd Ave does have loads of prostitution and crime. Am I afraid to drive down 82nd? nope but no way would I live there either and use public transit or walk around. There is one motel right off Stark and the 205 that hookers use but otherwise the Mall 205 area is not a crime hotspot.

Unlike some of the previous posters, I have lived in the area of Portland between SE 72nd and MHCC for 25 years (several locations) and have also worked right on 82nd at Burnside and in the area of 122nd and Division, 136th and Powell and 162nd and Division.

[foobytheinsane1]

I would recommend not living in outer SE Portland. I made the mistake of doing this right after I graduated college because I was looking for a cheap apartment, and it definitely was cheap but somewhat unsafe. I lived on 125th and Powell and it seemed okay at first (I was happy because we got a two bedroom for only $625 per month) but things quickly went downhill. My roommate was mugged while he was walking back to our apartment from the bus stop across the street, our neighbors were burglarized (this was on the third floor of the apartment complex), and there were numerous domestic disputes. One night I came home from work to find police taking a battering ram to the door of a Samoan family in the complex who were apparently housing like 10 people in a one bedroom apartment and busted on drug charges. On the plus side, I got to see an episode of "Cops" being filmed in the parking lot of the bar next door (which conveniently opened at 9 am!). As you go up in street number or towards Burnside, things get even sketchier until you get to Gresham, which seems okay. Stay away....