Woodlawn-MLK and Ainsworth (Portland: living in, dangerous, activity)

[Deezus]

MLK isn't all that bad these days-the area to the west is downright gentrified in a lot of parts, and to the east south of Alberta is about there as well. It's a mix though at this point. I know people who've bought homes just to the north of where you're looking at and most of their neighbors are fine--with the exception of a couple shadier folks on the block and rare crimes that people take notice at.

A lot of North/NE Portland is occasionally sketchier right on the main avenues(Interstate, Lombard, MLK). Is the apartment right on MLK? Because as someone who lived around those areas in N and NE Portland for years, I can tell you that things can change a lot in a couple blocks. Not even just crime, but in general noise and traffic that sort of thing. N Greeley and Rosa Parks is okay for the most part as well, it's fairly quiet up there.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Steve, I seriously doubt that statistic.
Where did you find that out?
I looked and looked but could not find anything to substantiate this!
Please cite.

... ...

We watch the news every morning and every night. We don't watch reality shows , sitcomes (other than Big Bang and Two and a Half Men) and we dont watch the trashy sell all the sex you can crap in general.

The fact is Portland has an average of a shooting a day, not always everyday, but one a day on average. The majority are on the north side or in the Gresham south area.

But for you I'll list a source for your own research ..... http://www.portlandoregon.gov/police...tats/index.cfm

Seven Murders and over 200 Shootings and Stabbings in the first five months this year. Only downtown equals the North Side.

[Steve Pickering]

This is specific to the area the OP asked about .......

CrimeMapper Detail Report

and

CrimeMapper Detail Report

[Deezus]

You have to take CrimeMapper reports with a grain of salt. For one, here's the crime map for NW Portland(including the Pearl District). It's much more red than MLK and Aintsworth.

CrimeMapper Detail Report


Yet no one is considering NW Portland dangerous for the most part. And major streets like MLK will have higher crime rates than the surrounding residential areas.

[Steve Pickering]

Now take out the drunks and drugs and just look at the Murders, Assults and Weapons Crimes.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

Now take out the drunks and drugs and just look at the Murders, Assults and Weapons Crimes.

What is the likelihood of the o.p. getting murdered, assaulted or being the victim of a weapons crime in N/NE Portland? I mean, assuming he or she is law abiding and avoids fraternizing with known criminals? Sometimes its all I can do not to blow chunks and ruin perfectly good computer hardware when I see these posts debating the relative safety of different addresses in the same 'hood.

Some perspective: I was raised in a neighborhood that was so vicious that four of my childhood friends were dead before we finished high school. My parents dealt by always being in the house before 7:00 pm and the things they did to that house to make it secure violated EVERY fire and safety statute in all 50 states. For my brother and I living like that wasn't living so we risked the streets. To go to the Library, to visit friends, to have a life. I have been on the wrong end of a gun four times and there is one mugging that I have no memory of. I came to on the ground, pockets slashed open, glasses missing. I was 18 years old. I've lived in Detroit, in a building that was the only intact structure on the block. I felt safer there than in my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. I've been in N/NE Portland. There isn't anything there that looks and/or feels like Detroit or Brooklyn ghetto's like Bed-Stuy or Brownsville.

That said, Portland starts to look frayed as early as Lloyd Center. You don't have to go far from City Center to get the 'run down' look. If you don't want the Goose Hollow or Pearl upscale trappings you have plenty of options and you don't have to take your life in your hands to find affordable, blue collar, digs around town. But, and I'm just saying, for the same money, you can come out to Beaverton, or Hillsboro and live in a gated complex with a fitness center and outdoor swimming pool on the commons. Or, like I do, rent a house, with plenty of space around it, and have a fitness center and indoor/outdoor swimming pool nearby. FWIW.

H

[urbanlife78]

I always laugh when I hear people say North and Northeast Portland are dangerous. People who say that have no idea what dangerous is.

For the OP, if the areas you are looking at are close commute to your work and are in your price range, and you were able to drive and walk around in those neighborhoods to get a feel for them and like the area, I say go for it.

I use to date a girl deep on North Portland and never once had an issue beyond relationship issues whenever I was up there. And these days, I am liking North Portland more and more.

[oldtintype]

No, they're not dangerous but some areas less than stellar (that goes for outer SE too and many other parts of Portland such as downtown). It would be really helpful if people would come on and give more info about what works for them and the environment they're coming from. I always assume people are coming from some place like the out of state equivalent of Beaverton or Tigard. Moving to some Portland areas would freak them out. If they're city types who've lived in a variety of places, or are like people I'm friends with then I'd say most areas are great, but its hard to know what people's normal is. Having spent a bunch of time in very high poverty cities like New Orleans, then yeah, there's almost nothing on the west coast that even compares. But again, it's hard to know what people view as safe and normal when they ask about an area.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

What is the likelihood of the o.p. getting murdered, assaulted or being the victim of a weapons crime in N/NE Portland? I mean, assuming he or she is law abiding and avoids fraternizing with known criminals? ... ... H

About triple most other parts of town. Innocent bystanders are high on the shot list.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

About triple most other parts of town. Innocent bystanders are high on the shot list.

I'd risk it. I'm hardcore like that. Word up...

H