Portland Negatives (McMinnville, Lafayette, Detroit: extended stay, to rent, insurance)

[Dr.LadySquishington]

Hey I like that Hymalaia, that stuff about the homeless was goooood. I was JUST about to give up on Portland, but who can't learn a thing or two from a homeless guy? I'd like to see Portland now, but what are the people like? Is it easy to make friends? Is it just a bunch of loser stoners? Or the good kind of stoners? What do they do for fun? And all that jive.

[NorthernCalifornia]

Geography is not a specialty of people in Portland.

[What!]

What do you mean by that, North California?

[rosarugosa]

Originally Posted by cn1221

So I created this thread for people to post what they don’t like about Portland.

Actually I appreciated your remarks because it helps me get a more realistic picture of Portland, I like to know the negative part, and yet when I add them up, well, actually your negatives don't seem too bad at all!

[rosarugosa]

Originally Posted by UltraVioletMama

there are many places in the USA that are green but also take care of the working class.

I would really appreciate it if you could take a little time to list what cities are these, that are green and also take care of the working class. I am sincerely trying to find such a place.

[Pippa]

In April, for JUST ONE EXAMPLE, we had THREE days of sunshine. I counted.

[Pippa]

What do they do? They get really high and then they go drink a bunch of beer and get really drunk.
It's not like they walk down to the cafe and celebrate life with other passersby. Noooooo. Indoor town.

[Raspberry]

This post is accurate, imo. I've grown up in Portland and lived here almost my entire life. I've also lived in LA, been to NY, Chicago, Philly, Miami, etc. I will always consider Portland my home and I love many things about it, but the sad truth is that Portland is nothing like what it used to be. It has always been a liberal city, but used to be more open-minded and accepting of things that do not fit with the "Portland Mind-set" such as political beliefs, lifestyle choices, and egos than it does now. It has become much more like Seattle and very artsy/creative population which means not enough practical thinkers. We do have a population issue going on. We're getting so many new people from California and all over that our small 4-lane freeways are constantly backed up at nearly all times of the day. We used to just have morning and after work rush hours. Now it is every 2 hours from 5am to 10pm.

The scenery is beautiful. There are some nice people, though not as nice as Portland used to be. Portland is proud of "keeping things weird" here, but so far that has only meant having unpleasant weird things that most would prefer to do without, especially me. Such as: many anarchists, violent protesters, extreme freaks absolutely everywhere downtown, closed-minded ideas and beliefs - preaching acceptance and community, but shunning and showing contempt for people who do not think extremely liberally about everything. It's very sad. The general population seems to be in a constant contradiction of protesting their state legislation and fighting it and yet support it at the same time. For example, protesting the urban growth boundary expanding, but purchasing one of the new homes build in the new boundary? Ironic? We have very high taxes because of all the extras we have here like paying for migrant worker's welfare, but not allowing welfare or health benefits to anyone white unless they have kids.

Portland's biggest problem is with two main things. Lack of a job market (unless you work in the minimum- $12/hr range), it's hard to find work and there's a lot of competition for those jobs. And a very high population of illegal immigrants specifically from Mexico. Plenty of protesting seen by Mexicans about not having enough rights in Portland or racial complaints that are completely unfounded considering that we are (sadly) a sanctuary city.


That said, living outside of the city is much nicer. It's becoming an expensive place to live, but outside the city you get a break from the in-your-face politics of the city.

[Bluesmama]

Originally Posted by SeeBee

OMG! ---
I see our current state of affairs as the result of everyone's greed, as do you. We all take part in it. Why no complaints about greedy realtors and greedy people who sell their land for exhorbitant prices? If you had land for sale and wanted $1 for it, I come along and offered you $1 - then someone siddles on in with $2.50 - would you not accept the $2.50?

AMEN!!!!! For a long time I have been pinning most of the blame on greedy realtors. Glad that someone else shares the same opinion. I think over-the-top bidding on land/homes should be illegal, myself.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by SeeBee
OMG! ---
I see our current state of affairs as the result of everyone's greed, as do you. We all take part in it. Why no complaints about greedy realtors and greedy people who sell their land for exhorbitant prices? If you had land for sale and wanted $1 for it, I come along and offered you $1 - then someone siddles on in with $2.50 - would you not accept the $2.50?

Originally Posted by Bluesbabe

AMEN!!!!! For a long time I have been pinning most of the blame on greedy realtors. Glad that someone else shares the same opinion. I think over-the-top bidding on land/homes should be illegal, myself.

I agree with this too. My friend Barb owns a dinky little house just off of 42th and Fremont; a very desirable area. She had bought her house in the 70's for $35,000! One day a realtor knocked on her door telling her she could get at least $257,000 or more for her house. It seems they sold the shack across the street for that much.
After that several realtors came a'knocking. She told them no, she liked her little house and where would she go if she moved? A new house would eat up all her profits made on the old one.
She was pestered by so many realtors she almost put up a sign "House NOT for Sale."