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I'm a black male from Chicago moving to Portland in September 2012. I've been talking to people from Chicago who have visited the Portland area or who have once lived there at one time and most tell me that Portland is a nice city, politically and enviornmentally conscious and a great place to live if you are into outdoor activities. From that standpoint, the city of Portland sounds like a great place for me to live. But there are a few things I'm concerned about in terms of moving to a city where I do not quite understand the social, racial and political dynamics of the city.
Housing: I understand the black community is small and segregated in Portland, but that's really not a problem for me. I'll be in the downtown area attending Portland State University, but I'm looking to find a place to live that is racially and culturally diverse and accepting of all people. I could stay in the dorms at Portland State University, but as a 33 year old graduate student I would rather have my own residence just in case I want to reside in Portland permanently. Are there any neighborhoods in Portland (not necessarily in the black community) that are diversity friendly and accepting of all people?
Leisure Activities: During my down time from school, I need to have something to do for fun? What are some fun activities to get into in the Portland area? Are the clubs and bars in Portland diverse or do most ethnic groups crowd into their own cliquish subcultures? Don't get me wrong, I know Portland is white and I have no problem partying with white people, but its also nice to see other ethnicities well represented too. I'm a big fan of coffee, so I plan on checking out Stumptown coffee, Voodoo donuts and some of the other cafes when I come. I'm also not really a hipster, coming from Chicago, I'm a bit of an urban brotha, but I actually like the whole weird hippie, nature thing that I see in Portland. The thing with Chicago was that there are hipsters but they are usually found in the Wicker Park, Bucktown and River North areas of Chicago, in Portland hipsters appear to be ominipresent.
Relationships: I broke up with my girlfriend in Feburary, partly because I made the choice to go to school in Portland and she loves Chicago too much to come with me. So I'm a single black male now and I refuse to date a woman seriously until I move to Portland in September. But how is the dating scene for African American males in the Portland area? Are they accepting to interracial relationships or will every date with a non-black woman turn into a defensive struggle? I've dated women of all races and never had a problem with anyone before. But those were in places like Chicago, NYC, and Milwaukee. I really don't know how people in Portland react to those kind of relationships. I'm attracted to hippie type women who are enviornmentally and politically conscious, and usually most black women are not into those kind of things so I usually find myself dating white and hispanic women.
Black Community: I'm interested in hearing from black posters on there thoughts about being black in Portland? To be honest, having grown up in the mid-west, most black people on the east coast, south and mid-west are surprised to learn that black people live in Portland at all. The black community in Portland is TINY only 35,000 blacks and I hear most are moving out of Portland as a result of gentrification. I have never met a black person from the state of Oregon in my life. I know black guys who went to play collegiate ball in Oregon and I know Ndomuking Suh and Terell Brandon are from Portland, but they are just two athletes. You'll be hard pressed to find any other notable blacks from the Portland area. I want to hear from blacks who live in Portland, what exactly are your thoughts of the city?
I'm neither black nor male ... but maybe I can offer some advice.
First off, I'll say that there really aren't a lot of "notable" blacks from Oregon. Ime Udoka, Ahmad Rashad, and the various Stoudamires are the only other athletes I can think of (again, I'm not male, so not necessarily my area of expertise. Esperanza Spalding is from Portland.
As for minorities in Portland, Hispanics make up the largest number, then Asians. But the city is 72% white. No getting around that.
Portland doesn't have a large black community, and it used to be (decades ago) centered in the Albina neighborhood. That's not true anymore, which I tend to see as a good thing. We don't really have much in the way of ethnic "neighborhoods" these days ... people live throughout the city. It's probably less true of businesses ... which can tend to cluster in one area. And while I'm sure there are boneheads wherever you go, people in Portland tend to be very accepting of everyone. Which is one of the reasons you will find boneheads ... Portland tends to kind of let everyone be who they are. No one will care much what color or sex of a person you date.
As far as housing goes, while Portland State does have some "sanctioned" housing, but not really dorms. It's student body is older. PSU housing tends (from my scanty experience) to have lots of the foreign students. There are plenty of apartments in or near the PSU district. You might want to look there temporarily, just to get a toehold on the city.
I would say that Portland has a secret or not so secret agenda that keeps black people away very successfully. Read Oregon live, there are a lot of stories about crimes black people committing crimes that get a lot of attention. Also quite a bit about cops using excessive force and killing unarmed black people like the Aaron Campbell case, of course they also kill a lot of unarmed white people too. Most recently a group of black teens beat up a white teen on the max, and then there was another incident a few weeks later when black teens robbed a white girl of her backpack and beat up her boyfriend. Then there was a minority brawl at Lloyd Center and The most telling story was a piece about minorities being turned down for good housing opportunities. The fact that 35,000 people out of 600K+ are black and that number is declining should be telling. I live in the area with the most Black people and most black families are multi-generational Oregonians, not a lot of transplants. A lot of it depends on how you carry yourself, your education and your income level. I have black friends who swear this is the most racist place on earth, and I have black friends who think it's a green welcoming utopia. The company I work for has everything from minimum wage to several 6 figure positions, the minorities making $10/hr doing blue collared jobs are more likely to say this place is racist. The ones who work at my level and above say it's a great place. PSU is the place you are likely to see the most diversity. If you are tall and athletic you will have no problem finding a woman. Disclaimer: I am not black.
Thank you for your information however discouraging it may be. Based on the opinions of black people i have talked to who live in the Portland Oregon area, I would say that your assessment of the situation is fairly accurate. However, I wouldn't read too much into the situation of black teens committing crimes in the Portland area. It is happening in alot of big cities and at a much greater rate, I'm in Chicago and I see it everday. I'm not coming to Portland poor and downtrodden, but as an indiviual thats looking to better myself through persistence and hard work. I hope that I can improve myself and become a valuable assest in whatever city I reside in. If what you said is true about housing discrimination than I hope that I am not confronted with that kind of situation, but if I am, I will try to address this problem and hopefulluy shed light on this kind of overt discrimination. I did my research on Portland and I understand that diversity is not as widespread as other major metropolitan areas in the United States. But I feel like Portland has alot to offer in terms of the lifestyle that I choose to lead. Alot of those problems you mentioned that black people are having in Portland with crime, housing discrimination and unemployment are also happening in Chicago, NYC, Detroit, Philadelphia etc. so Portland is really no different in that regard. By the way, I'm 6'0 210 pounds, not too athletic but I assure you I'll do well with the ladies. The gift of gab is more important that athletic ability.
Portland has odd race relations, but I think they mostly stem from a lack of exposure.
I'm a white guy. I live in Chicago now. I grew up in and around Portland. I was several years old before I ever saw a black person and my mother (who was a social worker in Gary, Indiana for a while before I was born), tells the story that when I was about 4 years old we were at a restaurant and there was a black family dining nearby.
My parents are not at all racist, but being new in Portland we just didn't know any black families at the time. Being 4 years old I was socially oblivious and as my mom tells the story, I suddenly stood up on my chair and practically shouted to the whole restaurant, "Mom, Dad! Those people are a different color than we are!", as if I'd just seen the most amazing thing in the world. Of course my parents were very embarrassed, although the other family seemed to take it in stride.
So, that would have been about 1977 or so, so I'm sure times have changed. You shouldn't stick out quite that much.
I do miss the mountains of Oregon, and the more moderate weather, but overall I really like Chicago a lot. The area around Portland State is a nice part of the city, and the whole west side of central Portland there is pretty walkable. You can walk to the popular Pearl District or take a streetcar. Portland isn't quite as good for car-free living as parts of Chicago can be, but it's better than other similarly-sized cities. If you are able to appreciate the hippie culture, I think you'll find places to fit in just fine.
A lot of Black Portlanders and blacks from Midwest & South live in Vancouver, WA because it's affordable and it looks like the rest of the country. a.k.a. Da 'Couve or Van-tucky. The 'Republican' side of Portland metro area. The young black community in Portland today did not experience the 1990's gentrification years.
Okay, whatever you do, just don't move to the suburbs. You'll never see another brown face. lol. Especially Lake Oswego (which actually has had serious race-relation issues lately).
But like another respondent noted, as long as you're in Portland City, it really has a lot to do with how you carry yourself, how much money you make and the sort of things you're into. If you need to blast gangsta rap, refer to other black men as Moderator cut: inappropriate and wear your pants below your knees, you might have some issues. If you can appreciate a variety of musical genres (particularly anything no one's ever heard of), don't mind clueless "progressive" white hipster kids, and understand the proper usage of the belt, you'll probably be fine. This is coming from a black "progressive" chick, originally from the LA area, in a relationship with a white southern boy. lol.
Last edited by Kimballette; 06-22-2012 at 06:02 AM..
Reason: inappropriate language
Okay, whatever you do, just don't move to the suburbs. You'll never see another brown face. lol. Especially Lake Oswego (which actually has had serious race-relation issues lately).
But like another respondent noted, as long as you're in Portland City, it really has a lot to do with how you carry yourself, how much money you make and the sort of things you're into. If you need to blast gangsta rap, refer to other black men as Moderator cut: inappropriate and wear your pants below your knees, you might have some issues. If you can appreciate a variety of musical genres (particularly anything no one's ever heard of), don't mind clueless "progressive" white hipster kids, and understand the proper usage of the belt, you'll probably be fine. This is coming from a black "progressive" chick, originally from the LA area, in a relationship with a white southern boy. lol.
Thank you saidahwk. It was nice to hear the opinion from another black person who has lived in the Portland area. I am not the gangsta rap kinda black dude so I shouldn't have any problems there. I appreciate all kinds of musical genres hip-hop, soul, indie, electronica and alternative. I don't mind what color people are I have white hipster friends, thug friends, educated friends and psychotic friends LOL as long as we can connect through some kind of shared interests I am your brother in arms. LOL
Interesting thread. I'm a 35 year old educated black male from Chicago and I'd have to agree that Portland is full of clueless young white hipsters. Decent people but not very interested in dating anyone out of their clique (passive aggressive and ultra liberal). I'd say set up online dating accounts now because the verbal gymnastics that work for you in the Chi aren't going to do you much good. My friend was asked to leave a party after getting the phone number of a couple women at a house party and the host asked me why would I invite someone "who picks up women". It's more xenophobia than anything else but the effeminate hipsters guys are watching you like a hawk and get pretty territorial over the attractive women they have been spending months trying to work up the courage to talk to. The modern urban scene of most cities has been reduced to the Nines hotel bars which are worth checking out. There is also no "Our Kind of People" demographic here. There are educated black people but I've yet to see any events in my 13 months here.
All that said you will figure something out. Check out a few breweries, food carts and the Portland weirdos who keep competing to be weirder than everyone else. There are quite a few factors that make it enjoyable once you find a few friends. You better be proactive when you arrive though because another fun fact is that everyone seems to hide in their homes when the fall/winter season comes.
Last edited by Jugisfilleddropbydrop; 08-25-2012 at 07:00 PM..
Reason: Grammar
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