Has Portland really gotten as bad as FOX News and other media show? (Hillsboro: real estate, 2015) - Oregon (OR) - City-Data Forum

stockstrader · 05-26-2021, 06:32 PM

I vacationed in Oregon in the summer of 2015. I remember going downtown and walking along the river. Were there some homeless people? Yes, just like any city. However, I don't remember the city being tents and needles everywhere. I never saw any anarchy in the streets. These are the images I see on TV. Is all of this stuff overblown and confined to a small area or has it really taken over the popular touristy spots in the city? How have the drug decriminalization laws been going? It's the largest city in the only state with decriminalized hard drugs. Are addicts moving there in droves from around the country or have the effects been minimal? I'm considering going to either Reno or Vancouver, WA next summer (to avoid OR income tax). However, if Portland is really as bad as they make it out to be I'm not going to be as interested.

StealthRabbit · 05-26-2021, 09:10 PM

I know many residents of Vancouver WA who have only been to Portland for PDX flights. Including my previous boss. 40 yrs in Vancouver, he never had reason to go to Portland. I go to Portland a few times / week. 6x last week. While I don't like the mess the homeless are making, and it really detracts from the city, I still am able to enjoy most places I have frequented in last 38 yrs. Unfortunately, the crime and homeless have caused me to lose a lot of freedoms I had enjoyed. I'm very glad I do not own Portland real estate or have a business location there. (It's pretty bad) Several lifelong Portland residents who are coworkers have chosen to relocate their families to Vancouver.

I have no clue how Fox news reports. Sounds like a TV show.... I haven't needed a TV since my last time passively watching in 1968. I exclaimed... "That was a total waste of 1/2 hr.... ". Poof, gone.... No more TV.

illumined · 05-27-2021, 08:18 PM

Yes, if you go past the Hawthorne bridge on 99e north for example and you'll see tents on almost every block, if not on the main roadway then within a block of it on the side streets. It become a major problem about 10 years ago but it's very steadily and noticeably gotten worse. 7 years ago the city decided to change their policy to just let the homeless people camp out wherever they want. The results were predictable.

CARas2020 · 05-28-2021, 03:46 AM

anyone who only uses FOX as a source for news is completely biased. it is easy to find out but most of those do not want to. I have no idea what they say but I do know Portland is horrible and the homeless situation is a DISGUSTING mess as well as most buildings still being boarded up. I swear it meaning the homeless problem is getting WORSE. I have to go up to N Portland for medical treatment and every time we drive from where we live -- western suburbs nears Hillsboro i see more and more camps along with garbage thrown all over.

No Rose Festival for the most part is cancelled. which okay because that too like everything else in Portland has decayed over the years. Remember when it was enjoyable? It has shrunk and they charge an admission for the carnival. We have given up on it because it is a waste of money. I have some fond memories and my husband and i had our first official date going to the Rose festival in 1995.

stockstrader · 05-28-2021, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CARas2020

anyone who only uses FOX as a source for news is completely biased. it is easy to find out but most of those do not want to. I have no idea what they say but I do know Portland is horrible and the homeless situation is a DISGUSTING mess as well as most buildings still being boarded up. I swear it meaning the homeless problem is getting WORSE. I have to go up to N Portland for medical treatment and every time we drive from where we live -- western suburbs nears Hillsboro i see more and more camps along with garbage thrown all over.

No Rose Festival for the most part is cancelled. which okay because that too like everything else in Portland has decayed over the years. Remember when it was enjoyable? It has shrunk and they charge an admission for the carnival. We have given up on it because it is a waste of money. I have some fond memories and my husband and i had our first official date going to the Rose festival in 1995.

I'm fully aware that FOX likes to cover it, because it's the eye candy their viewers want of lawless liberal cities lol. There's no disguising how bad it is some of the time. I just wonder how much of the actual city is like this. I was wondering if all of downtown and Waterfront Park is a complete avoid these days kind of place, not just some homeless people you see here and there like in any major city.

oregonwoodsmoke · 05-28-2021, 07:52 AM

I don't watch Fox news, so I don't have the slightest idea of how they portray Portland. My information about Portland mostly comes from the local news channels from Spokane WA, which are decidedly liberal in their slant. The videos and news they show make Portland look pretty bad, even when they are trying hard to be sympathetic to the poor innocent downtrodden homeless and the "peaceful" demonstrators.

I've also seen videos made by the Portland news, which is not a conservative news channel, so I've seen what it looks like.

Also my son works out of Portland and he says the place is disgusting. He's not a Fox news reporter, either.

MaltCueOur · 05-28-2021, 01:20 PM

No doubt it's all lies, made up by Fox News! I know because on r/Portland, there are tons of posts showing the beautiful flowers.

oregonwoodsmoke · 05-29-2021, 10:15 AM

Portland has turned into an (expletive deleted) hole, and it is not the doing of the conservative press. Nobody is showing computer generated scenes of garbage strewn homeless camps on the news. If they have film of the homeless camps, there really are homeless camps there.

If people you know are making comments about the homeless camps along the freeway, they are not making it up trying to make Portland look bad when Portland really is still fine and lovely.

No one is getting a bunch of actors together and filming scenes of riots in a film studio and presenting that as current day Portland. If they have scenes of riots and fires and window breaking on the news, that has really happened.

Kid Ashbury · 05-30-2021, 06:22 PM

The truth is somewhere in the middle.

Is Portland as a whole a complete fiery dump now? No, of course not.

Is Portland as a whole slowly devolving in most aspects of quality of life? Yes, unquestionably.

There is an ongoing sharp rise in crime, rent/home prices, traffic and congestion, and the homeless population, among many other issues. And yes, antifa is free to do as they please, as the DA is one of their own and allows their political violence.

With all that said, if you make six figures, don't have to drive far for work, stay out of the downtown areas and wherever antifa decides to riot that night, and you avoid the more homeless-prone areas (which are certainly growing in number) its still a cool city in many ways.

The City of Roses still has the roses; they're just wilting now.

CARas2020 · 06-01-2021, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stockstrader

I'm fully aware that FOX likes to cover it, because it's the eye candy their viewers want of lawless liberal cities lol. There's no disguising how bad it is some of the time. I just wonder how much of the actual city is like this. I was wondering if all of downtown and Waterfront Park is a complete avoid these days kind of place, not just some homeless people you see here and there like in any major city.

We have driven through downtown a few times, but not too recently. Lots of homeless camps along 26 right where it splits out to 405, and last weekend we were on 205 and saw a bunch there too. I don't know about Waterfront Park but wouldn't be surprised if it too was over run by homeless camps. The city hasn't done a damn thing. More than an eye sore they are completely DISGUSTING with garbage thrown all over and I can imagine what else.