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Is there some weird group of old people that are fascinated with liberal cities? I’ve noticed on any Portland post on any social media platform people like you are always commenting. Many never visited the city this century.
You do realize the Portland metro area isn’t just Portland downtown? Those videos focus on specific areas. Maybe you should use your time for something productive instead of being judgmental. I think people like you get off on seeing misery to feel superior. The funny part is you all brag about how you left “liberal hellholes” and moved to paradise. If paradise is watching YouTube videos document people at their worst then that sounds like hell. It’s very sinister. Not everyone wants to live in a place where the weekend event is Walmart shopping. There is your answer on why 2.5M people can live in the Portland area. Plus the job opportunists especially in tech.
Oregon and Washington are gaining population. Not sure why you think they’re losing people. Home values are still rising. The market says it’s still a desirable area even with flaws.
My God, you are ruining the vibe in the OP's dire message, although the poster lives in a rural Idaho setting they want to "alert" the masses to the clickbait horror scene of downtown Portland they saw on ---YouTube. Why this infatuation persists is beyond me, I live sixteen minutes to the downtown Portland city core, and yes it's not pretty when we see the tents and refuse lying about, but it's a big city now and it has the problems of big city life.
Back in the fifties, people who went to the "sin cities" of LA or New York, were shocked, these midwestern transplants, refugees from the prairie outback, were ignorant of what life in the big cities was like, the grand, along with the grime, the bright lights, and the dark side, millions of people jammed together and they all are trying to survive as best as they can. Some are prospering beyond their wildest dreams, others are scrounging in the dumpsters hoping for a bite to eat, the streets are filled with executive types walking alongside junkies, oblivious to the wailing of sirens, the over the top traffic and pollution, if they can't accept the city realities they pack it in and turn over their abode to the next willing party looking for that city life they've dreamed of.
I get it, some hate the city while others love it, but most of know that the dyed in the wool suburbanites never really liked the city, I knew people who lived within ten miles of Seattle but never went to the city, fear does that, and fear is a strong human emotion, so much that it makes the boring life in the burbs seem positively alluring to many. The sad part of this lies in the fact that few ever go to the unpopulated environs of Idaho, or Utah and begin to gush over the terrible lacking of any cultural life in those places, so it's obvious that the complaining about cities stems from a political agenda that seeks to denigrate those who have become so hated by the outlanders. Liberals are the enemy, and the jacked up pickup trucks with Trump flags are the symbol of all that's good in America..Where do we go from here?
We went up to the Sellwood neighborhood the other day for lunch, a fall day of warmth and dryness, it was quiet amid the stunning beauty of Portland's near neighborhoods, later we strolled along the waterfront, and yes that area isn't looking well at all but we still love the city, and hopefully we can all pitch in to help our cities grow beyond their problems. Seattle and Portland have always had their dark sides. no large city is without that reality, but I'll still go to the city for entertainment, my photography outings, the great food, theater, concerts, and shopping. And we'll go the outback country of Idaho and Montana to see the beauty in those places, I just wish we could all calm down a bit and enjoy the time we have left on the planet...
My God, you are ruining the vibe in the OP's dire message, although the poster lives in a rural Idaho setting they want to "alert" the masses to the clickbait horror scene of downtown Portland they saw on ---YouTube. Why this infatuation persists is beyond me, I live sixteen minutes to the downtown Portland city core, and yes it's not pretty when we see the tents and refuse lying about, but it's a big city now and it has the problems of big city life.
Back in the fifties, people who went to the "sin cities" of LA or New York, were shocked, these midwestern transplants, refugees from the prairie outback, were ignorant of what life in the big cities was like, the grand, along with the grime, the bright lights, and the dark side, millions of people jammed together and they all are trying to survive as best as they can. Some are prospering beyond their wildest dreams, others are scrounging in the dumpsters hoping for a bite to eat, the streets are filled with executive types walking alongside junkies, oblivious to the wailing of sirens, the over the top traffic and pollution, if they can't accept the city realities they pack it in and turn over their abode to the next willing party looking for that city life they've dreamed of.
I get it, some hate the city while others love it, but most of know that the dyed in the wool suburbanites never really liked the city, I knew people who lived within ten miles of Seattle but never went to the city, fear does that, and fear is a strong human emotion, so much that it makes the boring life in the burbs seem positively alluring to many. The sad part of this lies in the fact that few ever go to the unpopulated environs of Idaho, or Utah and begin to gush over the terrible lacking of any cultural life in those places, so it's obvious that the complaining about cities stems from a political agenda that seeks to denigrate those who have become so hated by the outlanders. Liberals are the enemy, and the jacked up pickup trucks with Trump flags are the symbol of all that's good in America..Where do we go from here?
We went up to the Sellwood neighborhood the other day for lunch, a fall day of warmth and dryness, it was quiet amid the stunning beauty of Portland's near neighborhoods, later we strolled along the waterfront, and yes that area isn't looking well at all but we still love the city, and hopefully we can all pitch in to help our cities grow beyond their problems. Seattle and Portland have always had their dark sides. no large city is without that reality, but I'll still go to the city for entertainment, my photography outings, the great food, theater, concerts, and shopping. And we'll go the outback country of Idaho and Montana to see the beauty in those places, I just wish we could all calm down a bit and enjoy the time we have left on the planet...
I agree with the sentiment of this message, that these right wing pearl clutchers are infatuated with criticizing liberal cities. However, I would dispute the central tenet of the post, that Portland is experiencing big city ills as a result of it's growth from a regional city to a big city. I just got back from Chicago, a much larger city every bit as liberal as Portland with a much worse violent crime problem, and Milwaukee, a comparably sized city with much more poverty than Portland. Both were very, very clean compared to Portland, did not have tent cities everywhere, and did not have scary drug addicts roaming everywhere. I saw no needles, and no piles of trash, and little graffiti. These cities, with their similarly liberal populations, have still got a handle on the basic functioning of a first world city. Over the summer, I was in Baltimore, DC, Richmond VA, and Charlotte. All liberal cities, all clean and without tent cities and scary drug addicts lurking.
Clearly, cities on the West Coast are failing to manage themselves in a way that is conducive to a livable environment for the regular citizens. I believe it is partially a matter of the culture of the West (live and let live, party hard, be kind, work to live not live to work, etc), and partially a matter of misplaced compassion. Somehow, we have come to believe that letting people live in tents and shantytowns is compassionate and shows empathy. People are dying in those tents. People are miserable in those tents, and those tents and piles of trash make everyone feel great unease about the state of the city. And the politicians collect massive amounts of bond money to continue to do nothing (or at least, nothing effective) about the problem.
Clearly, cities on the West Coast are failing to manage themselves in a way that is conducive to a livable environment for the regular citizens. .
We all have some ideas around the plight of Portland and Seattle, some want the law to clear up the mess, others seem to want the problem ameliorated with the building of "affordable housing," and some want the problem to serve as one more bit of "evidence" with regard to their notions of liberals and liberal policies being the entire problem.
Very few ever come here with more than their complaints, it's all over the web, the forums are the depository for the political excrement that has us so divided. America has a huge drug addiction problem, we have a large scale mental health crisis, an economy that seeks to have greater profits while focusing the energy on the elimination of human labor. I feel a bit saddened by those who actually think we need a political solution to our social ills, knowing that our broken political system is incapable of much beyond the mud slinging that pases for political action today.
In that environment, are we too expect a kind of paradisiacal city to emerge, welcoming the outback tourists who want the Disney experience and the down and outers out of sight? ALL big cities have problems and those problems aren't all that different from city to city. Chicago? A place that has been overrun with troubles for decades, but still awe inspiring and beautiful in it's grandeur---of days gone by.
The scale of our problems remain a thing coupled with the population growth, both the good and bad elements come from elsewhere to inhabit the cities, read the book by Mike Davis titled, Planet Of Slums, in the book Davis sees the worldwide trend of poverty moving into the large cities, so it isn't as though we can't understand the American position on that. Weather and social services allow the city to become the haven of the poverty stricken, that these folks are all too often the drug addled zombies from the American suburban culture seems to escape the eye of the hand wringers who seem to think the cities, and liberalism in general, are the breeding ground for all their social ills.
I've written a few posts with regard to my own thoughts on what I see as a start to finding the solutions, and----Crickets...So how about your thoughts, just curious..
You guys sure do enjoy trying to put a commentator in a box. I've lived in a number of places across this country over the years. Grew up on the South Side of Chicago when it wasn't a sewer as it is today. Lived for a short bit west of Milwaukee. Spent 10 years in the SF Bay Area in the 80's till 93 when we moved to Salt Lake City. That was before the gangs infested the place and before the gender slant attitudes began. Now it's just a drug and traffic mess with air quality in the caliber of Bejing during a number of months of the year. But as usual many of the folks there (and the transplants that have been moving there in droves) pay little attention to. Heck if you have the right mindset you can ignore nearly anything. Guess I'm not one to wear blinders like so many out there. Listen, I don't hate Oregon let alone what Portland "was". As I said before I spent several months up there November of 92 till March of 93. it was of course quite another place that long ago. But that's what I most remembered it as. Sadly with all the issues with your Antifa and mayor that needed a brain transplant my opinion of the place pretty much entered the sewer. I'm sorry if you still believe it's such a wonderful place. Guess we are on opposite sides of the fence regarding our belief systems. And I'm not referring to politics. I'm referring to the common sense of right vs. wrong. These days most of those over 15 and below 40 years of age haven't a clue. But it's not going to change your mindset so I guess just carry one. Just glad you're there and I'm here. And no I'm NOT some extreme right person. Just not mr. liberal either. To me there remains core values that sadly are typically no longer in place in this messed up country.
You guys sure do enjoy trying to put a commentator in a box. I've lived in a number of places across this country over the years. Grew up on the South Side of Chicago when it wasn't a sewer as it is today. Lived for a short bit west of Milwaukee. Spent 10 years in the SF Bay Area in the 80's till 93 when we moved to Salt Lake City. That was before the gangs infested the place and before the gender slant attitudes began. Now it's just a drug and traffic mess with air quality in the caliber of Bejing during a number of months of the year. But as usual many of the folks there (and the transplants that have been moving there in droves) pay little attention to. Heck if you have the right mindset you can ignore nearly anything. Guess I'm not one to wear blinders like so many out there. Listen, I don't hate Oregon let alone what Portland "was". As I said before I spent several months up there November of 92 till March of 93. it was of course quite another place that long ago. But that's what I most remembered it as. Sadly with all the issues with your Antifa and mayor that needed a brain transplant my opinion of the place pretty much entered the sewer. I'm sorry if you still believe it's such a wonderful place. Guess we are on opposite sides of the fence regarding our belief systems. And I'm not referring to politics. I'm referring to the common sense of right vs. wrong. These days most of those over 15 and below 40 years of age haven't a clue. But it's not going to change your mindset so I guess just carry one. Just glad you're there and I'm here. And no I'm NOT some extreme right person. Just not mr. liberal either. To me there remains core values that sadly are typically no longer in place in this messed up country.
So you came on here asking residents how they feel about the state of the city, and now you're mad that you didn't get the answers you wanted LOL
The fact is nobody is happy with the state of the homeless problem. You're not treading any sort of new ground here as most residents will say that they want something done about it. At the same time, most people still enjoy living here and there are far more people moving here than there are people leaving, as census migration data shows. Both of these things can be true.
You haven't been here in 30 years, so I'm not sure why you expect locals to think your opinion on the state of Portland right now means anything. You won't see any Portland resident going over to the Idaho forum and talking about the place as if they know what's going on there better than the locals.
A lot of people in Idaho are oddly terrified of the Seattle/Portland metros. Much of my family lives in ID, and if you tell them you're heading downtown to hang out there's always this 'oh Jesus why would you do that?!' Agree with other commentary here, the larger west coast cities are all having visible homeless problems. There's a lot playing into that. I agree cities like Chicago are a heck of a lot cleaner and tent-free - but I wonder if that's a combination of local policies and the fact that you'd die living outside in the winter. We're seeing decreased homeless up here right now as many people try to get to warmer areas of the country. As mentioned before, Portland is a large city and there's so much more to it than a few streets with tent dwellers. I haven't been down to PDX in a couple months so I'd be curious if the situation is improving a bit as it is up here.
We lived in the Portland Metro area for 10 years and relocated to the South for a job transfer in 2016. We truly missed the mild weather( although I hated the long grey season), food scene, and outdoor lifestyle. That was until we went back this year to visit.
IT WAS DISGUSTING AND UNSAFE! No way to sugar coat it. We went to our favorite breakfast spot on Mississippi and it was littered with sketchy people and the smell of **** and weed. Breakfast was still onpoint and the best French toast ever! (GRAVY!!!) However, this wasn't enough for us to write off PDX yet. We drove around the city to multiple areas we would go to and ultimately landed down on Burnside to walk to strip for the consignment and fun shops. I was on edge the entire time and would not let my family out of my site. We had to walk around tent sites, be conscious of where we were going because of needles, parking the car in a well traveled area, etc... and I had to act as a human barrier on 2 different occasions to let my wife and daughter through the chaos to avoid a few addicts.
Portland is every bit of a scummy city a the media portrays(or tries to hide in some cases). I don't see how they recover from this until some true policy changes are made. From what we saw and have experienced during our time there and this visit, this is not a mental issue as some try to portray it although there are some cases for that, it is a lifestyle and anarchy issue. Stern discipline and a no tolerance mindset is the only thing going to save that once Beautiful and fun city!
We thought about moving back and that was the basis for our 3 week visit, but there is NOT A CHANCE after what PDX has become.
Last edited by fastball92; 11-03-2021 at 07:23 AM..
it was littered with sketchy people and the smell of **** and weed.
This is true and seldom mentioned. Since Pot was legalized, it has permeated the state culture and not in a good way.
I seldom can take a walk anywhere now where that disgusting smell of laziness, sloth, and backwards thinking is not present somewhere along the way. We still maintain a no drug use requirement at my company and every year an increasing # of candidates flunk the drug test. Cannot see how this epidemic good for state/society.
It is an under reported societal weakness and only enhances the recent elevation of sh^ttiness that Portland has become.
Pot has permeated the state culture for the last 50 years. People smoking tons of pot in Oregon is nothing new.
true but it was never an issue like it is now. The example I mentioned above, Gravy had to close the door because a group waiting to eat decided that it was acceptable and respectful to those eating and waiting to selfishly light up and pass a blunt around while they waited for their table in front of the restaurant. I don't mind the smell of weed personally but I don't want to be around it when I am eating and I especially don't want folks under the influence to be around my family.
I'm sure they hammered their breakfast and got their monies worth! lol
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