Once again - Portland in the news for all the wrong reasons (Gresham: houses, neighborhood)

[Igor Blevin]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Detroit is improving rapidly and is now a bada$$ city with a great downtown, a lot of fixed up neighborhoods, and lots of things to do.

Detroit had to bottom out and elect a GOP governor before it began to turn around. I would think the residents of Portland would not want to go through 60 years of collapse like Detroit, before improving.

[Igor Blevin]

Originally Posted by nadnerb

I don't quite agree with the bolded.

The problem with downtown Portland isn't that it lacks any character or amenities, downtown actually has a lot to offer with its tight tree-lined city streets, intersecting of 4 light rail lines, myriad of local businesses, and beautiful public squares. It's the increases in homelessness and crime and the relative lack of foot traffic compared to pre-covid that is the issue.

Polling: Most Portlanders are terrified of downtown and walking in their own neighborhoods

60% of Portland residents have a "negative" view of downtown due to homelessness, trash, and crime.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1EI6OMO6Pw&t=40s

[DabOnEm]

I was just in Portland for a week and stayed Downtown. Does Apple ever plan on taking down that gigantic cage barrier around their store? What a reminder of the times. I was not too surprised at the amount of homeless as I've seen camps all over SoCal and really any major city I've been to since the pandy, and there was actually a good amount of activity. But everyone we talked to told us the city was way better and more beautiful before covid. Wish I would have visited back then.

[Jimrob1]

What happened with that explosion downtown? The news was kind of vague on it. I guess they don't have an official cause. Was it a Food Truck that blew up?

[EasyBeezy]

Originally Posted by DabOnEm

I was just in Portland for a week and stayed Downtown. Does Apple ever plan on taking down that gigantic cage barrier around their store? What a reminder of the times. I was not too surprised at the amount of homeless as I've seen camps all over SoCal and really any major city I've been to since the pandy, and there was actually a good amount of activity. But everyone we talked to told us the city was way better and more beautiful before covid. Wish I would have visited back then.

I imagine that Apple won't move that barrier until the vandalism epidemic in Portland is resolved. That won't happen until there is a fully staffed police force that can respond to calls in a timely manner (or at all.)

The federal court removed it's barrier, and literally turned the trucks transporting it away around after vandals instantly targeted the building. It's been a year and a half since it went back up and there isn't even any discussion of taking it down anymore.

I work downtown and have been coming downtown throughout the pandemic. It is, in some respects, getting much better. Pearl District foot traffic and economic activity seems back to normal. The downtown core is more slowly recovering, but is getting better, especially the further south you go. Old town is still pretty much zombietown, but they have swept the campers off the sidewalks in the last month.

At least in downtown, you kind of have your guard up and can walk purposefully. It's really the rest of Portland (or at least, eastside Portland) that scares me, because an encounter with an unhinged street person can happen at any time.

I'm always taken aback by how the problems are so much more severe in city limits. I live in unincorporated Clackamas County less than a mile south of the city line. My neighborhood is lower middle class and bears a lot of resemblance to felony flats (old school Portlanders know where that is) and is adjacent to that area, but has very little crime and is completely safe. There is no camping, no junker RV's, no piles of trash, and very few roving scavengers. I can only guess that Clackamas County is actually enforcing the law. I certainly see plenty of sheriffs around in my neighborhood, and Milwaukie police are also plentiful.

We don't need Republicans to fix the problems. We need common sense.

• Repeal measure 110
• Enforce the laws already on the books regarding camping, littering, and public intoxication
• Offer real, immediately available help to all that need it
• Hold those that refuse help responsible for their actions
• Hire enough cops to respond to all legit calls for service

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by EasyBeezy

We don't need Republicans to fix the problems. We need common sense.

• Repeal measure 110
• Enforce the laws already on the books regarding camping, littering, and public intoxication
• Offer real, immediately available help to all that need it
• Hold those that refuse help responsible for their actions
• Hire enough cops to respond to all legit calls for service

UMM - Suggest you reconsider

40 yrs of Democrats running the joint pretty much prove your point.
They are incapable of doing exactly what you state - (Common sense).
Otherwise, we would not be having this dialogue would we?

[EasyBeezy]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

UMM - Suggest you reconsider

40 yrs of Democrats running the joint pretty much prove your point.
They are incapable of doing exactly what you state - (Common sense).
Otherwise, we would not be having this dialogue would we?

This Democrat/Republican black and white false dichotomy is a product of a (mostly) right wing media that demonizes the other side and blames them for every problem no matter what. They need their audience to hate the other side, then they feed that hatred. They do this to lock in their viewership, and thus make themselves more attractive to advertisers.

In reality, the solutions to most problems lie with a combination of measures, some which would be considered more right, some would be considered more left. That's common sense. Not just blanket blaming one party or another.

No one in Portland will ever vote for Republicans, because their values don't align with the vast majority of the population. They will vote for moderate Democrats who campaign on common sense solutions to Portland's issues that maintain Portland's spirit of compassion. I suggest that anyone having pipe dreams of Republicans getting elected instead put their energy into supporting moderates of either party instead of simply complaining about the political orientation of the city.

[redguard57]

I was walking around downtown and NW downtown/slabtown last night circa 8:30-10:30pm, and felt safe. Some homeless. They weren't aggressive. I talked to one of them for a bit, although he was only capable of holding a conversation about 90 seconds before he became unintelligible.

Earlier that day I was in SE side, off of SE Powell and SE 82nd. Lots of homeless appear to have migrated over there. I was shocked how they had camped in the neighborhoods, in some cases right in front of peoples houses. It's clearly driving the existing residents off the wall: https://www.kgw.com/amp/article/news...c-f8fe106818c7

What also surprises me is how it is highly concemtrated in the city limits. City policy must have something to do with it. On the border of Gresham and Portland, it's like crossing into a different country... there are literally camps on the Portland side and not the Gresham side.

It also clearly has to do with Covid, and not "40 years of Democrat governance." I've been spending time in.Portland for 10 years. It was not like this before Covid. Not even close. Homelessness seemed to get worse circa 2016-17 but not like this. I'd peg covid as making it 4-6x worse.

I have honestly lost most of my compassion for these people. They are sick.

And yeah the vandalism. So much worse. Again, something that was a minor nuisance before Covid, now terribly bad.

[redguard57]

Originally Posted by Igor Blevin

The title of your linked article is Republicans blame Democrats for crime — but new data shows higher murder rates in red states

I like facts. The fact is, that crime is in Democrat controlled cities in red states.

They mention 4 states right off, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky and Missouri.

City Data's own facts show the following for the largest city in each state, as an example.

Crime, national average = 270.





New Orleans LA = 686 crime, 83% for Biden

Birmingham AL = 876 crime, 56% for Biden

Lexington KY = cannot find crime data on C-D but it is high, 60% for Biden

Kansas City Mo = 615 crime, 60% for Biden


This is off topic to Portland so we don't want to go down the rabbit hole, but I just thought I would add some facts.

Facts without context. All you're proving is that crime happens more in cities. Of course that will be true since cities offer more opportunity for crime.

[PamelaIamela]

Originally Posted by VikingsToValhalla

From the link:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ard-drugs.html



Taking an optimistic approach...if all the junkies overdose and die, then there will be no more junkies!
In a weird way, maybe this is a solution?

Glad I read further... before posting the same thing.
Will someone clarify why drug addict deaths are so awful?
They aren't exactly like home invasions, so why care?