I visited Portland in 2002, and my impression was that it is a progressive, Canadian-esque city...was i way off? (Eugene: college, taxes)

[scottyr]

I was in Portland 7 years ago, and i noticed that it seemed very hippie-ish, very counterculture, very liberal. Most of the people i saw downtown looked very hip, with lots of piercings and t-shirts advertising Indie bands. I saw men holding hands and Thai restaurants, Sushi joints, and newspaper stands holding counterculture newsletters depicted G W Bush as Hitler. I saw bicycles and walking trails and electric-powered buses everywhere It seemed like i was in Vancouver or Montreal canada.

Then i read this article

In a changing world, Portland remains overwhelmingly white | Oregon Local News - OregonLive.com

I read quotes like

Another factor that makes it hard to get minorities to work and live in Clackamas County is the lack of public transportation

-Wait, i thought Portland was a leader in public transit and eco-friendly transportation!

"Oregon was virulently racist for much of its history," says Bragdon, the Metro leader. "And if you don't have a large minority population, that becomes self-reinforcing over time."

and

Longtime residents of both Clackamas and Clark counties say a reputation for redneck attitudes, along with the historic absence of minority residents, has turned away some potential residents of color.

Leann Johnson, director for equity and diversity at Clark College, says she still sees Confederate flags flying from pickups in parts of Clark County, and a white supremacist publisher operates out of Vancouver.


-This article seems to be painting Portland as a redneck, Klan-filled neo-nazi bastion of hatred....is only the very center of downtown liberal? are the surrounding suburbs more akin to Alabama than British Columbia? I was under the impression that you could drive for miles from the city center and still be in progressive territory...after all, Oregon is consistantly a blue state.

[davefr]

I don't know exactly where you're going with this thread.

Portland has become a melting pot of races with Mexican probably being the largest non white group. Blacks have never been a large minority group however I wouldn't base that on any racial factor. (I'd guess it's the weather more then anything). I think the entire state is pretty race tolerant.

Geographically Oregon is a tad right of center politically but liberal overall. However that's based on Multnomah and Lane counties that are off the scale liberal and also represent the largest population base. Things definately get more sane starting in Wash. and Clackamas and throughout the rest of the state.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Don't confuse Portland and Willamette valley liberal culture with the rest of Oregon.
The farther you get away from Portland, the more conservative it becomes.

[Todd.LA]

If you saw electric-powered buses everywhere, then you were probably in Seattle, not Portland.

[philwithbeard]

Originally Posted by scottyr

.....Another factor that makes it hard to get minorities to work and live in Clackamas County is the lack of public transportation

-Wait, i thought Portland was a leader in public transit and eco-friendly transportation!

The City of Portland is in Multnomah County, which is a small county. Taxes are high in Multnomah County.

Clackamas County is to the East and South of Portland and Multnomah:
see this link: Oregon County Map - OR Counties - Map of Oregon
Clackamas is not a small county, and as a % of land use, I would guess mostly agricultural usage. Some population concentration up near Portland taking advantage of lower land taxes. Public transportation does not work in rural agricultural counties.

Clark County is in the State of Washington, and is where the city Vancouver, WA is. Just across the River from Portland. Property and land taxes are lower. See link above, but select Washington State on left hand side of screen.

Originally Posted by scottyr

...
"Oregon was virulently racist for much of its history," says Bragdon, the Metro leader. "And if you don't have a large minority population, that becomes self-reinforcing over time."

I once found a link that claimed Oregon's past history of racism is true. If that link I read is correct, then Portland's race history up to the 1960's is shameful.

I cannot find the link right now, but I recall reading an article that in effect accuses the KKK ( or KKK members) of running the Multnomah county Sheriff's department during WW II. In my opinion, this was due in part to the history of the logging industry, and the workers in the State of Oregon. Portland's race relations has drastically changed over the last 50 or 60 years.

Portland City is Liberal. The State of Oregon, currently, has more % of its population voting for the Democratic Party Candidates in Elections. Liberal voters live all around Portland and throughout Oregon, but maybe not in the concentration that you find in Multnomah county, Salem, and Eugene.

Originally Posted by scottyr

Longtime residents of both Clackamas and Clark counties say a reputation for redneck attitudes, along with the historic absence of minority residents, has turned away some potential residents of color.

Leann Johnson, director for equity and diversity at Clark College, says she still sees Confederate flags flying from pickups in parts of Clark County, and a white supremacist publisher operates out of Vancouver.

-This article seems to be painting Portland as a redneck, Klan-filled neo-nazi bastion of hatred....is only the very center of downtown liberal? are the surrounding suburbs more akin to Alabama than British Columbia? I was under the impression that you could drive for miles from the city center and still be in progressive territory...after all, Oregon is consistantly a blue state.

Yes, I too have seen, on very rare occasions, older cars (mostly small pickup trucks actually) with Washington state license plates and having Confederate flags decals in the back window. That does not mean all Southern Washington State residences are racist, nor are racist tolerated in southern Washington State any more than in Seattle, WA.

Portland City is Liberal, and from what I have experienced, very good race relations. There is a "birds-of-a-feather" groupings in Portland's housing. Some Asian minorities, and Hispanic housing groupings can be found near ethnic food stores at the center. But that is more of a "choice" than any thing else.

I think that newspaper article was written for the residents of Portland Metro area information. There seems to be a lot left unsaid that a resident of Portland's metro would grasp as being 'well understood without mentioning.' One being a sense of perspective on just how many, and what % of the population is the article talking about.

These are just my opinions, as a new resident of Portland and the state of OR.

Phil

[pdxMIKEpdx]

The exhibition of a confederate flag does not necessarily mean one is racist....Just sayin'.....

[tigerlily]

I've heard Steven Colbert refer to Portland as the Canada of the U.S. lol

[HonuMan]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

The exhibition of a confederate flag does not necessarily mean one is racist....Just sayin'.....

But it does show a lack of either historical awareness or racial sensitivity. I lived in the South for 25 years, and I've heard all the arguments about the Civil War being about states' rights and freedom from Nothern oppression -- but the primary "state's right" that caused the South to secede from the Union and form the Confederacy was the right to own slaves. I'm sure there are people who haven't thought it through, and for whom the Confederate flag is just a cool graphic (especially this far from the South), but if someone chooses to display it if they understand what it represents to black people, then they probably have racist tendencies. I think this country has gone overboad on political correctness, and "not wanting to cause offense" has gone to absurd levels in many cases, but if I were black, I'd find the Confederate flag offensive, unless I knew it was being displayed out of ignorance.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

The exhibition of a confederate flag does not necessarily mean one is racist....Just sayin'.....

Usually it's people (who probably feel they have nothing more to lose) thumbing their noses at political correctness.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by tigerlily

I've heard Steven Colbert refer to Portland as the Canada of the U.S. lol

I think Colbert called Oregon "California's Canada".
Pretty accurate actually. LOL

He also referred to Oregon as "Washington's Mexico," "Idaho's Portugal," and "Nevada's Alaska."

People with Confederate flags in the Northwest will sport them for a variety of reasons..While some really are hardcore racists, some people just feel some sort of connection to the sort of state-rights, old-Southern culture that the flag represent to them.

And then some folks sporting the flag might just be slightly misguided Lynyrd Skynyrd or Dukes of Hazzard fans..