Rumor What's going on in Portland?

Swickard want to own a nba team....?

 

Researchers track homelessness spending in the Portland metro area: How much and where it's going

 

Portland’s 25-Year Collapse: The Timeline Nobody Wanted to Believe

 

Post I ran across...

 

Its all in the perspective of the person. When I drove cross country I couldn't get back fast enough to Oregon. Most cities other than the coastlines were shit. They also had plenty of homeless people.

 

One trip across country is pretty weak sauce as an excuse to trash Portland. No, downtown is still not all the way "back", but it's far better than it was 5 years ago. And while the downtown may be struggling, the various neighborhoods seem to be thriving, and those are what makes the "real" Portland. I've taken numerous road trips the past 8-10 years, and while I saw a lot of enjoyable places, it was always a relief to get back to Oregon (and the PDX). The person who made the post not only (apparently) hasn't visited many larger cities, they themselves admit that they are part of the "Portland problem" and don't seem to be willing to be part of the fix......

 

I only frequent the "real" neighborhoods but a vibrant downtown is key to our city's economy and it's sad to watch it struggle from a business perspective.

 

It will rebalance with time. Investing too much in offices led to fragility in the economy of downtown. It’s expensive and boring. Lower prices and interesting places will move in.

 

Now I did have a fun dinner with a friend from high school who is now an urban planner and she told me the reason downtown is having trouble is any refitting or remodeling above a certain dollar amount triggers a re-assessment of earthquake readiness. This costs a fuckton of money and is basically a poison pill on any sale or rezoning attempt on any of those downtown buildings.

 

While this is an important issue, if these buildings aren't currently condemned then there is no reason not to let people move into them.

The government needs to start figuring this out.

 

I could give this person at least 15 cities where their downtowns are absolute shit simply off the top of my head that I’ve been to THIS year. This is getting so old to think we are the only place with a crappy downtown. Let me know how you want that list…… geographically east to west or alphabetically?

 

Yeah they need to cover at least some of the cost of that inspection and subsequent installation.

 

Yeah but those downtowns have always been shit.

 

When was the last time your went downtown here? Any of you?
My family literally goes down there once a week in the summer for dinner or to walk around. I just don’t get it. When I was growing up burnside and old town were run down and dirty with bums and drugs…..guess what, it still is. AND? I’ll meet you fools down there for dinner and a walk and show you it is what it is.
Some people who weren’t even from here tore up a small section of downtown 5 years ago and now we live in a post apocalyptic wasteland?
Let em think that. My house value has gone up 20k in the past 3 months and we are living life here. Make sure you guys keep this thread going though whatever you do. In fact my wife and my anniversary is Saturday and we are going to some new place by PSU. Looking forward to it.

 

And funny thing is……. In my travels across this great clean safe country of ours….for the first 20 years of my career people would say, “Oh man, you’re from Portland….that is one of my favorites anywhere, how amazing it is, you are so lucky!”

Now I get, “Ohhhhhh shit man. Really? What is it like? Is it as bad as they say, how scary, fuck that place!”

I now reply with, “Yes it’s the worst, so dangerous. We never even leave the house anymore! Whatever you do, don’t go there!”

I fucking love it!

 

And if there are any of you who are tired of hiding out in your cul de sacs and eating at the strip mall jack in the box……
This is an account that my great friend runs that shows you what the vibe in Portland really is.
Live your life to the fullest…… get out there! Soak up some culture and quit hiding.