OT Readers Respond: Portland Is Too Dangerous

https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2019/09/readers-respond-portland-is-too-dangerous.html

(Letters to the Editor If going downtown wearing a MAGA hat can get one attacked or beat up (“MAGA hat led to assault outside Portland bar, police say,” Aug. 26), then I for one will have made my last trip to Portland. Portland is already known as a dangerous place to visit, but this incident and the weirdness of it is all it takes to stop my visits. I will miss the symphony, the Trail Blazers and some great places to eat, but Portland has shown it is no longer a safe and pleasant place to visit. (...and other responses..)

ABM said:

https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2019/09/readers-respond-portland-is-too-dangerous.html

(Letters to the Editor If going downtown wearing a MAGA hat can get one attacked or beat up (“MAGA hat led to assault outside Portland bar, police say,” Aug. 26), then I for one will have made my last trip to Portland. Portland is already known as a dangerous place to visit, but this incident and the weirdness of it is all it takes to stop my visits. I will miss the symphony, the Trail Blazers and some great places to eat, but Portland has shown it is no longer a safe and pleasant place to visit. (...and other responses..)

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This is all a fantasy. As we get older we notice violence wherever it may be more and more.
According to the FBI statistics on violent crime in 100 of our largest cities, there are 74 of those cities with more violent crime. Memphis has nearly as much as 5 times the violent crime of Portland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate

I'm going to conclude that you have a prejudice against Left leaning cities.

Lanny said:

I'm going to conclude that you have a prejudice against Left leaning cities.

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Incorrect conclusion.

ABM said:

https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2019/09/readers-respond-portland-is-too-dangerous.html

(Letters to the Editor If going downtown wearing a MAGA hat can get one attacked or beat up (“MAGA hat led to assault outside Portland bar, police say,” Aug. 26), then I for one will have made my last trip to Portland. Portland is already known as a dangerous place to visit, but this incident and the weirdness of it is all it takes to stop my visits. I will miss the symphony, the Trail Blazers and some great places to eat, but Portland has shown it is no longer a safe and pleasant place to visit. (...and other responses..)

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Yes, it is way to dangerous and I encourage all outsiders to stay away.

Right wing hate groups come to Portland trying to prove that it's a dangerous city...

Of course, when you bring hatred to any city it will end up becoming more dangerous.

ABM said:

https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2019/09/readers-respond-portland-is-too-dangerous.html

(Letters to the Editor If going downtown wearing a MAGA hat can get one attacked or beat up (“MAGA hat led to assault outside Portland bar, police say,” Aug. 26), then I for one will have made my last trip to Portland. Portland is already known as a dangerous place to visit, but this incident and the weirdness of it is all it takes to stop my visits. I will miss the symphony, the Trail Blazers and some great places to eat, but Portland has shown it is no longer a safe and pleasant place to visit. (...and other responses..)

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You are inhaling the propaganda.
That guy was not assaulted for wearing a Maga hat. He instigated fights at 2 different bars before that even happened. He was getting in people's faces and acting like a total asshole. I was there for one of them at The Vern. He was literally walking around the bar getting in everyone's face and yelling, "You dont like my Trump hat? Do something Portland faggot!"

He did that to about 6 people at the bar I was at. Fuck that guy. You are going to base your opinions on that piece of shit? You are right. Stay out of Portland. Please.

ABM said:

Incorrect conclusion.

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Maybe you're not aware of it?
How else do you explain your wildly incorrect conclusion about Portland's violent crime rate?

The guy deserved to be punched in the face.

Portland is not a dangerous city to visit.

Portland may have deteriorated into a dirty, homeless infested, uber high density concrete canyon gridlocked by traffic and with minimal parking but I have rarely if ever felt unsafe there. Just annoyed and frustrated......It has enough wrong with it without some jackwad who was out trolling for an ass whooping making up lies. The media already has that covered......

Portland isn't a dangerous city at all. But there are scum bags roaming looking for trouble and it shouldn’t be tolerated.

For the record, when I post most of this kind of stuff, I'm simply the messenger - bringing topics of discussion to the proverbial table.

I was born, raised, and spent most of my life in Portland, or surrounds. I've never felt unsafe in any manner. As an aside, the oddest encounter I've had there was walking across the Hawthorne Bridge one Friday evening....and a group of nudists (men, woman, even what appeared to be late-teens or early-twenties) rolling by on bicycles. The gal I was with was from Bend, and completely taken aback. All I could remark to her was , Hey...just keeping Portland weird."....along with a shrug and a wry smile.

I guess ya had to be there.

theprunetang said:

You are inhaling the propaganda.
That guy was not assaulted for wearing a Maga hat. He instigated fights at 2 different bars before that even happened. He was getting in people's faces and acting like a total asshole. I was there for one of them at The Vern. He was literally walking around the bar getting in everyone's face and yelling, "You dont like my Trump hat? Do something Portland faggot!"

He did that to about 6 people at the bar I was at. Fuck that guy. You are going to base your opinions on that piece of shit? You are right. Stay out of Portland. Please.

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When you're trying to provoke a response you don't get to pick the response that you're provoking.

Also did you hear the latest about this idiot, he's actually blaming his wife. Saying that she dared him to wear the MAGA hat.

ABM said:

For the record, when I post most of this kind of stuff, I'm simply the messenger - bringing topics of discussion to the proverbial table.

I was born, raised, and spent most of my life in Portland, or surrounds. I've never felt unsafe in any manner. As an aside, the oddest encounter I've had there was walking across the Hawthorne Bridge one Friday evening....and a group of nudists (men, woman, even what appeared to be late-teens or early-twenties) rolling by on bicycles. The gal I was with was from Bend, and completely taken aback. All I could remark to her was , Hey...just keeping Portland weird."....along with a shrug and a wry smile.

I guess ya had to be there.

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The naked bike ride is also held in Bend.

SlyPokerDog said:

The naked bike ride is also held in Bend.

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K.

FWIW, that's only been going on there since 2017. I was with her in Portland a few years prior to that.

I used to consider the O-RAGonian as big-business. I delivered the Journal as a kid, and much preferred reading it growing up. Anyone remember George Pasero? Loved his writing style.

ABM said:

I used to consider the O-RAGonian as big-business. I delivered the Journal as a kid, and much preferred reading it growing up. Anyone remember George Pasero? Loved his writing style.

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I delivered them both.

barfo

barfo said:

I delivered them both.

barfo

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Nice. We didn't have much money, so, at the beginning, I had to deliver the papers riding an old, 1-speed bike we found in the classifieds. That was sometimes more than a little tough, riding up, down, and around the hills of Palisades all up around Lakeridge High. (Sunday mornings were killer, delivering the super thick Sunday O.! Had to take two or three trips back to the box. Glad my Dad drove me on many occasions.) You can probably imagine my delight when I was able to afford a 3-speed, stick-shift Schwinn - with the banana seat, sissy bar, and slick tires! I finally parlayed that paper route into a nice landscaping job with those same customers.

Hoopguru said:

Portland isn't a dangerous city at all. But there are scum bags roaming looking for trouble and it shouldn’t be tolerated.

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Of course, everyplace has it's share of scumbags and Portland's share is less than average.

ABM said:

Nice. We didn't have much money, so, at the beginning, I had to deliver the papers riding an old, 1-speed bike we found in the classifieds. That was sometimes more than a little tough, riding up, down, and around the hills of Palisades all up around Lakeridge High. (Sunday mornings were killer, delivering the super thick Sunday O.! Had to take two or three trips back to the box. Glad my Dad drove me on many occasions.) You can probably imagine my delight when I was able to afford a 3-speed, stick-shift Schwinn - with the banana seat, sissy bar, and slick tires! I finally parlayed that paper route into a nice landscaping job with those same customers.

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Hey, I live in the Upper Palisades neighborhood. Lakeridge is directly across the street from me.
When I was about 9, I had a route with a one speed bike. When I was about 12 I used my paper route money to buy a ultra modern 3 speed bike from Western Auto directly across the street from the Lake theater in a small shopping center. I was really happy with that three speed and used it in a lot of my free time and my paper route.
I kept a stack of change in a glass cleaned out mayonnaise jar that I kept in our car port. I was mystified as to why there was always about the same amount of change no matter how much I added to it daily. Years later my younger brother confessed that he and a friend of his used to raid it for candy money.

Lanny said:

Hey, I live in the Upper Palisades neighborhood. Lakeridge is directly across the street from me.
When I was about 9, I had a route with a one speed bike. When I was about 12 I used my paper route money to buy a ultra modern 3 speed bike from Western Auto directly across the street from the Lake theater in a small shopping center. I was really happy with that three speed and used it in a lot of my free time and my paper route.
I kept a stack of change in a glass cleaned out mayonnaise jar that I kept in our car port. I was mystified as to why there was always about the same amount of change no matter how much I added to it daily. Years later my younger brother confessed that he and a friend of his used to raid it for candy money.

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LOL Love it!!

The box I picked up my Oregon Journals from was next to Grimm's Fuel at the corner of South Shore Blvd. and McVey/Stafford Rd.

Lanny said:

Of course, everyplace has it's share of scumbags and Portland's share is less than average.

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The bench mark against other is ok, but the Cops should be less tolerant than they have been, imo.

ABM said:

LOL Love it!!

The box I picked up my Oregon Journals from was next to Grimm's Fuel at the corner of South Shore Blvd. and McVey/Stafford Rd.

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Grandma used to get the wood for her wood furnace from Grimm's. I always thought it came from Grimm's on Macadam but I never knew there was one on South Shore and McVey.
I delivered the Oregonian both in Oswego and in NW Portland where I had to contend with the hills near the big Montgomery Ward building on Vaughn.

@Lanny ... OK, I have a very serious question for you: Did you ever walk across the train trestle between L.O. and Milwaukie? (North end of town near Terwilliger & State St.) ) I did many times as I had a girlfriend in Milwaukie. It was before I got my DL at age 17. Heh, I used to smoke pot with my buddies underneath the tracks about halfway across. Walking across was rather bold, as a train could come at any time. Jump or get hit.

I also used to deliver the Oregonian

ABM said:

@Lanny ... OK, I have a very serious question for you: Did you ever walk across the train trestle between L.O. and Milwaukie? (North end of town near Terwilliger & State St.) ) I did many times as I had a girlfriend in Milwaukie. It was before I got my DL at age 17. Heh, I used to smoke pot with my buddies underneath the tracks about halfway across. Walking across was rather bold, as a train could come at any time. Jump or get hit.

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No, but I spent a good part of my life fishing and harassing critters in the Tryon Creek area. That was before Tryon Creek was a state park. Followed the creek down from a a trail head at 4th and about E down to the creek and then sloshed through the creek down until I went under State street and almost but not quite to the Willamette River. Also fished in Sucker Creek and Oswego Lake back when the lake was cleaner than it is today. Caught a lot of fresh water perch in the lake. Caught very little in either Tryon Creek or Sucker Creek. I'd rate Sucker Creek as slightly more productive than Tryon Creek. Caught a blue gill somewhere in one of those three places and a catfish behind the Dairy Maid. The Dairy Maid and the Pinafore were owned by my friend's father who was once the mayor of Oswego, Mr. Needham.

I used to go in and out of bars and taverns along State Street selling newspapers, these included the Pinafore, the Beachcomber, the Cove and directly outside of the Piggly Wiggly on the sidewalk. I also serviced the paper machines. I mostly sold the Oregonian blue streak but I recall a green streak and a red streak and have a foggy memory of a yellow streak although I could very well be wrong about the yellow. The streaks indicated the time of day that the paper was issued. The blue streak was the late afternoon one.

My favorite pass time was swimming in the lake at the Oswego public pool. At that time there was also a pay pool very near the public pool and that was where our Olympic champion spent his time honing his swimming skills. He set a record for the most gold medals in the Olympics at the time. His mom was a substitute teacher at Oswego high school. She used to buy him "Tigers Milk" at the health food store between A and B on first street.

I know a lot of history about Oswego throughout the 50s. My mom was socially active helping start both the annual water festival and the civic theater which opened with Harvey which I went to see. Boring as hell for a little boy. She also thought up an advertising scheme which she named "Pennies From Heaven". She had a girlfriend who owned a small plane. She got coupons from most of the merchants and weighted down small paper parachutes containing the coupons with pennies. Us kids ran all over town grabbing the pennies and leaving the coupons on the ground. Great idea but she didn't plan on that snag.

My aunt and uncle and their two children, my cousins, lived in a house on the corner of 4th and C. Today there is a park there.

I had a best friend who moved to Palisades in about 1957 or 58 and left me heart broken. His parents were bad alcoholics although wealthy and he was very embarrassed by them. I came from a poor family so we had black spots that were difficult to accept and it made it possible for us to support each other. I'd love to look him up today. He's the one that tutored me in mathematics which became my primary interest for the rest of my life. I've had more mathematics than almost anyone you know. Got a 154 on my math IQ and I owe it all to Billy. Last I heard he was a tennis pro. Very athletic but small kid. Great swimmer too.

After Billy, I took up with Jerry. Jerry wasn't a good student but very athletic and larger than average size. Jerry eventually went into the Navy and became his fleet boxing champion in his weight class which must have been somewhere near heavy weight.
I miss those guys.

SlyPokerDog said:

The naked bike ride is also held in Bend.

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Tan lines.

ABM said:

@Lanny ... OK, I have a very serious question for you: Did you ever walk across the train trestle between L.O. and Milwaukie? (North end of town near Terwilliger & State St.) ) I did many times as I had a girlfriend in Milwaukie. It was before I got my DL at age 17. Heh, I used to smoke pot with my buddies underneath the tracks about halfway across. Walking across was rather bold, as a train could come at any time. Jump or get hit.

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Never smoked pot until college the second time, i.e. after the Army.

fify