Portland really sucks now!

Post Reply New Topic

I went into Portland on Friday night to socialize with friendly strangers. To my disappointment, I found the city filthier, more lifeless, and less welcoming than ever before.

Most of the people I encountered in Portland were crazy, sketchy, or uninteresting. No more is the city a place to make approaches in the hopes of making new friendships or scoring dates.

The PSU campus was nigh-deserted. The administration decided to put all classes online at the last minute with the rise of the Delta Variant (For the record, I'm a graduate of Marylhurst University). So I couldn't talk to any college students like I had hoped.

The Pioneer Place Mall just sunk to a new low. The food court was not bustling like it once was, and the stores were no longer appealing.

I went to Ground Kontrol later that evening and checked out the changes. Instead of quarters, gamers use a card to tap against the gaming machines and replenish their cards at the bars. I am OK with this, but I was irritated that the menu there got slashed. So I settled for some pretzel sticks with queso.

The variety of games didn't perk my interest while I was there, and I primarily played a retro Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game from 1991. None of the other games interested me, so I left reasonably dissatisfied with what Ground Kontrol had become.

Dixie Tavern, a nightclub I used to frequent, had lost much of its charm, even before the pandemic. I didn't feel the vibe there anymore like I had once done. So I left after enjoying a grilled cheese sandwich.

I don't know if anyone else feels like Portland lost all its appeal and charm. The city is now unsafe, ugly, and worst of all, boring.

The only good thing that might still be going for is its strip clubs. I even know a few bartenders that tend at a couple. Spending time with two barmaids I know very well truly made my evening on Friday. One was so kind as to put on 90s music, as this was before the DJ, dancers, and other patrons arrived.

I feel like I will avoid Portland until April when the pandemic ceases (hopefully). Until then, I will keep my outings close to home. Lake Oswego has a lot to offer in terms of dining, exploration, and socializing.

What are your guys' thoughts on Portland? Is it beyond any redemption?

I can’t speak for Portland, because I’ve never been there.

However, I have considered moving to Seattle. What should one expect there?

Meh ... so Portland no longer makes any effort to impress you or keep you entertained ... so what?  Why not try one of these fine Oregon towns instead: Brookings, Burns, Columbia City, Damascus, Gold Beach, Jacksonville, Lakeview, Oakridge, Shady Cove, or Union?

Wow, no mention of Salem, Eugene, Bend?

They were all a lot like Portland, the last time I was there.

Just trying to make conversation is all and see if anyone else feels like I do.

But otherwise, I'm wholly content with Lake Oswego. Thanks for the Oregonian small-town suggestions, though!

Small towns are the best, in my opinion, because people in those places tend make their own fun.

Burns is close to the wildlife refuge where the Bundys had that standoff.

Isn’t there a town on the Oregon Coast that has the shortest river in the country?

The majority of the idiots who are Portland's city government believe that the three main problems Portland currently has (awful homeless situation, rise in gun violence, and themselves) are problems of the people.

I say it's BS of the highest level!

About the same honestly, but it's far more expensive.

Is it true that only the whiz-bang, highly skilled tech pros can afford to live there?

Pretty much, at least if you're trying to live in the city core in a place that isn't a tenement apartment. Even the outskirts are getting ridiculous, anywhere within city limits is getting squeezed with more and more taxes for whatever hairbrained scheme the city council has come up with lately, while the access to services and quality of life keeps falling, it's pretty bad.

How come advertisers market cities like Seattle, Portland, SF, etc to hip, young artsy people if those people can't afford to live in those places?

Inslee, Hochul and Brown should eliminate single-family zoning like Newsom just did.

I think it's aspirational, but also that young people in certain occupations can actually afford those cities, it's the working class who are getting squeezed out. It's a bit of a vicious cycle, hip artsy people move to an area and make it trendy, which makes it desirable, which causes prices to rise, which forces the young artsy people out, to find a new place to start the cycle over again. There's also a political dimension, but that's a whole different thread.



That might help, but it's not a silver bullet, the problem is not just NIMBYs blocking higher density housing.

So basically, the demand for homes there is all about wanting to be around artsy hipsters?

Not every single "artsy" person living in Portland is a hipster.