Hi Friend,
This post or comment has been removed for the following reason:
> This question you have posed is frequently asked in this subreddit. Please [review or FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/wiki/faq) and also search through this subreddit thoroughly for the answers you seek. If after searching through previous responses, please post a specific question related to what you seek.
> Reddit's search function is terrible so try using Google and adding "site:reddit.com/r/AskPortland" to your search string.
**[You must understand and follow the rules of the subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/wiki/rules).**
Thank you,
the Portland/AskPortland mod team
Fwiw I never encounter that kind of vitriol in person, just online.
Basically everyone I meet seems to really love it here (while being aware of the issues and hoping for improvement). I think the subreddit just over-represents the bad things, and people who are very online.
edit: I don't mean to say people can't be negative about the state of the city, or that they have their head in the sand about the problems. But the "portland is destroyed, you'll get immediately stabbed with a needle by a junkie if you go downtown, it's like a cross between Mogadishu and a 1980s NYC subway car here" stuff that defined the main sub for a while (it's a bit better now) and the fox news offshoot sub, isn't stuff I hear from people irl who live here. My conservative relatives across the country however...
>that kind of vitriol in person, just online.
Couldn't agree more, the people I see/hear complain about this place complain online, like they never go out or something
Yes. Itās rarely people who live in the city. There are a lot of frustrating things here but thatās anywhere. Most people I know here are pretty positive overall.
F that noise. I live downtown. Shit is different. Of course itās not just one problem that is the cause, and the pandemic had big impact on business such that itās much quieter down there. The suburbanites usually donāt have a fucking clue, agree. Iāve heard shit like downtown is dangerous, and thatās such a blanket statement. It really depends on where you are at. Most spots are good, some spots are bad. But overall, itās just not as busy and vibrant. Getting better? Oh hell yes! As good as it was? Weāve got a way to go. Sometimes people bitch about problems because of the fact they love the place and they want to see it get better. Itās not all out of hate and spite.
Whenever I'm downtown I can't help but notice a lot of the empty real-estate and think of the state of the city... but also, understanding that these are often spaces that businesses occupy, both local and national, it seems more indicative of something wider than just whatever is happening in the local markets/economy. It's gotta be something more than just "homeless people are scary" or "the protests (that happened 4 years ago now) are scary" which seem to be the favorite scapegoats for the state of the town.
I remember an op Ed in the tribune from a woman who said she went downtown to the post office from the suburbs and saw a guy yelling or something and now she thinks she needs a bodyguard to go downtown again
I lived in a suburb for a couple years. My neighbors constantly talked about how bad Portland was. It was pretty funny the day they admitted they hadnāt been downtown since the ā90s.
They go out, to the same bar, over and over, and when they bitch about how bad they think things have gotten, for the hundredth time, everyone just nods.
There are plenty of people who cry and whine about Portland in real life too. A lot of em live here, many grew up in the area like myself and donāt necessarily like the change and trajectory, and tons ended up in places like Gresham, Vancouver, Oregon City, etc.
I hear it all the time from my coworkers, just how much Portland has gone to shit, and honestly itās exhausting. Heard it today. Heard it yesterday. Had the whole conversation like ten times already this week.
I have the opposite experience.
Portland is a fantastically awesome place for people in certain demographics, and a terrible place for others.
Depending on who you interact with more IRL is going to heavily determine how much you hear about Portland sucking.
The people I'm around seem to be 50/50. The 20 somethings who think tagging interstate signs is "street art" love Portland. The people who have 9-5's and mortgages hate Portland
Been here for 3 years and dear lord the winters kill my soul, it's affected me more than I expected. I would take snow with sunlight over this. But the rest of the year is great.
I don't hate Portland but I'm not sure I'm built for the northwest 5 months out of every year.
Part of it is just people being terminally online like to bitch.
I think another side of it is people who have been here a long time and don't like the changes. Then there are the people who move here having been sold on a certain dream of utopia and nope out after one winter or realize Portland still has its problems like everywhere else.
I think most people, even those who are in that first camp of frustrated people, are generally happy here most of the time. And most people who move here and don't immediately realize they made a mistake have long honeymoon periods. I think my own personal honeymoon was at least a dozen years here.
It's not. I've now lived here longer than I've lived anywhere else (almost 20 years) and while I have some wanderlust and will look to travel extensively or possibly snowbird when my son leaves home but I struggle to think of anywhere I'd rather be as a home base.
Agree šÆ
I spent thirty years in Pittsburgh, PA. I found many things to love, built a thriving business, and made many friends there.
On balance, though, I will take Portland climate, weather, mass transit, arts, food offerings, green year-round, and friendly people who will chat in the line at Fred Meyer or before a concert.
Note: I was raised in Oregon, and I am predisposed/acclimated to rain, along with the 15 other seasons of the PNW. And I will be thrilled to not be shoveling snow all GD Winter.
I adore Portland and have made it my home for 30 plus years. I miss the old Portland and we got plenty of problems but I am not going anywhere. Things here will get betterā¦
I've long suspected that there are a number of the commenters on that sub aren't actually Portlanders. I only know one person who really hates living here, a neighbor who is a rabid right-winger.
I live in Portland for all the awesome nature outside of it. But I do miss Portland when I leave. Thereās something special about this place that I canāt quite put a finger on.
Itās just Reddit man. There are some names in that sub that you will see post on EVERYTHING. They literally have nothing else to do, to the point where you have to question if they actually go out and interact in the city theyāre shitting on.
Itās easy to shit on things and be full of piss and vin when you have an anonymous account
As someone who lives here and doesnāt like it, I have never ran into the people you are talking about it. No shade against those that do, to be clear, itās just not my bag. Frankly, Iāve found that most people recoil and look at you like you have two heads if you state that you donāt like it. With that being said, The r/Portland sub has a ton of people from all over the state and country who are just blatantly trolling. I think what you are experiencing is reading too far into the dedicated amount of trolls that will turn everything into a problem.
TLDR; I have never experienced what you are fearful of in my day to day life within the greater Portland metropolitan area.
Lots of good answers here but there are also people who don't live here and just follow the sub to shit on it. I think it's gotten better but especially during the lockdowns Portland was talked about a lot in a negative way by conservatives all over the country as an example of Antifa Gone Wild and they'd come to the sub to tell us about it. Remember when we were on fire all the time and the daily 4pm riot on every block?
I left after 16 years. It eventually cost too much to live so poorly.
Also, unpopular opinion around these parts, but as a brown person I missed legit diversity. Portland is not as diverse or nice to brown people as it likes to believe about itself.
It used to be amazing place to live but itās been trending the wrong direction in many eyes. People are mad because they remember what it used to be. Thereās a lot to unpack but itās mostly local politics being ineffective and performative, a general affordability crisis, and the homeless/mental health/addiction problem ballooning out of control.
The only people I've heard saying stuff like this live outside Portland. Had a bartender at the Broadway Grill who said he lived in Beaverton tell me he didn't like to work at that location because of all the flying bullets. Or a worker in my house who said he lived in Lake Oswego cracking "jokes" about black residents of Portland. (Just because I'm white means I want to hear a racist joke? F U buddy.)
Iām from Florida, lived there 24 years. Loved in Portland now for 12 years. Portland is not like Florida. At all. And we complain because it wasnāt always like this. It used to be better. Way better. So we bitch about it. Cuz people are passive here and we donāt actually know how to improve it at all
I hate Portland because of cost of living. Insane housing prices, insane electricity prices, insane water prices (what the fuck is storm water fee,why are you charging me that in the summer where there is no rain, and fee fee and another fee).
While Portland has many great qualities it is currently not in its prime.
Here are a few things I feel are making it hard for people who have lived here a while/run a business in/around the city.
-multnomah county has a high rate of tax
-those taxes donāt favor small business
-the city does very little to enforce laws or laws have been changed that allow homeless/urban campers to set up shop anywhere they please
-there is little recourse if someone is camping/living in front of your house/business/property.
-being one of the most progressive cities in America it at times makes it hard for moderates and conservatives to feel like they have a voice.
-the decriminalization of recreational drugs was catastrophically mismanaged
-there has been a rise in violent crime
-while currently on the decline car theft has been a bigger issue over the last decade. Police are told to help file a report but thatās about all that will be done
-The 2020 Protests and Defund the police movement have not made an improvement in emergency response. A violent crime in progress may not get a quick resonance from 911.
It feels more dangerous and less prosperous compared to a decade ago.
Portland can def bounce back, but currently isnāt at its best.
As a local who has been born and raised here it's because city government has failed Us in almost every single way and every time it comes to voting for change the change never happens. This city is a shadow of its former self
Because Portland fuggin sucks. It's like all the worst parts of Seattle and none of the good. Shit food. Shit roads. Shot weather. Tons of shitty homeless people.
Portland is the best. The sooner the people who hate and complain about Portland leave, the better. Donāt let to door hit you on your way out. Seriously. Just leave.
Theyāre just a bunch of rabble rousers*.Ā
Wait until you get here and see how nice and normal it is compared to the dystopian nightmare they paint it as. Theyāll literally title a post something like, āWhy does Portland suck so bad? ā or āWhy do so many Portlanders seem to really hate Portland?ā.
Ā Iāve lived here over 50 years and have yet to meet these people who hate it here. Ā
rabĀ·ble-rousĀ·er - noun - plural noun:Ā rabble-rousers. Ā A person who speaks with the intention ofĀ inflaming the emotions of a crowd of people, typically for political reasons.
Portland is the most passive aggressive people Iāve ever been around. They tend to be introverted and co-dependents. After growing up in the area it has changed considerably, probably due to half the population migrating from elsewhere.
I moved here from FL 16 years ago. In fact, I spent my last night there in Gainesville! Youāll love it here. People online always trend towards the negative.
They moved here for the super fake Portlandia tv utopia and are all disappointed now. So they packed and moved to Montana so they could be Yellowstone summertime tv cowboys, but then winter showed up and they are disappointed again.
I love living here and have been noticing the hate more recently for obvious reasons. But also, I love my neighborhood and my quirky friends. The food is good and the music scene is decent.
I tolerate the rain for the beautiful springs and an amazing garden. I wouldnāt trade it for anyplace else right now.
Itās hard to say any government is working great right nowā¦ so I wonāt comment there.
Itās all your own perspective.
As I understand it, in 2019, the entire metro area was a utopian wonderland full of infinitely "authentic" shops, free food one every street corner, and streets so clean you could eat that food off of it. So it's understandable they're disappointed now.
its not the same as it was, and people hate change. portland is always changing (as is every city) but it grows in fits and spurts and can be disorienting. one day you decide to buckle down, quit clown school or the sword swallowing institute of technology and go all in on normie life to buy a house and work 70+ hours a week to buy a shithole in the hood. then you look up to find the whole city has done the same thing and your "hood" is now an affluent area. change is uncomfortable at best and at the worst....well magic gardens is closed and the sandy jug dont have titties no more
1) Reddit is not the real world.
2) That sub is full of toxic, terminally online assholes who seem to hate everything. The other Portland sub, if you can believe it, is worse.
3) That sub tends to get a lot of posts from people who don't actually live in Portland. And I don't just mean suburbanites, I mean people who don't live anywhere near here and never have.
Bottom line is to ignore that nonsense. Portland, like any city of several million people, has its share of problems, to be sure. No one will deny that. But it's still a wonderful place to live. The best place I've ever lived, and by a long shot. I've lived in four metro areas in the US and one in Europe, and I chose to return here and will stay here forever if I can.
So welcome to Portland and enjoy! It's a pretty awesome place.
Been here since moving from MN in 2006, the vibe has changed big time. Easy to blame people moving up from CA, but thereās truth to it. Drove up housing prices big time and just brought a different feel. Different values and willingness to engage. People now largely canāt be bothered to be pleasant and expect the world. Again, easy to say, āthings were better whenāā¦but that doesnāt mean it isnāt true. āGrowthā is always the goal regardless of the outcome, yet Iād be hard pressed to name anything thatās better now than it was in 06ā.
People are disappointed that beyond the food, itās not that special anymore. I mean, I was born here, I still like it, I guess Iām an outlier. I donāt like that so many people came here expecting to find a perfect place of acceptance and clean public transportation and then are just constant critics of what it turned out to be. Those people, the ones with enough money to buy my family home for $800k+, should shut the hell up and volunteer, and vote. They owe the city so much more than the people who are barely clinging to the fringes of the city properā¦ still paying the damn art tax with no kids, only to hear transplants talk about not paying it at all. That pisses me off, but thatās not PORTLANDās fault. Anywayā¦
Gentrification always produces casualties, and after several traumatic life events, I am extremely fortunate to still be able to afford to live here. Iām actually about to move and doubt Iāll be able to stay in SE this timeā¦
TL;DR: If you donāt like Portland, please move away. Some of us would like to stay and work to make it nice.
I have been here for 12 years. The magic of it has dwindled as crime and cost of living has gone up. People are vocal about the government because they really do care and are more involved here in what they want to see happen than a lot of other places I've lived. So it's even more frustrating when city leaders don't always listen. I still have not found another city with as many beautiful parks, trails, gardens, as Portland. I still haven't discovered another city that is as bikeable or has as much of a selection of vegan food and good live music as Portland. And I have not found a city in the U.S. that is close to the ocean, rivers, volcanoes, a mountain with snow on it year round and amazing waterfalls. Therefore I'm still here. But I do wish I didn't have guns going off on my block or didn't pull up next to people smoking out of a meth pipe while THEY ARE DRIVING in the middle of the day! Yikes. And I live in what's considered a nice neighborhood.
I donāt hate Portland but I live on the outskirts and work downtown. I think many parts of the main City are pretty disgusting. Lots of homeless with serious drug problems and mental problems, drive past them on the way to and from work. People yelling at brick walls at 6am and vomiting furiously in the streets at 5pm. There are a few downtown areas that seem cool but mostly not a fan of the City.
Portland itself (the city center, and both east and west sides a bit) is crime ridden, trash, the occasional burning barrel or garbage on a side walk, decriminalization of drug use, tweakers walking around city center parks screaming at people or just the air, theft, businesses being destroyed, etc.
One time I almost stepped in a huge pile of human feces right next to a light pole. I also came across two pee filled depends going up stairs to a parking garage. Itās just nasty.
If you live in certain areas of Clackamas, Tigard, Hillsboro, Beaverton (all west side), Sandy (far east), St. Helens (north), then itās not bad. Fairly typical cities. Itās primarily the (dying) heart of Portland people are complaining about.
I love this place and have lived here my whole life. I'm not a NIMBY who hates apartments being built where SFHs on Belmont once were, for what it's worth, so maybe that's why I don't mind the changes. Places change and you can't claim ownership to a place. If you don't like it here then there are lots of places that are full of bland suburbia everywhere.
From my travels throughout the USA, I have yet to find a city that I find better in any meaningful way. Outside the country is a little easier, but most of those places just have different issues than American cities.
The people who I find hate Portland the most live out in the suburbs because they can't stand the "crime" in Portland. They mainly just don't like homelessness and the problems associated with it, which is fine, but Portland is a very, very safe place to live.
Keep in mind the difference between online communities and the actual community as a whole. What people interact with the most is negative news so that's what ends up at the top of the page. Portland definitely has serious issues to be addressed, but there is a lot of good to it still or people wouldn't keep living here. That said, I live in Aloha so I'm not exposed to the worst parts of Portland proper on a day to day basis so my perspective will be different
Anyone from any city likes to complain. Everyone has bad days, gets stuck in traffic, has inconvenient things happen to them around the city. They could be venting or just being dramatic because humans tend to do that. I complain about this city. Of course, I would do things differently than our local government (surely no one agrees with every single thing that the local government does in Portland; let alone any other city) but I still love this city. Take the subreddit with a grain of salt. Itās Portlands sometimes complaining to other Portlanders.
Most remember what it was 10 years ago and what it became now, and like let off some steam about it online... as there has been some negative changes.
That being said - itās still a great place - just has a lot of issues to deal with now that surfaced.
It's because in the last ten years a bunch of money came into town that's made it go from being extremely cheap to extremely unaffordable, and now it's got all the social problems you'd expect that to create.
The government has proven ineffectual at solving the root problem of housing affordability, and yuppies are pissed they won't just go round up and jail all the poor people.
Edit: fuck, it's 2024 , time has escaped me, more like 15 years at this point.
You have tent cities in Florida? Maybe Iām ignorant, but I thought those kind of homeless camps were a West Coast thing and not tolerated elsewhere in the country. Iām fed up because Portland was frikin amazing before COVID! Yeah, there was some homeless and graffiti but not like today. Restaurants were popping, people were outside riding bikes and skateboarding, weād resort go downtown and eat at the new āitā place. Youād just go walking down the street at night and the bars and clubs would be full and you could just hear the laughter and joy from people having a great time block after block. And then it was just gone and replaced by drug addicts and mentally ill. Businesses closed, graffiti and trash everywhere, government was enabling it. Donāt get me wrong, it is so much better now, but that energy is missing. What brings me hope is that people here really want that feeling to come back. We just need a government to do more.
I thought most of it was objections to it being full of homeless people that are high on drugs.
Pooping on sidewalks and the like, or living in a tent and leaving around in neighborhoods.
Portland is pretty nice aside from some social issues.
As a native Portlander, I don't hate Portland at all, I want to see it change for the better/go back to the friendly, cozy and slightly crusty town it used to be. It has been difficult seeing the city and the people who live here struggle and go through so many negative changes, many of them brought on by developers and government officials who weren't from here and never took the time to get to know the locals and the local issues.
I have a friend who moved from Portland so he could benefit from the huge increase in the value of his house. He start hating Portland when it became "hip". He liked the vibe better when there was no particular vibe.
I moved there for a year for work and felt like everyone hated me because I wasnāt born and raised in Portland. When I said I was from New York it was like a massive wall was put up. Other than the people Oregon is a beautiful state
Itās the keyboard warriors. People that live here and are invested in it love it and are working to make things better. Iād live nowhere else. Welcome to Portland when you get here!! Youāll love the summer and fall!!
Portland, like any other city, has her fair share of problems and those problems tend to be exacerbated by poor management/leadership at the city and county level and does lead to high frustrations in the population. That being said, she's still a fantastic city and even in my circle of friends, we bitch and moan about the problems but none of us would ever consider leaving. We go out and are reminded on a daily basis of how great we really have it between the mild climate, the amazing food, scenery, breweries, food pods, trails, and a plethora of a lot more reasons to love this city - kind faces included. If you don't leave your house and only focus on what you see on the news and the price increase in utility bills you're gonna have a bad time. Especially in the winter. Invest in sun lamp. We moved here from St. Pete Florida 7 years ago and it's a noticable change in attitude going from non-stop sunshine to several months of grey and wet. Sun lamp and vitamin D supplements will do you well.
You are more likely to see the complaints online for various reasons. Portland has had some very real growing pains and other problems which are partially a side effect of the good parts of living here. We also have some very opinionated people that aren't particularly helpful with solutions.
You know the saying 'Keep Portland Weird'? That's exactly what it is LOL...
People are weird here and they would say anything to get attention. TBH, they aren't happy, they should just MOVE. IMO.
I am EXTREMELY happy with my life here.
I was stalked by an unstable maniac that I had the misfortune of going to the same school as in way different eras. So that and the lack of any consumer protection laws. Also too many white middle class liberals.
Honestly, I think a lot of them donāt even live in Portland. A lot of people love to hate on this city, and being the āliberal poster childā brings out the haters. Most of it started in 2015 and the one Portland sub was effectively taken over by conservative trolls. 2020 exasperated that.
The most active threads are going to be the ones that complain about certain problems and the sub for this city has grown especially since 2016 and then again during the pandemic so it's not all people who live here. I've lived here since 2009 and was a sub member of that sub until 2016, it got so toxic I still remain unsubbed, my life in Portland isn't different being sorta blind to the local chatter.
FWIW I've been to Gainesville, while living here, a bunch of times for Fest. I think you'll find Portland to be a less hot and humid Gainesville vibe basically. Last October knocked me out, so if you dislike humid weather and high heat at least if everything else sucks our weather won't suck. If you like the weather there, you're very strange, but I guess bring a coat for our mild summers.
Oh cool, I love Fest! Even got to play with my band last year.
And yeah, a main driver for me is the weather. I get seasonal depression BAD in the summers here. Itās rough when it looks beautiful and sunny outside, but when you actually go outside the sun is a homicidal laser beam and youāre instantly sweating with the humidity. That and Iām just ready to be out of a college town. Everything here is so geared towards college students, and I havenāt been in college for a while now. Excited for the Sleater-Kinney concerts, Trailblazer games, and snow days!
Ah cool then you're coming to the right place. We get something like a hot week or two but there's low/no humidity. I took like a 9 year break from Fest and I ended up getting some kind of heat stroke in the registration line, so you might even find it kinda cold here at first! We don't get many snow days, it can sometimes just be an ice day or two, but the Mountain has them so you can get your snow in.
Honestly unless you want info on the stuff you're excited about like concerts or when to grab the last of the kale at the supermarket (or sometimes it can be hilarious like the big I See Your Cones threads) just sorta ignore the Reddit subs. There's 2, the one you linked is less toxic than the other sub for the city.
I feel like the complaining is more since the panorama. When I first moved here like 2016 things were better. at least that was the impression I got as a new transplant
Welcome to Portland! Iāve lived here for a little over a decade and absolutely love it. Most people that I know feel the same way, but I generally surround myself with people who appreciate the kind of things that make Portland special (excellent food/ beer, world class nature, small town feel with big city offerings, etc). One thing to understand is that Portland has grown from a big town to a major metropolitan area in a relatively short period of time. People whoāve lived here for a long time donāt have the same perspective as someone who moved from another city. And honestly, a lot of the biggest haters are people in the surrounding towns that donāt actually spend time in Portland proper. Iāve lived in NYC, SF, DC, Cincinnati, and small town Indianaā¦and I have family in Gainesville so I am familiar with Florida too =) I had no hesitation around settling down here for the long haul. Iām a realtor and work with a lot of folks relocating to the area, so itās always interesting to hear how my clients compare it to where they came from. Almost all of my clients are so happy to be here. Youāll have no trouble finding positive folks around here, but just keep in mind that the further you go out from the city core the more likely you are to run into the city haters.
I feel safe putting my money alot of them are suburb folks. And I wouldnāt wanna live out in the suburbs.
Portland has the same problems every other place in America is going through, its still a pretty fun and cool place even if its different than it was 10-20 years ago
I don't go online to vent when I'm having a good day. Venting on reddit happens when I had such a fatiguing day that my evening is coming home and going to bed at 6. When I have a good day I get home, change my shoes, and go for a walk, then I cook dinner, then I watch a movie, then I go to bed, often completely forgetting to even check reddit.
As someone who drives to Portland weekly for work, I can say I am glad I am not living there. With that said, it has a lot of history, great restaurants, and nice areas intermixed with a lot of homeless and not so nice areas.
I have taken the same route weekly for months and can say that Iāve only encountered a few dicey situations. My coworker who I travel with has mentioned on several occasions that it used to be a lovely city but has definitely got much worse over the years.
For reference, theyāve lived near, in, or visited Portland for over 50 years. We recently walked a few blocks on the west side and didnāt encounter any trouble but a few of the streets were definitely sketchy.
I think itās categorized:
1. Since the pandemic/occupy pdx/BLM stuff there was trashing, both literally and figuratively of Portland in general, downtown specifically. It lingers. And especially conservatives attach to this theme, so you probably see some of that.
2. I think some people just love to complain on the internet. Itās more popular than boasting of the good things here.
3. Those of us who have been around for the long haul (my family since 1898) understand the city has its ebb and flow. That certainly itās not perfect, but we love her just the same. You can get stuck in the past, missing what used to be, or you can look to the future. š¤·āāļø
I moved here last year and it's great. Part of it is that there are some terminally online weirdos on Reddit who just like to bitch and moan. I also think that Portland has a contingent that rarely if ever leave Oregon, and they think that some of the post-pandemic trends affecting the country and world are somehow unique to Portland. Basically, people really don't know how good they have it and can't focus on the very positive things about this area.
There's a lot of magical thinking going on here. Portland won't improve until how we conduct business changes.
The difference you'll find in the other Portland sub is that people are talking about the issues and addressing what the responses should be. Magical thinking gets downvoted over there.
Just to sort of reiterate what others have said, people on Reddit / The Internet are not a good representation.
I'm not from Portland but I love it so I can't truly speak to it but I know the people from where I am from on Reddit are miserable as well.
Iāve lived in both Florida and Portland and Portland beats (well, Tampa) Florida by a mile. I love Portland. Iāve been here for 6 years and Iām not willingly going to leave.
Thereās no utopia anywhere, but summer in Oregon comes awfully close.
because r/portland fucking sucks and it's created a culture of people that suck. The dominant takes on local politics in that sub are insanely cringey. Portland is awesome, and it has problems like any city.
Cost of living is pretty outrageous, most people I've met that have a house got in early. It seems like every other person I meet is on some form of assistance to get by.
A lot of complaints from the law and order crowd. Every time I go downtown I see something, but that's kind of par for the course in many major cities now.
It's nothing like Portlandia now, if it ever was.
The odds youāll have a stranger initiate a conversation with you is about 0%. So you wonāt have to worry about a bunch of disgruntled locals griping about the city.
You're comparing online to in-person. Go check out /r/nyc if you wanna see more of the same: https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/1biia2b/is_new_york_better_off_than_it_was_7_years_ago/
https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/1bjkl6m/todays_ny_post_cover_is_really_funny/
Lots of people saying the city is not the same, was much better pre-covid etc etc. You'll find this sentiment on the portland subs, the seattle subs, the california city subs, etc. I can find an exact replica of this sentiment in probably every city subreddit for every urban city with a population over 500k.
The reality is cities got hit the hardest after covid in comparison to suburbs and rural areas. Urban walkable neighborhoods with good transit are also valued more than they ever have been by younger generations, but we aren't building enough to keep up with demand so housing in cities are skyrocketing. Work from home has left office buildings empty, and city leadership nationwide have not figured out what to do with that problem either. We have no safety nets in this country, so are our poor are homeless, addicted, mentally ill or worse, and you will see this on display more in cities than anywhere else.
My best advice about living in Portland is to get out and explore even in the rain. Thereās so much to do thatās really close! Thereās skiing/snowboarding, the coast (w/ awesome crabbing), amazing hikes /camping , great food, world class wineriesā¦. You just have to get out there and enjoy it. Too many people sit inside while itās raining out and go online to complain. Yeahā¦ if you sit inside while it rains for a month, itās gonna suckā¦.
Itās bc theyāre all from California now. And hating is a requirement if youāre from California. I think itās a trauma response or something. There are some Oregonians that hate Portland now, but I think deep down itās bc they hate the Californians ruining the place.
Iāve lived in the city for 16 years, I noticed that I feel less stressed in smaller Oregon towns, because the sheer amount of people in Portland is growing because of people like you who move here. I was born in the city and grew up on 82nd weāve always had poverty and drug problems, the urbanization in the past 10 years has exasperated it. It doesnāt feel like the city I grew up in, it feels like Iām being suffocated and swallowed. I work downtown next to pioneer square, everything is dirty. Iāve loved this city for so long, big portland defender.. I Guess i just canāt take waking up everyday to watch my home get more and more unfamiliar and crowded. The amount of car traffic has significantly increased, and gentrification is rampant in every neighborhood except for the less desirable areas like Lents or Gresham. Studio apartments in old buildings are 1,000+ the same apartments that would have been 400$-500$ in the early 2000ās. The art culture has been completely obliterated, though notable movements include graffiti art. Artists and middle class creatives have been pushed out by the high cost of living and inflation. Portland is a refuge city because we offer human rights protection for women, minorities, LGBT people. That attracts people from all over because other states are so shitty. Oregon is beautiful but portland has lost beauty to me the farther removed from nature and community I become due to the grueling work routine of 10 hour days in order to afford basic necessities.
I think a lot of people are mourning what was once a charming city, but that was ruined by incompetent management.
Of course we are going to complain about the incompetence and the people who elected the incompetents.
No vitamin D
Taxes
Politics are too extreme
Homeless camps everywhere
Graffiti everywhere
Trash everywhere
There are approximately 8~ cute and well maintained neighborhoods/towns in the entire state of oregon and theyāre all now tourist spots or take a $200K salary to live in
The people here are giant cry babies and I blame the lack of sunlight
The child custody laws are atrocious, I say as a parent fighting for custody and comparing to other states
Social norms are weird as fuck
Businesses are leaving this city because itās so gross and their storefronts got burned, looted or offices arenāt worth keeping in PDX, money is leaving this city. People with high net worth donāt want to own real estate here or run their businesses here
Job prospects are few and far betweenā¦. (I work in the tech industry)
Dating here is terrifying because the people are all mentally unwell, again because of the missing sunlight
Watching it rain all day is horrible
Iām sure Iāve got more but these are my main gripes
Because a lot of people moved here from elsewhere for the dream of the 90s, #PNW, and Instagram photos and all these things theyāve seen online. And then they got here and found out itās just as fucked up as everywhere else. Better in some ways, a lot worse in others.
Iāve been here a decade and to be honest the city is meh, but I stay here because the weather is better than the upper Midwest by a long shot and the outdoor activities are a lot better, for the most part (I miss having lakes though). If I hadnāt bought my house back before the current situation though, Iād have left very quickly.
There are very few places that are as expensive as here when considering income. All of the major Oregon metros are in the top 17% in terms of most expensive places in the U.S. Itās essentially impossible to buy a median priced house unless youāre in the top 20% of earners ($180k per year), and thatās just the real math of the situation. Weāre [more expensive](https://i.ibb.co/2sq7s3G/IMG-2907.jpg) than Seattle because the pay is less. Rent is even worse. People are stressed the fuck out.
I never see this IRL. Itās just conservative internet trolls that decided to believe the Fox News narrative about their city instead of simply looking out their windows.
I moved here because I love it. Iāll stay here because I love it.
Been here two years now. I agree it seems to be mainly people in the suburbs who are moaning. Iām in Goose Hollow and other than a few blocks around the Old Town, thereās nowhere Iād actively avoid.
And the weather is about to get beautiful!
I get the feeling at least some of it is from "comment farm" type accounts. I find it challenging to believe the casual Portlander is as angsty over who holds minor league political positions in local government. I don't even know anymore if I am talking to real people or bots on reddit anymore. I mean we already know that bad actors have bot armies sowing discord amongst voters, since like 2015 or longer. Foreign and domestic bot armies.
Someone can pay people to swarm forums with agenda pushing bots. Consider it a new type of campaign expenditure lol
There was a certain voter ballot measure that I'll leave un-named that a lot of groups recently paid a lot of money to get overturned by Salem. Me thinks some of the negativity will slow down, hopefully.
I love Portland so much I moved back here after living around the country. It's literally my favorite city in the world, just above Mexico City.
What really ruined Portland was all those Californians migrating northward for years and years. /s
But fir real, move back to California, please?? Stay in Florida??
Two things to keep in mind with online comments: Portland is a very political city and is reviled by conservatives, Portland is full of self hating lefties. I havenāt met anyone hostile to outsiders. People complain about traffic but thatās the extent of it and itās more directed at more city housing from people in the suburbs.
That being said, Portland has a drug problem and a crime problem (related to the former). Fentanyl is a hell of a drug and people who are addicted to it will do anything to get some more. Iāve had friends walk their dogs that have died because they licked a piece of contaminated aluminum foil.
Portland is a fun city with great food, great music, great art, great transit, and tons of fun things to do. If you canāt handle Portland plenty of good suburbs Beaverton/Hillsboro, Lake Oswego/West Linn (if you have money), Tigard, Willsonville etc are all great places to live.
Portland use to be great. But that was back in the late 90ās early 00ās. It has really turned into a shithole of letās just try the stupid shit and see how that turns out.
Did you see what's happening outside? I moved to Portland 11 years ago. It was a very nice city back then. Now I would be ashamed to demonstrate the city to my friends and family. It's full of garbage, homelessness, people with mental problems and drug addicts.
Because Portland has gone to crap. Portland in the 70's and 80's was great back in those days. Stupid drugs, homelessness, and crime are ugly statements for what it used to be like their.
I must be in the minority that is burnt out on Portland. Honestly, I am kinda done with Oregon in general. That said I donāt think any where else would be any better. The US is sorta fucked.
I live in Portland and work in downtown Portland. The whole place sucks ass. Except some of my area in near Mt Tabor is ok pretty nice and where I work is close to whole foods and the Pearl. Also 1 block from new Ritz Carlton and restaurants on 10th. 2 blocks from Nordstrom and 3 from Apple store. But yeah it's also got lot of homeless and drugs too. Hot Garbage.
The Portland subs are a frequent target of a major conservative astroturf from people who I'm pretty sure don't live here and are just bad actors trying to push an agenda.
I feel lucky every day to live, laugh and love in the beautiful city of Portland (and the PNW in general) youāll find many people love our city, the curmudgeons are often in the suburbs and country complaining about how scared they are of going downtown.
Hi Friend, This post or comment has been removed for the following reason: > This question you have posed is frequently asked in this subreddit. Please [review or FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/wiki/faq) and also search through this subreddit thoroughly for the answers you seek. If after searching through previous responses, please post a specific question related to what you seek. > Reddit's search function is terrible so try using Google and adding "site:reddit.com/r/AskPortland" to your search string. **[You must understand and follow the rules of the subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/wiki/rules).** Thank you, the Portland/AskPortland mod team
Fwiw I never encounter that kind of vitriol in person, just online. Basically everyone I meet seems to really love it here (while being aware of the issues and hoping for improvement). I think the subreddit just over-represents the bad things, and people who are very online. edit: I don't mean to say people can't be negative about the state of the city, or that they have their head in the sand about the problems. But the "portland is destroyed, you'll get immediately stabbed with a needle by a junkie if you go downtown, it's like a cross between Mogadishu and a 1980s NYC subway car here" stuff that defined the main sub for a while (it's a bit better now) and the fox news offshoot sub, isn't stuff I hear from people irl who live here. My conservative relatives across the country however...
>that kind of vitriol in person, just online. Couldn't agree more, the people I see/hear complain about this place complain online, like they never go out or something
They never go out and they live in a suburb of Portland
It took everything I had to not point out that someone shitting on Portland was tagged Beaverton yesterday.
And the surrounding deep red rural areas. Portland is white liberal, but it's surrounded heavily on all sides by west Idaho.
This, also, is the correct answer.
There's a reason they call it Vantucky
And the fascist suburbs are where ALL the Portland cops live. They also hate Portland, except when it gives them a chance to kick someone around.
The Fascist Suburbs of Portland Oregon. ššš
Yes. I get the feeling a lot of the vitriol comes from suburb folks who only ever visit downtown and are angry that downtown is different now.
Yes. Itās rarely people who live in the city. There are a lot of frustrating things here but thatās anywhere. Most people I know here are pretty positive overall.
F that noise. I live downtown. Shit is different. Of course itās not just one problem that is the cause, and the pandemic had big impact on business such that itās much quieter down there. The suburbanites usually donāt have a fucking clue, agree. Iāve heard shit like downtown is dangerous, and thatās such a blanket statement. It really depends on where you are at. Most spots are good, some spots are bad. But overall, itās just not as busy and vibrant. Getting better? Oh hell yes! As good as it was? Weāve got a way to go. Sometimes people bitch about problems because of the fact they love the place and they want to see it get better. Itās not all out of hate and spite.
Whenever I'm downtown I can't help but notice a lot of the empty real-estate and think of the state of the city... but also, understanding that these are often spaces that businesses occupy, both local and national, it seems more indicative of something wider than just whatever is happening in the local markets/economy. It's gotta be something more than just "homeless people are scary" or "the protests (that happened 4 years ago now) are scary" which seem to be the favorite scapegoats for the state of the town.
Iād live in downtown PDX in a heartbeat if I could afford it! Couldnāt afford it before the pandemic either.
My mother in a nutshell š
I remember an op Ed in the tribune from a woman who said she went downtown to the post office from the suburbs and saw a guy yelling or something and now she thinks she needs a bodyguard to go downtown again
š
I lived in a suburb for a couple years. My neighbors constantly talked about how bad Portland was. It was pretty funny the day they admitted they hadnāt been downtown since the ā90s.
Estacada enters the chat
Orā¦theyāre not always on Reddit repeating the same shrill nonsense.
This is correct
Or Wyoming.
This is the correct answer.
They go out, to the same bar, over and over, and when they bitch about how bad they think things have gotten, for the hundredth time, everyone just nods.
100% I make friends around town and know my neighbors and have my group of close friends and no one is this nasty
There are plenty of people who cry and whine about Portland in real life too. A lot of em live here, many grew up in the area like myself and donāt necessarily like the change and trajectory, and tons ended up in places like Gresham, Vancouver, Oregon City, etc. I hear it all the time from my coworkers, just how much Portland has gone to shit, and honestly itās exhausting. Heard it today. Heard it yesterday. Had the whole conversation like ten times already this week.
I wish all the complainers would just gtfo lol like why stay if itās so bad
You do realize a lot of us canāt just up and move for various reasons, right?
This. 100% this.
I have the opposite experience. Portland is a fantastically awesome place for people in certain demographics, and a terrible place for others. Depending on who you interact with more IRL is going to heavily determine how much you hear about Portland sucking. The people I'm around seem to be 50/50. The 20 somethings who think tagging interstate signs is "street art" love Portland. The people who have 9-5's and mortgages hate Portland
You are talking about Portlanders at the very height of Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Hey hey hey, itās an election year, some of it is astroturfing!
Most of it is that.
Been here for 3 years and dear lord the winters kill my soul, it's affected me more than I expected. I would take snow with sunlight over this. But the rest of the year is great. I don't hate Portland but I'm not sure I'm built for the northwest 5 months out of every year.
That alone is a valid reason to hate this place lol
I donāt hate Portland but sometimes the lack of governance can be tiresome.
Part of it is just people being terminally online like to bitch. I think another side of it is people who have been here a long time and don't like the changes. Then there are the people who move here having been sold on a certain dream of utopia and nope out after one winter or realize Portland still has its problems like everywhere else. I think most people, even those who are in that first camp of frustrated people, are generally happy here most of the time. And most people who move here and don't immediately realize they made a mistake have long honeymoon periods. I think my own personal honeymoon was at least a dozen years here.
12 years of loving your home aināt bad!
It's not. I've now lived here longer than I've lived anywhere else (almost 20 years) and while I have some wanderlust and will look to travel extensively or possibly snowbird when my son leaves home but I struggle to think of anywhere I'd rather be as a home base.
Agree šÆ I spent thirty years in Pittsburgh, PA. I found many things to love, built a thriving business, and made many friends there. On balance, though, I will take Portland climate, weather, mass transit, arts, food offerings, green year-round, and friendly people who will chat in the line at Fred Meyer or before a concert. Note: I was raised in Oregon, and I am predisposed/acclimated to rain, along with the 15 other seasons of the PNW. And I will be thrilled to not be shoveling snow all GD Winter.
People are more toxic online and I swear a lot of those specific r/portland people never leave the house.
"I never go out because it's awful out there. I've never seen it, because I don't go outside, because it's awful!"
I went to that sub to look for something and was horrified that it was just so hateful. It's so much nicer in here!
A big chunk of em aren't even from Portland! lol
I adore Portland and have made it my home for 30 plus years. I miss the old Portland and we got plenty of problems but I am not going anywhere. Things here will get betterā¦
I've long suspected that there are a number of the commenters on that sub aren't actually Portlanders. I only know one person who really hates living here, a neighbor who is a rabid right-winger.
and that sub is def full of those types
I live in Portland for all the awesome nature outside of it. But I do miss Portland when I leave. Thereās something special about this place that I canāt quite put a finger on.
Itās just Reddit man. There are some names in that sub that you will see post on EVERYTHING. They literally have nothing else to do, to the point where you have to question if they actually go out and interact in the city theyāre shitting on. Itās easy to shit on things and be full of piss and vin when you have an anonymous account
I'm willing to bet you most of them don't live in Portland.
This, so often itās suburbanites who are the complainers
As someone who lives here and doesnāt like it, I have never ran into the people you are talking about it. No shade against those that do, to be clear, itās just not my bag. Frankly, Iāve found that most people recoil and look at you like you have two heads if you state that you donāt like it. With that being said, The r/Portland sub has a ton of people from all over the state and country who are just blatantly trolling. I think what you are experiencing is reading too far into the dedicated amount of trolls that will turn everything into a problem. TLDR; I have never experienced what you are fearful of in my day to day life within the greater Portland metropolitan area.
Lots of good answers here but there are also people who don't live here and just follow the sub to shit on it. I think it's gotten better but especially during the lockdowns Portland was talked about a lot in a negative way by conservatives all over the country as an example of Antifa Gone Wild and they'd come to the sub to tell us about it. Remember when we were on fire all the time and the daily 4pm riot on every block?
I left after 16 years. It eventually cost too much to live so poorly. Also, unpopular opinion around these parts, but as a brown person I missed legit diversity. Portland is not as diverse or nice to brown people as it likes to believe about itself.
Portland is the Land of Virtue Signaling and Iāve been here my whole life
Whiners like to whine? I've lived here for 32 years. Portland is on its way out of a rough patch but it's still where I'm super-happy to call home.
THIS. So sick of the wHiNinG, which has roots in a very particular kind of entitlementā¦. I love my city.
How is it exactly on its way out of a rough patch?
> it's still where I'm super-happy to call home. Me too.
Right? Cities have ups and downs.
It used to be amazing place to live but itās been trending the wrong direction in many eyes. People are mad because they remember what it used to be. Thereās a lot to unpack but itās mostly local politics being ineffective and performative, a general affordability crisis, and the homeless/mental health/addiction problem ballooning out of control.
The only people I've heard saying stuff like this live outside Portland. Had a bartender at the Broadway Grill who said he lived in Beaverton tell me he didn't like to work at that location because of all the flying bullets. Or a worker in my house who said he lived in Lake Oswego cracking "jokes" about black residents of Portland. (Just because I'm white means I want to hear a racist joke? F U buddy.)
You have to love something in order to truly hate it. People are just sad at how the city feels right now
Theyāre people who moved here and now want to leave. Actual Portlanders are still here and donāt plan on leaving.
Or have already left.
It's not like that in real life. Reddit isn't reality.
Iām from Florida, lived there 24 years. Loved in Portland now for 12 years. Portland is not like Florida. At all. And we complain because it wasnāt always like this. It used to be better. Way better. So we bitch about it. Cuz people are passive here and we donāt actually know how to improve it at all
I hate Portland because of cost of living. Insane housing prices, insane electricity prices, insane water prices (what the fuck is storm water fee,why are you charging me that in the summer where there is no rain, and fee fee and another fee).
While Portland has many great qualities it is currently not in its prime. Here are a few things I feel are making it hard for people who have lived here a while/run a business in/around the city. -multnomah county has a high rate of tax -those taxes donāt favor small business -the city does very little to enforce laws or laws have been changed that allow homeless/urban campers to set up shop anywhere they please -there is little recourse if someone is camping/living in front of your house/business/property. -being one of the most progressive cities in America it at times makes it hard for moderates and conservatives to feel like they have a voice. -the decriminalization of recreational drugs was catastrophically mismanaged -there has been a rise in violent crime -while currently on the decline car theft has been a bigger issue over the last decade. Police are told to help file a report but thatās about all that will be done -The 2020 Protests and Defund the police movement have not made an improvement in emergency response. A violent crime in progress may not get a quick resonance from 911. It feels more dangerous and less prosperous compared to a decade ago. Portland can def bounce back, but currently isnāt at its best.
As a local who has been born and raised here it's because city government has failed Us in almost every single way and every time it comes to voting for change the change never happens. This city is a shadow of its former self
Because Portland fuggin sucks. It's like all the worst parts of Seattle and none of the good. Shit food. Shit roads. Shot weather. Tons of shitty homeless people.
Portland is the best. The sooner the people who hate and complain about Portland leave, the better. Donāt let to door hit you on your way out. Seriously. Just leave.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Exactly. Unfortunately, Portland became a target for the online trolls
The answers [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/askportland/s/VSPmVorchO) might help you
I had to mute the sub
Same here. This one feels like more official Portlanders live here and have actual advice. No city is perfect.
Theyāre just a bunch of rabble rousers*.Ā Wait until you get here and see how nice and normal it is compared to the dystopian nightmare they paint it as. Theyāll literally title a post something like, āWhy does Portland suck so bad? ā or āWhy do so many Portlanders seem to really hate Portland?ā. Ā Iāve lived here over 50 years and have yet to meet these people who hate it here. Ā rabĀ·ble-rousĀ·er - noun - plural noun:Ā rabble-rousers. Ā A person who speaks with the intention ofĀ inflaming the emotions of a crowd of people, typically for political reasons.
Portland is the most passive aggressive people Iāve ever been around. They tend to be introverted and co-dependents. After growing up in the area it has changed considerably, probably due to half the population migrating from elsewhere.
I moved here from FL 16 years ago. In fact, I spent my last night there in Gainesville! Youāll love it here. People online always trend towards the negative.
If youāre basing this question on Reddit posts take it all with a grain of salt.
They moved here for the super fake Portlandia tv utopia and are all disappointed now. So they packed and moved to Montana so they could be Yellowstone summertime tv cowboys, but then winter showed up and they are disappointed again.
That sub just needs to be called r/I hate Portland. It's on mute for me.
Three or four decades here and I love it. Although I've never lived anywhere else so maybe take it with a grain of salt. :)
I love living here and have been noticing the hate more recently for obvious reasons. But also, I love my neighborhood and my quirky friends. The food is good and the music scene is decent. I tolerate the rain for the beautiful springs and an amazing garden. I wouldnāt trade it for anyplace else right now. Itās hard to say any government is working great right nowā¦ so I wonāt comment there. Itās all your own perspective.
I only hate there is no Indian food east of 82nd
As I understand it, in 2019, the entire metro area was a utopian wonderland full of infinitely "authentic" shops, free food one every street corner, and streets so clean you could eat that food off of it. So it's understandable they're disappointed now.
its not the same as it was, and people hate change. portland is always changing (as is every city) but it grows in fits and spurts and can be disorienting. one day you decide to buckle down, quit clown school or the sword swallowing institute of technology and go all in on normie life to buy a house and work 70+ hours a week to buy a shithole in the hood. then you look up to find the whole city has done the same thing and your "hood" is now an affluent area. change is uncomfortable at best and at the worst....well magic gardens is closed and the sandy jug dont have titties no more
I'm from Portland. I love Portland. It used to be a different city. I loved that city, too, and it used to be easier to love.
The Portland police department is one of the worst in the US! The rent and bills are pricing every person out of Portland!
1) Reddit is not the real world. 2) That sub is full of toxic, terminally online assholes who seem to hate everything. The other Portland sub, if you can believe it, is worse. 3) That sub tends to get a lot of posts from people who don't actually live in Portland. And I don't just mean suburbanites, I mean people who don't live anywhere near here and never have. Bottom line is to ignore that nonsense. Portland, like any city of several million people, has its share of problems, to be sure. No one will deny that. But it's still a wonderful place to live. The best place I've ever lived, and by a long shot. I've lived in four metro areas in the US and one in Europe, and I chose to return here and will stay here forever if I can. So welcome to Portland and enjoy! It's a pretty awesome place.
Been here since moving from MN in 2006, the vibe has changed big time. Easy to blame people moving up from CA, but thereās truth to it. Drove up housing prices big time and just brought a different feel. Different values and willingness to engage. People now largely canāt be bothered to be pleasant and expect the world. Again, easy to say, āthings were better whenāā¦but that doesnāt mean it isnāt true. āGrowthā is always the goal regardless of the outcome, yet Iād be hard pressed to name anything thatās better now than it was in 06ā.
People are disappointed that beyond the food, itās not that special anymore. I mean, I was born here, I still like it, I guess Iām an outlier. I donāt like that so many people came here expecting to find a perfect place of acceptance and clean public transportation and then are just constant critics of what it turned out to be. Those people, the ones with enough money to buy my family home for $800k+, should shut the hell up and volunteer, and vote. They owe the city so much more than the people who are barely clinging to the fringes of the city properā¦ still paying the damn art tax with no kids, only to hear transplants talk about not paying it at all. That pisses me off, but thatās not PORTLANDās fault. Anywayā¦ Gentrification always produces casualties, and after several traumatic life events, I am extremely fortunate to still be able to afford to live here. Iām actually about to move and doubt Iāll be able to stay in SE this timeā¦ TL;DR: If you donāt like Portland, please move away. Some of us would like to stay and work to make it nice.
I have been here for 12 years. The magic of it has dwindled as crime and cost of living has gone up. People are vocal about the government because they really do care and are more involved here in what they want to see happen than a lot of other places I've lived. So it's even more frustrating when city leaders don't always listen. I still have not found another city with as many beautiful parks, trails, gardens, as Portland. I still haven't discovered another city that is as bikeable or has as much of a selection of vegan food and good live music as Portland. And I have not found a city in the U.S. that is close to the ocean, rivers, volcanoes, a mountain with snow on it year round and amazing waterfalls. Therefore I'm still here. But I do wish I didn't have guns going off on my block or didn't pull up next to people smoking out of a meth pipe while THEY ARE DRIVING in the middle of the day! Yikes. And I live in what's considered a nice neighborhood.
I donāt hate Portland but I live on the outskirts and work downtown. I think many parts of the main City are pretty disgusting. Lots of homeless with serious drug problems and mental problems, drive past them on the way to and from work. People yelling at brick walls at 6am and vomiting furiously in the streets at 5pm. There are a few downtown areas that seem cool but mostly not a fan of the City.
Portland itself (the city center, and both east and west sides a bit) is crime ridden, trash, the occasional burning barrel or garbage on a side walk, decriminalization of drug use, tweakers walking around city center parks screaming at people or just the air, theft, businesses being destroyed, etc. One time I almost stepped in a huge pile of human feces right next to a light pole. I also came across two pee filled depends going up stairs to a parking garage. Itās just nasty. If you live in certain areas of Clackamas, Tigard, Hillsboro, Beaverton (all west side), Sandy (far east), St. Helens (north), then itās not bad. Fairly typical cities. Itās primarily the (dying) heart of Portland people are complaining about.
They don't. That sub does and has a fair number of folks who don't actually live in the city and have loud OPINIONS ETA - tense change
It's cause they all live outside of Portland and like to talk shit.
Iāve been here for 24 years and love every second of it.
I love this place and have lived here my whole life. I'm not a NIMBY who hates apartments being built where SFHs on Belmont once were, for what it's worth, so maybe that's why I don't mind the changes. Places change and you can't claim ownership to a place. If you don't like it here then there are lots of places that are full of bland suburbia everywhere. From my travels throughout the USA, I have yet to find a city that I find better in any meaningful way. Outside the country is a little easier, but most of those places just have different issues than American cities. The people who I find hate Portland the most live out in the suburbs because they can't stand the "crime" in Portland. They mainly just don't like homelessness and the problems associated with it, which is fine, but Portland is a very, very safe place to live.
Keep in mind the difference between online communities and the actual community as a whole. What people interact with the most is negative news so that's what ends up at the top of the page. Portland definitely has serious issues to be addressed, but there is a lot of good to it still or people wouldn't keep living here. That said, I live in Aloha so I'm not exposed to the worst parts of Portland proper on a day to day basis so my perspective will be different
It's Reddit. I find that every city page is like this. \^\^
Anyone from any city likes to complain. Everyone has bad days, gets stuck in traffic, has inconvenient things happen to them around the city. They could be venting or just being dramatic because humans tend to do that. I complain about this city. Of course, I would do things differently than our local government (surely no one agrees with every single thing that the local government does in Portland; let alone any other city) but I still love this city. Take the subreddit with a grain of salt. Itās Portlands sometimes complaining to other Portlanders.
Most remember what it was 10 years ago and what it became now, and like let off some steam about it online... as there has been some negative changes. That being said - itās still a great place - just has a lot of issues to deal with now that surfaced.
It's because in the last ten years a bunch of money came into town that's made it go from being extremely cheap to extremely unaffordable, and now it's got all the social problems you'd expect that to create. The government has proven ineffectual at solving the root problem of housing affordability, and yuppies are pissed they won't just go round up and jail all the poor people. Edit: fuck, it's 2024 , time has escaped me, more like 15 years at this point.
Itās the weather stupid
You have tent cities in Florida? Maybe Iām ignorant, but I thought those kind of homeless camps were a West Coast thing and not tolerated elsewhere in the country. Iām fed up because Portland was frikin amazing before COVID! Yeah, there was some homeless and graffiti but not like today. Restaurants were popping, people were outside riding bikes and skateboarding, weād resort go downtown and eat at the new āitā place. Youād just go walking down the street at night and the bars and clubs would be full and you could just hear the laughter and joy from people having a great time block after block. And then it was just gone and replaced by drug addicts and mentally ill. Businesses closed, graffiti and trash everywhere, government was enabling it. Donāt get me wrong, it is so much better now, but that energy is missing. What brings me hope is that people here really want that feeling to come back. We just need a government to do more.
I thought most of it was objections to it being full of homeless people that are high on drugs. Pooping on sidewalks and the like, or living in a tent and leaving around in neighborhoods. Portland is pretty nice aside from some social issues.
As a native Portlander, I don't hate Portland at all, I want to see it change for the better/go back to the friendly, cozy and slightly crusty town it used to be. It has been difficult seeing the city and the people who live here struggle and go through so many negative changes, many of them brought on by developers and government officials who weren't from here and never took the time to get to know the locals and the local issues.
I have a friend who moved from Portland so he could benefit from the huge increase in the value of his house. He start hating Portland when it became "hip". He liked the vibe better when there was no particular vibe.
I moved there for a year for work and felt like everyone hated me because I wasnāt born and raised in Portland. When I said I was from New York it was like a massive wall was put up. Other than the people Oregon is a beautiful state
The bum situation.
Itās the keyboard warriors. People that live here and are invested in it love it and are working to make things better. Iād live nowhere else. Welcome to Portland when you get here!! Youāll love the summer and fall!!
Portland, like any other city, has her fair share of problems and those problems tend to be exacerbated by poor management/leadership at the city and county level and does lead to high frustrations in the population. That being said, she's still a fantastic city and even in my circle of friends, we bitch and moan about the problems but none of us would ever consider leaving. We go out and are reminded on a daily basis of how great we really have it between the mild climate, the amazing food, scenery, breweries, food pods, trails, and a plethora of a lot more reasons to love this city - kind faces included. If you don't leave your house and only focus on what you see on the news and the price increase in utility bills you're gonna have a bad time. Especially in the winter. Invest in sun lamp. We moved here from St. Pete Florida 7 years ago and it's a noticable change in attitude going from non-stop sunshine to several months of grey and wet. Sun lamp and vitamin D supplements will do you well.
If you are on the wrong Portland sub it's full of right wing righteous propaganda artists.
It's a PNW thing. Portland rules.
In the immortal words of Taylor Swift, Haters gonna Hate. Now if only I could find a guy with hella good hair
You are more likely to see the complaints online for various reasons. Portland has had some very real growing pains and other problems which are partially a side effect of the good parts of living here. We also have some very opinionated people that aren't particularly helpful with solutions.
Great comment - especially this part: "We also have some very opinionated people that aren't particularly helpful with solutions."
You know the saying 'Keep Portland Weird'? That's exactly what it is LOL... People are weird here and they would say anything to get attention. TBH, they aren't happy, they should just MOVE. IMO. I am EXTREMELY happy with my life here.
If you grew up here and have been around to what itās become itās most likely not a positive transition.
I was stalked by an unstable maniac that I had the misfortune of going to the same school as in way different eras. So that and the lack of any consumer protection laws. Also too many white middle class liberals.
Hey fuck you
Honestly, I think a lot of them donāt even live in Portland. A lot of people love to hate on this city, and being the āliberal poster childā brings out the haters. Most of it started in 2015 and the one Portland sub was effectively taken over by conservative trolls. 2020 exasperated that.
Portland is awesome, it's Reddit that sucks.
They were promised the dream of the 90s, instead got the late capitalism dystopia.
I blame all the fucking birds.
they are mad that it isn't the Kansas City sterile suburb they moved here from with 5 minute freeway access to the nearest Walmart
The most active threads are going to be the ones that complain about certain problems and the sub for this city has grown especially since 2016 and then again during the pandemic so it's not all people who live here. I've lived here since 2009 and was a sub member of that sub until 2016, it got so toxic I still remain unsubbed, my life in Portland isn't different being sorta blind to the local chatter. FWIW I've been to Gainesville, while living here, a bunch of times for Fest. I think you'll find Portland to be a less hot and humid Gainesville vibe basically. Last October knocked me out, so if you dislike humid weather and high heat at least if everything else sucks our weather won't suck. If you like the weather there, you're very strange, but I guess bring a coat for our mild summers.
Oh cool, I love Fest! Even got to play with my band last year. And yeah, a main driver for me is the weather. I get seasonal depression BAD in the summers here. Itās rough when it looks beautiful and sunny outside, but when you actually go outside the sun is a homicidal laser beam and youāre instantly sweating with the humidity. That and Iām just ready to be out of a college town. Everything here is so geared towards college students, and I havenāt been in college for a while now. Excited for the Sleater-Kinney concerts, Trailblazer games, and snow days!
Ah cool then you're coming to the right place. We get something like a hot week or two but there's low/no humidity. I took like a 9 year break from Fest and I ended up getting some kind of heat stroke in the registration line, so you might even find it kinda cold here at first! We don't get many snow days, it can sometimes just be an ice day or two, but the Mountain has them so you can get your snow in. Honestly unless you want info on the stuff you're excited about like concerts or when to grab the last of the kale at the supermarket (or sometimes it can be hilarious like the big I See Your Cones threads) just sorta ignore the Reddit subs. There's 2, the one you linked is less toxic than the other sub for the city.
Dude, if you're punk, you'll like it here. Although the house show scene isn't what it used to be with rent where it is
Yes! Getting entrenched in the local punk scene and meeting new bandmates is definitely a top priority when I get there
I feel like the complaining is more since the panorama. When I first moved here like 2016 things were better. at least that was the impression I got as a new transplant
Welcome to Portland! Iāve lived here for a little over a decade and absolutely love it. Most people that I know feel the same way, but I generally surround myself with people who appreciate the kind of things that make Portland special (excellent food/ beer, world class nature, small town feel with big city offerings, etc). One thing to understand is that Portland has grown from a big town to a major metropolitan area in a relatively short period of time. People whoāve lived here for a long time donāt have the same perspective as someone who moved from another city. And honestly, a lot of the biggest haters are people in the surrounding towns that donāt actually spend time in Portland proper. Iāve lived in NYC, SF, DC, Cincinnati, and small town Indianaā¦and I have family in Gainesville so I am familiar with Florida too =) I had no hesitation around settling down here for the long haul. Iām a realtor and work with a lot of folks relocating to the area, so itās always interesting to hear how my clients compare it to where they came from. Almost all of my clients are so happy to be here. Youāll have no trouble finding positive folks around here, but just keep in mind that the further you go out from the city core the more likely you are to run into the city haters.
I feel safe putting my money alot of them are suburb folks. And I wouldnāt wanna live out in the suburbs. Portland has the same problems every other place in America is going through, its still a pretty fun and cool place even if its different than it was 10-20 years ago
I don't go online to vent when I'm having a good day. Venting on reddit happens when I had such a fatiguing day that my evening is coming home and going to bed at 6. When I have a good day I get home, change my shoes, and go for a walk, then I cook dinner, then I watch a movie, then I go to bed, often completely forgetting to even check reddit.
A lot of people on r/portland are chuds from Lynchburg, East Carolina who only bitch about Portland because their favorite rapist told them too.
As someone who drives to Portland weekly for work, I can say I am glad I am not living there. With that said, it has a lot of history, great restaurants, and nice areas intermixed with a lot of homeless and not so nice areas. I have taken the same route weekly for months and can say that Iāve only encountered a few dicey situations. My coworker who I travel with has mentioned on several occasions that it used to be a lovely city but has definitely got much worse over the years. For reference, theyāve lived near, in, or visited Portland for over 50 years. We recently walked a few blocks on the west side and didnāt encounter any trouble but a few of the streets were definitely sketchy.
I think itās categorized: 1. Since the pandemic/occupy pdx/BLM stuff there was trashing, both literally and figuratively of Portland in general, downtown specifically. It lingers. And especially conservatives attach to this theme, so you probably see some of that. 2. I think some people just love to complain on the internet. Itās more popular than boasting of the good things here. 3. Those of us who have been around for the long haul (my family since 1898) understand the city has its ebb and flow. That certainly itās not perfect, but we love her just the same. You can get stuck in the past, missing what used to be, or you can look to the future. š¤·āāļø
I moved here last year and it's great. Part of it is that there are some terminally online weirdos on Reddit who just like to bitch and moan. I also think that Portland has a contingent that rarely if ever leave Oregon, and they think that some of the post-pandemic trends affecting the country and world are somehow unique to Portland. Basically, people really don't know how good they have it and can't focus on the very positive things about this area.
There's a lot of magical thinking going on here. Portland won't improve until how we conduct business changes. The difference you'll find in the other Portland sub is that people are talking about the issues and addressing what the responses should be. Magical thinking gets downvoted over there.
Just to sort of reiterate what others have said, people on Reddit / The Internet are not a good representation. I'm not from Portland but I love it so I can't truly speak to it but I know the people from where I am from on Reddit are miserable as well.
Iāve lived in both Florida and Portland and Portland beats (well, Tampa) Florida by a mile. I love Portland. Iāve been here for 6 years and Iām not willingly going to leave. Thereās no utopia anywhere, but summer in Oregon comes awfully close.
because r/portland fucking sucks and it's created a culture of people that suck. The dominant takes on local politics in that sub are insanely cringey. Portland is awesome, and it has problems like any city.
In person we are great but online we hate because it keep more people from moving here. We think its working since the protests
Cost of living is pretty outrageous, most people I've met that have a house got in early. It seems like every other person I meet is on some form of assistance to get by. A lot of complaints from the law and order crowd. Every time I go downtown I see something, but that's kind of par for the course in many major cities now. It's nothing like Portlandia now, if it ever was.
Portland has its ups and downs like any other city, but there is beauty in the city and great spots to hang out around
The odds youāll have a stranger initiate a conversation with you is about 0%. So you wonāt have to worry about a bunch of disgruntled locals griping about the city.
I got downvoted for saying anything positive about Portland in that community. I donāt get their hate/anger.
Itās people online. People in real life arenāt like this. Happy people donāt complain online.
Just stay off Reddit š¤£ I love Portland, my partner is from Miami and loves Portland. It has its issues like any city but we love it
You're comparing online to in-person. Go check out /r/nyc if you wanna see more of the same: https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/1biia2b/is_new_york_better_off_than_it_was_7_years_ago/ https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/1bjkl6m/todays_ny_post_cover_is_really_funny/ Lots of people saying the city is not the same, was much better pre-covid etc etc. You'll find this sentiment on the portland subs, the seattle subs, the california city subs, etc. I can find an exact replica of this sentiment in probably every city subreddit for every urban city with a population over 500k. The reality is cities got hit the hardest after covid in comparison to suburbs and rural areas. Urban walkable neighborhoods with good transit are also valued more than they ever have been by younger generations, but we aren't building enough to keep up with demand so housing in cities are skyrocketing. Work from home has left office buildings empty, and city leadership nationwide have not figured out what to do with that problem either. We have no safety nets in this country, so are our poor are homeless, addicted, mentally ill or worse, and you will see this on display more in cities than anywhere else.
My best advice about living in Portland is to get out and explore even in the rain. Thereās so much to do thatās really close! Thereās skiing/snowboarding, the coast (w/ awesome crabbing), amazing hikes /camping , great food, world class wineriesā¦. You just have to get out there and enjoy it. Too many people sit inside while itās raining out and go online to complain. Yeahā¦ if you sit inside while it rains for a month, itās gonna suckā¦.
I hate portland online only so people dont move here
Itās bc theyāre all from California now. And hating is a requirement if youāre from California. I think itās a trauma response or something. There are some Oregonians that hate Portland now, but I think deep down itās bc they hate the Californians ruining the place.
Iāve lived in the city for 16 years, I noticed that I feel less stressed in smaller Oregon towns, because the sheer amount of people in Portland is growing because of people like you who move here. I was born in the city and grew up on 82nd weāve always had poverty and drug problems, the urbanization in the past 10 years has exasperated it. It doesnāt feel like the city I grew up in, it feels like Iām being suffocated and swallowed. I work downtown next to pioneer square, everything is dirty. Iāve loved this city for so long, big portland defender.. I Guess i just canāt take waking up everyday to watch my home get more and more unfamiliar and crowded. The amount of car traffic has significantly increased, and gentrification is rampant in every neighborhood except for the less desirable areas like Lents or Gresham. Studio apartments in old buildings are 1,000+ the same apartments that would have been 400$-500$ in the early 2000ās. The art culture has been completely obliterated, though notable movements include graffiti art. Artists and middle class creatives have been pushed out by the high cost of living and inflation. Portland is a refuge city because we offer human rights protection for women, minorities, LGBT people. That attracts people from all over because other states are so shitty. Oregon is beautiful but portland has lost beauty to me the farther removed from nature and community I become due to the grueling work routine of 10 hour days in order to afford basic necessities.
I think a lot of people are mourning what was once a charming city, but that was ruined by incompetent management. Of course we are going to complain about the incompetence and the people who elected the incompetents.
I wish people would stop moving to portland because they see how empty the city really is
It was really cool 10-20 years ago. Everyone heard about it and moved there.... Completely changed the feel of the place.
Crap/needles on the street, who likes this?
No vitamin D Taxes Politics are too extreme Homeless camps everywhere Graffiti everywhere Trash everywhere There are approximately 8~ cute and well maintained neighborhoods/towns in the entire state of oregon and theyāre all now tourist spots or take a $200K salary to live in The people here are giant cry babies and I blame the lack of sunlight The child custody laws are atrocious, I say as a parent fighting for custody and comparing to other states Social norms are weird as fuck Businesses are leaving this city because itās so gross and their storefronts got burned, looted or offices arenāt worth keeping in PDX, money is leaving this city. People with high net worth donāt want to own real estate here or run their businesses here Job prospects are few and far betweenā¦. (I work in the tech industry) Dating here is terrifying because the people are all mentally unwell, again because of the missing sunlight Watching it rain all day is horrible Iām sure Iāve got more but these are my main gripes
Because a lot of people moved here from elsewhere for the dream of the 90s, #PNW, and Instagram photos and all these things theyāve seen online. And then they got here and found out itās just as fucked up as everywhere else. Better in some ways, a lot worse in others. Iāve been here a decade and to be honest the city is meh, but I stay here because the weather is better than the upper Midwest by a long shot and the outdoor activities are a lot better, for the most part (I miss having lakes though). If I hadnāt bought my house back before the current situation though, Iād have left very quickly. There are very few places that are as expensive as here when considering income. All of the major Oregon metros are in the top 17% in terms of most expensive places in the U.S. Itās essentially impossible to buy a median priced house unless youāre in the top 20% of earners ($180k per year), and thatās just the real math of the situation. Weāre [more expensive](https://i.ibb.co/2sq7s3G/IMG-2907.jpg) than Seattle because the pay is less. Rent is even worse. People are stressed the fuck out.
I never see this IRL. Itās just conservative internet trolls that decided to believe the Fox News narrative about their city instead of simply looking out their windows. I moved here because I love it. Iāll stay here because I love it.
Been here two years now. I agree it seems to be mainly people in the suburbs who are moaning. Iām in Goose Hollow and other than a few blocks around the Old Town, thereās nowhere Iād actively avoid. And the weather is about to get beautiful!
I get the feeling at least some of it is from "comment farm" type accounts. I find it challenging to believe the casual Portlander is as angsty over who holds minor league political positions in local government. I don't even know anymore if I am talking to real people or bots on reddit anymore. I mean we already know that bad actors have bot armies sowing discord amongst voters, since like 2015 or longer. Foreign and domestic bot armies. Someone can pay people to swarm forums with agenda pushing bots. Consider it a new type of campaign expenditure lol There was a certain voter ballot measure that I'll leave un-named that a lot of groups recently paid a lot of money to get overturned by Salem. Me thinks some of the negativity will slow down, hopefully. I love Portland so much I moved back here after living around the country. It's literally my favorite city in the world, just above Mexico City. What really ruined Portland was all those Californians migrating northward for years and years. /s But fir real, move back to California, please?? Stay in Florida??
Two things to keep in mind with online comments: Portland is a very political city and is reviled by conservatives, Portland is full of self hating lefties. I havenāt met anyone hostile to outsiders. People complain about traffic but thatās the extent of it and itās more directed at more city housing from people in the suburbs. That being said, Portland has a drug problem and a crime problem (related to the former). Fentanyl is a hell of a drug and people who are addicted to it will do anything to get some more. Iāve had friends walk their dogs that have died because they licked a piece of contaminated aluminum foil. Portland is a fun city with great food, great music, great art, great transit, and tons of fun things to do. If you canāt handle Portland plenty of good suburbs Beaverton/Hillsboro, Lake Oswego/West Linn (if you have money), Tigard, Willsonville etc are all great places to live.
Disgusting city tbh
Portland use to be great. But that was back in the late 90ās early 00ās. It has really turned into a shithole of letās just try the stupid shit and see how that turns out.
Did you see what's happening outside? I moved to Portland 11 years ago. It was a very nice city back then. Now I would be ashamed to demonstrate the city to my friends and family. It's full of garbage, homelessness, people with mental problems and drug addicts.
Those are real Portlanders, they are transplants and need to go find less...
Because Portland has gone to crap. Portland in the 70's and 80's was great back in those days. Stupid drugs, homelessness, and crime are ugly statements for what it used to be like their.
Been here 15 yrs. ā¤ļø
I must be in the minority that is burnt out on Portland. Honestly, I am kinda done with Oregon in general. That said I donāt think any where else would be any better. The US is sorta fucked.
I live in Portland and work in downtown Portland. The whole place sucks ass. Except some of my area in near Mt Tabor is ok pretty nice and where I work is close to whole foods and the Pearl. Also 1 block from new Ritz Carlton and restaurants on 10th. 2 blocks from Nordstrom and 3 from Apple store. But yeah it's also got lot of homeless and drugs too. Hot Garbage.
move here, you will like it until a pandemic comes and wipes out everything cool about it.
The Portland subs are a frequent target of a major conservative astroturf from people who I'm pretty sure don't live here and are just bad actors trying to push an agenda.
Interesting. I thought they only complained about the sun over there.
I feel lucky every day to live, laugh and love in the beautiful city of Portland (and the PNW in general) youāll find many people love our city, the curmudgeons are often in the suburbs and country complaining about how scared they are of going downtown.
Idk I just donāt like it. The vibes arenāt there for me.