Over 30 years the place really went downhill.
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2/23/2019
I moved in 30 years ago to a lovely 1907 home in a quiet, close-in neighborhood. It reminded me so much of NE Minneapolis I thought I was back there again. But over time the city changed in a way I haven't liked at all. If you check air quality you will see it absolutely !@#$%, and it really does. The city keeps trying to restrict the flow of traffic, and crime is pretty bad. Add in a homeless encampment on virtually every corner and it is yet another failed experiment in socialistic government (what is the saying about repeating things and expecting a different result?).
After deciding the Portland government had not even the slightest sense of fiscal responsibility, and the Portland public schools were some of the worst I've ever seen, we moved out to Happy Valley with the second lowest city tax rate in the state and really good schools. Sitting atop Mt Scott looking out at the Portland valley one thing is very apparent, the air quality really does !@#$. It is solid brown virtually every clear day we have, which with only 144 sunny days a year isn't all that often. Kids are now gone, the legislature is passing every fee and tax it can think of, housing prices are absurd (cost-of-living at 147.6 vs 100.0 nationally pretty much says it all). So even though my wife is a native Portlander and has a business here that is more than 50 years old, we have decided it is a good time to move on. I hope the weird crowd enjoys a whole lot more taxes, because they are coming your way.
Thomas | Happy Valley, OR