Moved to Portland from East Coast, have lived in bigger cities and rural area as well. Every place has it's pros and cons. The main problems here are similar in many cities - rising cost of housing & drug addiction (normally referred to as "homelessness"). Drug addiction is a national problem that existed but started getting worse in the 80's when Federal govt started removing funding for State mental hospitals etc. Drug's have also evolved and gotten cheaper. The problem is everywhere but glaring in cities where people flock for resources that don't exist in say a small town... without treatment people will stay on the streets. So now that our govt. has ignored the problem for decades it's much tougher to clean up & rebuild social safety nets. We have poured money into "war on drugs" and none into treatment / prevention. "Just say no" is not policy or practical. It's not a failure of "liberal" or "conservative" city government. Supporting treatment will go further than building more walls on Southern border for example. Every city / place has pros and cons. Are there places in Portland I don't like to go to or wouldn't want to live - yep but lot's of places that are great also.
William |
Portland, OR |
Report Abuse