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Originally Posted by opendoor
While I think that's overstating it (Portland in particular seemed more or less the same as I remembered it when I was there a couple of months ago), the US definitely seemed a bit sketchier and run down this last time. I don't know if it's COVID or what, but the difference was pretty stark.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
Portland has always been that way. Part of the charm. ....
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Portland has been an architectural ingenuity marvel for decades leading to 2000's. Ever since Portland adopted their Urban Growth Boundary Policy, it had forced builders and architects to be extremely creative with built-form and site designs to maximize the use of small parcels. (It also made home prices skyrocketing, of course, and forced people out of the city into suburbs; but that's irrelevant.) I used to love Portland's inner-city feel and design. Went there to visit this past November - it was truly devastating. BLM street demonstrations have left the City in shambles. ("We are very proud of our protesters!" said the girl at the food counter). Graffiti is covering everything. Homeless people took over the downtown. We walked the beautiful parks and it was scary. We felt alone there in the middle of a gorgeous autumn day. People lying on asphalt in their own vomit. Someone taking a sh.t under the monument in the middle of the playground. Someone storming into Powell's Book Store and pushing book shelves down. Uber driver told us that they try not to come out of their cars in Downtown. A friend of mine quipped that perhaps this is someone's devilish plan to drive the prices of coastal cities' real estate down to nothing and then buy everything for pennies on the dollar. Seems plausible... So, no; no charm left there in Portland. Just sadness and devastation.
