What Have They Done To Portland, Oregon

Portland 2012

When I was in Portland in 2012, I was impressed. It was a beautiful city, considered one of the greenest in the world. The town looked vibrant, with many cafes and people on the downtown streets, especially on a holiday weekend. Portland was ranked the best city in the world for street food, with over 500 street food carts and real coffee among the best anywhere.

Like many other cities, the warehouse and industrial areas downtown were restored to create apartments, cafes and restaurants. Walking around at night in this city was an absolute pleasure, and we felt very safe.

We could see why Portland was ranked “green”. There were parks and flowers; we were amazed at how they grew in the wild, especially azaleas. It was also famous for its International Rose Garden.

The city was very well organized, the architecture progressive, with a lot of culture, cyclists, and joggers around. From what we could see, people appeared to be conscientious about their eating and exercise. The general impression was that it was clean, safe and very liveable.

So what happened? This happened:

Terrible Covid policies, BLM, Antifa and a slew of homeless have left the city like a rubbish tip. How could city leaders and the police allow such degradation to take place? It’s as if no one cares or is in such an inertial state that nothing changes. The differences are stark in three short years. Portland was the city that gave us an autonomous zone. Such hooliganism would have been stifled almost immediately at any reasonable time, but we don’t live in rational times.

I am glad I got to Portland in 2012 and not now. I have the memories and the photos of what was a beautiful city, left-wing, but still a great place to visit. Portland is another symbol of the decline of the American city.