Traveled through Portland a few years ago - I could tell it used to be a nice town

The amount of graffiti I saw rivaled places that I have visited in the 3rd world. I was in Oregon in ‘21 on a fishing trip and while riding around Portland went to see the federal building that figured so prominently in the previous year’s riots. It was boarded up and there was a massive homeless camp across the street in a park. Most of the business that were still open downtown at that time had their windows and doors covered with plywood. Many businesses were closed for good.

The number of homeless encampments / tents was mind boggling. All along the major highways.

I was hungry for lunch so I rode over into Washington state so that I wouldn’t contribute more money to the Portland economy (I flew in and out of the airport so maybe they got some out of that).

Looking past the trash, it is obvious that the city was once very nice. There was a view over a waterway that was quite striking.

I can’t adequately convey how much graffiti is in that town. Staggering.