Portland Residents Won’t Visit Riot-Ravaged, ‘Trashed’ And ‘Sad’ Downtown

quote:

---

“Residents in the metro area surrounding Portland, Oregon, say the city’s downtown is dirty, unsafe, and uninviting, and they don’t expect to visit as often,” The New York Post reported Sunday, citing The Oregonian’s poll. “Residents described the city’s core as ‘destroyed,’ ‘trashed,’ and ‘sad,’ and frequently referred to ‘riots’ in discussing the city’s economic and cultural hub.”

“In the poll, 85 percent said downtown was important, or very important, to the city’s economy. More than 100,000 people worked there prior to the pandemic, about 1 in every 20 jobs in the state,” the outlet added. “While 63 percent of respondents said they see downtown as less safe, 86 percent said they feel safe in their own neighborhoods. The main issues they cited were cleanliness and crime.”

The riots in Portland have been going on since last May. When the new presidential administration failed to abate the violence, however, Portland city officials finally began cracking down on the ongoing unrest. The move may have come too late; as recently as last week, suspected anarchist groups in Portland were threatening a major wave of destruction unless the city’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, resigns.

---