How Bad Is the Gang Activity (Portland, Dallas: real estate, loft, violent crime)

[Venusian_Artist]

Originally Posted by John Shaft

Would you mind going into more detail of the crimes you have experienced? I too live in the Beaverton/Aloha area and am interested in this. I have noticed a LOT of tagging in the past 12 months or so. Is this what you refer to or to something else as well?

Tagging, vandalism, lots of theft (including grand theft auto,) and a recent rash of burglaries. There were a couple of home invasion robberies recently. But admittedly, those are not the norm....yet, thankfully.

The activity is serious enough to warrant mention. However, for those who want to split hairs: no, it's not as bad as Oakland. Does it have to be? As for personal safety, there are parts of NE Portland that are worse--little consolation, in my opinion.

However, please keep in mind that the stuff I've witnessed or has happened to my neighbors, has NOT made the papers or the Washington County Sheriff's weekly e-zine. (http://www.co.washington.or.us/cgi/sonews/letter.pl?searchstring=currentidx - broken link) So it's difficult to know the scope of the problems.

Anecdotally, everyone I've talked to here has agreed it's the worst it's ever been, and getting worse--some have lived here thirty years or more. I've seen it go downhill fast in the short time I've been here.

Originally Posted by farside098
When you say "NE" what area do you mean exactly? My son lives in the NE in Irvington and from what he says there is no gang activity there

I don't know the NE neighborhoods by name, so I can't give you exact locations--never lived on that side. I worked out there for many years, however, and just driving through them, you can tell where the "no-no" areas are. North of Kaiser Interstate comes to mind.

Like a lot of East Portland, there are pockets of good mixed with the bad. The problem is that they are measured in blocks, not miles. Consequently, what looks nice may be a hundred yards around the corner from the projects, and an easy walk from a crack deal or meth house.

I seem to remember a Willamette Weekly article in the last six months about crime in NE. The reporter and a photographer were interviewing residents who were saying that it wasn't that bad. Suddenly, one of the guys being interviewed noticed the camera, freaked out, decked the photographer, and took off. Needless to say, even if the journalists had started off with the notion of writing an "it's not that bad" article, it turned into a rather pejorative review of their experience.

[succotash]

Neighborhood News - Westside (http://www.kgw.com/neighborhood/west-northwest/vitindex.html - broken link)
Neighborhood News - Eastside (http://www.kgw.com/neighborhood/east-northeast/vitindex.html - broken link)

After seeing the numerous mindless assaults listed above, I can say that if I do move to Portland, I will be getting a concealed weapons permit. Call me a gun nut if you like, luckily not liking something isn't a good enough of an excuse to make it illegal.

Please note those links are for 'Neighborhood News', but it reads like a crime blotter!

[farside098]

Well, whatever....it isn't stopping me from moving to Portland. I've lived in far worse places like Vegas, Phoenix & Tampa..talk about gangs & crime! No place is perfect and there are "gangs" in every major city across the US. Nut from all the research and statistics on Portland, it has FAR LESS gang activity & violence as the cities listed above. Life is too short to worry about stuff like that anyway...go out and enjoy nature & all that Portland has to offer & don't sweat the small stuff.

[Venusian_Artist]

Originally Posted by farside098

Well, whatever....it isn't stopping me from moving to Portland. I've lived in far worse places like Vegas, Phoenix & Tampa..talk about gangs & crime! No place is perfect and there are "gangs" in every major city across the US. Nut from all the research and statistics on Portland, it has FAR LESS gang activity & violence as the cities listed above. Life is too short to worry about stuff like that anyway...go out and enjoy nature & all that Portland has to offer & don't sweat the small stuff.

Well, speaking for myself, I wouldn't want to stop anyone from moving to Portland. That's not the point of a thread like this. The point is to educate people.

There will always be those who can't handle the fact that there are problems in their perfect little world that must be dealt with, and that the reluctance to do that, enables said issues.

As for where's better/where's worse--that, of course, is a decision that you also have to make for yourself. I think, though, that if you carefully read the entire thread, you'll find that no one is saying that Portland is extremely dangerous, and that you should just pass on it completely, simply that you should be aware of some problem areas.

Strangely, just issuing that brand of cautionary advice seems to get some people's panties in a twist.

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by Venusian_Artist

I don't know the NE neighborhoods by name, so I can't give you exact locations--never lived on that side. I worked out there for many years, however, and just driving through them, you can tell where the "no-no" areas are. North of Kaiser Interstate comes to mind.

That area would be North Portland, not NE. N Portland starts a lot closer in than people realize.

[succotash]

I'm certainly not trying to convince people not to move to Portland, as I am considering a move there myself. However, as one who has had friends and very close family members assaulted randomly in places with far less crime than Portland, I spend more than a few seconds on deciding what neighborhood to move into. If it were just me that was moving, I probably wouldn't care. But I have a young beautiful wife who is constantly harassed(despite her attempts at dressing as modestly as possible) that would be going as well.

That said, when I was single, I lived around Tacoma, WA for a few years... which has a far higher crime rate than Portland or Seattle. Worst that happened there... had my car broken into, had some gas huffed, and had a room mate who was held up at gun point for his wallet. The only gang violence I ever witnessed was some Korean gang bangers chucking glass bottles at each on I-5... and managed to misjudge and toss bottles in front of MY car instead.

[succotash]

Well, I recommend checking out recent crime statistics for neighborhoods and then checking out the neighborhoods yourself, during the day, and at night. Check out all the neighbors near the place within a block radius. It's not just the people who live there, but the people that visit your neighbors too. Yes, common sense advice that shouldn't have to be said, but the last thing you'd want to do is move in down the street from a meth house! Sometimes places are just fine during the day... but the freaks come out at night.

Personally, owning firearms isn't enough peace of mind to offset the stress from living in a bad neighborhood. Better to not have to think about it all.

[oldtintype]

I don't know what you're expecting when you move here. There are some bad pockets that give Portland higher crime stats on paper but as a whole, Portland is one of the safest cities I've lived in and/or visited. Talk of needing a gun and things like that are kind of over the top. Most of the crime stats you're talking about are in very small pockets that make the stats of the city look higher than you'll ever see in the majority of the city. I think when you read things from afar it might be hard to put a perspective on things, especially when you don't know about the areas you're reading about (i.e. if you're reading things about Rockwood, then yeah, it's common knowledge here that the area sucks, but that doesn't mean you need a gun to live in Ladds Addition--also part of SE). It's a different world neighborhood to neighborhood and most of the crime IN Portland is in outer areas or small inner cores like Old Town in the downtown area, which is where all the services for the homeless and mentally ill are. Reading the stuff on here makes it sound like the city is a cess pool. It's not and I'm female as well and have had little to no issues walking around day or night. Of course, I don't live in Rockwood either and use common sense about my surroundings.

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by succotash

Neighborhood News - Westside (http://www.kgw.com/neighborhood/west-northwest/vitindex.html - broken link)
Neighborhood News - Eastside (http://www.kgw.com/neighborhood/east-northeast/vitindex.html - broken link)

After seeing the numerous mindless assaults listed above, I can say that if I do move to Portland, I will be getting a concealed weapons permit. Call me a gun nut if you like, luckily not liking something isn't a good enough of an excuse to make it illegal.

Please note those links are for 'Neighborhood News', but it reads like a crime blotter!

Just read these links. The east side crime mentioned all takes place in pockets of North Portland and Gresham that are known to be problem areas. There's no surprise there. Same for the West side page which commented on parts of Hillsboro and Beaverton that these posts are complaining about. Those areas are NOT the entire Portland area at all. That does not mean the whole area is a massive crime zone.

[SSIwillbebrokeby2010]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

To be sure, Portland has gang violence. Especially in the Hillsboro & lower Gresham areas. However, from what I gather, it's not as bad as many other larger cities.

BLAZER PROPHET I follow your posts every day now. You are full of information, the kind I'm interested in, before I permanently move to Oregon.
I have one relative in Corvalis going to the University there now, and I am going to sell out and move up the Oregon.
I have only stayed in Tillamook, Oregon. I did not want to leave.
I grew up in Los Angeles. The deep part of the City of Los Angeles and South Central Los Angeles.
I was wondering, can one still walk/stoll the streets of Portland and be safe? Or is it not a good idea?
What smaller more rural areas of Corvallis have rentals for my relative? Like a Cabin near the University, but more rural and safe?
Yesterday, I read about Lincoln City, where you said you lived. You mentioned the weather messing up your bike, or maybe getting stolen. Is that because of Tweakers like here? The gang problem in Nor Cal is really growing, the Tweakers are the Biggest Problem though, and the Mountain Pot Farms.