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It depends what you want to do and who you ask. Its been a fantastic spring for nature lovers even within the city, but especially as venture out into the Gorge or other places not far. Don't listen to all the gloom and doom on CD as your only source of information, please. In general CD has lots of grumpy people. More complainers than anything else. When do you ever hear them posting something good about anything? I mean seriously, think about it. Lots of folks come here to vent all their grievances and/or are planning to leave. And the focus is on rioting and homeless, all the negatives, of course. So, sure, its easy to pick out all the negatives and accentuate them or get out and enjoy all that's beautiful in spite of those things. Glass half empty or half full. You decide. Don't let someone else ever decide that for you.
I recommend joining some other Portland social media groups where folks are actually enjoying their lives here. There really is another side to all of this. I'm sure the curmudgeons will cr@p on me for even suggesting there's something good in PDX. And then justify it with more if the same. But who cares? I certainly don't.
Bottom line: don't despair. You'll find good things to enjoy if you look for them. A few recent pics of this marvelous place to enjoy and explore if you choose to.
Derek
Thanks for that. I agree, Portland is a punching bag for people these days.
Portland, in my mind, has always been a lovely city, that we've considered traveling to. Unbelievable now. Many have had their perception changed, for a long time I'm guessing. Truly, no desire to go near the city, now. A group of people doing whatever it is that they want to do, with no concern for anyone else, ruins it for everyone. My statement is not political, it's based on what I see...a city with no one in control. To many of us...anarchy is ruining a city, and no one is in charge.
Some of these posts are verging on hysteria, lol! The protests and/or riots are happening mainly in a few blocks downtown. In many parts of the city (most?), you wouldn't even know they're going on if you weren't watching the news.
Yes, there are a lot of homeless people in Portland, it's a west coast city with a fairly mild climate and we're living at a time of extreme disparities in wealth and decades of underinvestment in mental health services at the national level. Homelessness is a big problem in America and it's most visible wherever people can live outside without freezing to death or dying of heat stroke.
If you're visiting Portland, use common sense and you'll be fine. Its a great American city with flaws, like any other. The biggest issue right now is that COVID is still putting a damper on activities here like most places, but you can still find things to do.
as always, wonderful photos and I also love your post. thank you, Derek. I'm glad I moved here and I think Spring is the very best season.
Thanks, Jackie. I'm glad you're enjoying the PNW. I love spring here as well. Though I'm torn between favorite seasons since I really enjoy fall colors also. I think spring may be a bit more enjoyable overall as the days get warmer and longer while snow melts in the the mountains and the hiking trails become so beautiful with new life springing up. Then, all the neighborhood trees, parks and gardens burst with color.
Derek
Last edited by MtnSurfer; 04-25-2021 at 11:31 AM..
Thanks, Jackie. I'm glad you're enjoying the PNW. I love spring here as well. Though I'm torn between favorite seasons since I really enjoy fall colors also. I think spring may be a bit more enjoyable overall as the days get warmer and longer while snow melts in the the mountains and the hiking trails become so beautiful with new life springing up. Then, all the neighborhood trees, parks and gardens burst with color.
I shoot with a Sony A7iii, primarily. Though I've shot with Fuji and Canon over the years as well. I see fewer and fewer folks with dedicated cameras these days as cellphones have improved. I also use my Pixel while out on the water.
It’s more than a little disingenuous to say that the riots are “a few blocks” of Portland. At best, that’s ignorance and at worst it’s a downright lie. They broke the windows of a Starbucks on 23rd last weekend, there has been consistent rioting downtown in the core, they marched on the Pearl, there has been rioting and looting in NE and SE, so the rioting and lawlessness has been widespread to the entire urban area of Portland. The only places you’re safe are surrounding cities and suburbs, or non-urban areas. Otherwise, from the top of Burnside on down there have been issues. It isn’t “a few blocks.” Maybe in any given weekend that’s true, but not over the last year. It has been widespread and concerning.
While every city has its challenges, weak leadership has been at the core of Portland’s issues and I’m happy to see Wheeler at least trying to step up lately. It took him long enough but I remain hopeful that the future can be brighter than the last year. The governor doesn’t help either, though, as she’s completely power hungry and insane. Everything should be open at 100% and no restrictions, it’s well past time to put this behind us, and she can’t give up her power to make that reality. Even pre-pandemic it’s not like Portland is a happening place, it’s a very sleepy city for its size, but with the pandemic it’s downright snoozeville while other cities are opening up just fine and life is returning.
It’s more than a little disingenuous to say that the riots are “a few blocks” of Portland. At best, that’s ignorance and at worst it’s a downright lie. They broke the windows of a Starbucks on 23rd last weekend, there has been consistent rioting downtown in the core, they marched on the Pearl, there has been rioting and looting in NE and SE, so the rioting and lawlessness has been widespread to the entire urban area of Portland. The only places you’re safe are surrounding cities and suburbs, or non-urban areas. Otherwise, from the top of Burnside on down there have been issues. It isn’t “a few blocks.” Maybe in any given weekend that’s true, but not over the last year. It has been widespread and concerning.
While every city has its challenges, weak leadership has been at the core of Portland’s issues and I’m happy to see Wheeler at least trying to step up lately. It took him long enough but I remain hopeful that the future can be brighter than the last year. The governor doesn’t help either, though, as she’s completely power hungry and insane. Everything should be open at 100% and no restrictions, it’s well past time to put this behind us, and she can’t give up her power to make that reality. Even pre-pandemic it’s not like Portland is a happening place, it’s a very sleepy city for its size, but with the pandemic it’s downright snoozeville while other cities are opening up just fine and life is returning.
Valuable feedback!.
I visited the area and the coast for a couple of weeks in 2012 and enjoyed it. Yes, I would be reluctant to return downtown; I couldn't stand the sadness of what's happened. But I plan to travel for a few days this summer out to PDX and vicinity, hoping to see some stability and cleanliness vs. what I've been reading here this year and last.
Has the area around the Moda Center arena been targeted at times? The Whole Foods Market in the Hollywood area? Powell's Books, the Art Museum? Portland Timbers soccer stadium? Just a few random areas I experienced on my trip. I hope they're all now faring better and looking better if there were incidents there in these trying times.
Is the International Rose Garden and vicinity and is Forest Park relatively safe?
...
Also, is the food truck scene somehow surviving due to fewer pedestrians?
It’s more than a little disingenuous to say that the riots are “a few blocks” of Portland. At best, that’s ignorance and at worst it’s a downright lie. They broke the windows of a Starbucks on 23rd last weekend, there has been consistent rioting downtown in the core, they marched on the Pearl, there has been rioting and looting in NE and SE, so the rioting and lawlessness has been widespread to the entire urban area of Portland.
You give a few examples, then extrapolate that to "the entire urban area of Portland." Now who's being "disingenuous"? Probably 90% of this vandalism has been occurring in the Pearl. It's annoying and I'd like it to stop, too, but giving people the impression that they're likely to be in personal danger anywhere they go in the city is BS.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JonathanLB
The only places you’re safe are surrounding cities and suburbs, or non-urban areas.
More hyperbole...
Quote:
Originally Posted by JonathanLB
The governor doesn’t help either, though, as she’s completely power hungry and insane. Everything should be open at 100% and no restrictions, it’s well past time to put this behind us, and she can’t give up her power to make that reality.
Our governor is "insane"? Really, lol? She's following the advice of public health experts. Other places that have opened back up 100% with no restrictions are seeing spikes in COVID cases again. The smartest thing to do is get as many people vaccinated as possible before opening back up so we can put this behind us once and for all, instead of having constantly rolling waves where cases continue peaking. It's too bad the political leadership at the national level didn't take this seriously from the very beginning. It didn't have to be this bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JonathanLB
Even pre-pandemic it’s not like Portland is a happening place, it’s a very sleepy city for its size, but with the pandemic it’s downright snoozeville while other cities are opening up just fine and life is returning.
I think maybe you just don't like Portland and that's fine, but as I've pointed out above, your views on our city seem to be pretty extreme and are certainly not shared by everyone.
No, my views on Portland are shared by the vast majority of people in this country actually. And we need to change that, because it’s not too late to turn things around in Portland and get tourists coming back, get residents proud to call the place home rather than sheepish about more negative media coverage. It’s a tiny, tiny group of morons creating this anarchy, it isn’t some widespread movement, so it can be stopped and the citizens need to demand it is. The mayor has taken the first step in that right direction.
As for your comments, I can tell you’ve been drinking the Kool Aid. And what you’re saying is incorrect, but you know that don’t you? Texas reopened 100% and ditched the stupid mask mandate, cases are down by 1/3 since March 10. They haven’t had any surge, so you’re wrong. There has been a surge in liberal run Michigan with governor Witless and she’s even more inept and crazy than Kate Brown. What do you mean by “taken this seriously”? What about the virus should have been taken more seriously? It wasn’t enough to ban travel from China, then to halt our economy while we did more research, then to fast track vaccines that proved to be 95% effective? There isn’t anything else TO do against a virus. Masks don’t work, never have, we have 39 years of peer reviewed research showing that actually. Dozens and dozens of studies over the course of numerous pandemics and epidemics and not a single study before 2020 ever showed any benefit. The mask mandates were given without one shred of scientific data to support them. And, lo and behold, to the surprise of nobody, the data from the last year shows zero correlation between mask usage and a state’s coronavirus case count. So what more did you want to be done against a virus with a minuscule fatality rate?! Nothing should have been done at all except telling old people to stay home, the rest was complete overreach. Of the 570,000 COVID associated deaths, just 8,000 were under age 40. A person under 45 has a 0.013% mortality risk, and that’s including people with other issues. Overall, 94% of the deaths were NOT COVID exclusive, they had an average of 2.6 other issues. And you want it to be taken “more seriously” than destroying businesses and livelihoods? Yes, then you’re also crazy like Brown. A tiny fatality rate virus doesn’t justify those extreme measures. It’s not Ebola. The second we knew the fatality rate was between 0.08% and 0.30%, we should have opened everything and gotten on with our lives.
I’m curious when you say she’s following health officials, you do know those people aren’t following science right? Because they told us 6 feet of social distancing yet MIT just released a report saying there never was any science or data supporting that recommendation and that in their research, indoors at 6 or 60 feet made no difference at all. It was the same virus risk. Of course, again any of us who are educated and do our own research already knew this because Europe had required 1.5 meters or just shy of 5 feet, so it was obvious from the start this was all arbitrary nonsense. Those are the health officials you listen to? I don’t listen to ANY health officials, I read peer reviewed research studies and if those conflict with health officials then the health officials are wrong, as they have been about virtually everything. Can Kate Brown read?
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