As long as the rights of those who break the law are upheld and rewarded at the expense of those who obey the law, Portland will not recover.

Until people stop pretending this is a homelessness issue as opposed to a drug and addiction issue, the problem will persist.

When i was working downtown Portland in 2017, i couldn't believe the number of homeless people sleeping in the streets. I see how much worse it is now. Left Portland after living there for 27 years. It's not the same. If you have the means to leave, go! What's keeping you there?

I loved Downtown Portland in the 90's. Those days are looong over. Favorite time: 1992

I remember back in the mid 80s and 1990s the Portland downtown was sooo beautiful. There was an awesome hustle and bustle. Yamhill Marketplace was awesome, no MAX line. Everyone was friendly and happy. It's such a shame what it has turned into. It makes me sick inside. What a sad thing for Portlanders.

The nature of office work has changed, there is no need to rent huge office spaces anymore when most office work can be done remotely. The office buildings downtown will remain empty and should be repurposed. Until they repeal measure 110 I feel they are only going to get so far making downtown safe. Where there are drugs there is also violence, it goes hand in hand. The last time I was downtown my 10 year old daughter and I watched a man shoot up less 6feet away from us.

Imagine caring more about homeless people than the hard working tax payers. Portland is a failed rehab facility with benefits Its gets better in one area then get worse at the next. I'd hardly call this progress

I love the comments of people who are like “it’s not that bad, I don’t feel unsafe.” I have lived here for thirty years. You obviously haven’t. If you didn’t see what it used to be, you don’t have a clue. It used to be clean and vibrant. If you accept this now you accept the slow decay. Sorry but it used to be way better

Cities must have standards , unfortunately Portland has none .

I used to LOVE to get a daily Max pass and just explore the city. I grew up in SE and only went downtown a few times, so as adult I love to window shop, let my nose guide me to good food, and ice skate at Lloyd center. I hope they clean it up and make it worthwhile to come visit.

There is optimism and there is foolish. Foolish is optimism with NO change.

Great journalism. This news channel brings me needed hope for the future.

My Mom and I visited in the mid 2000s and we had a wonderful time in the city. We moved here to Oregon in 2017 and were shocked and appalled at how far the city had declined. Homelessness, crime, drug use, mental illness, trashed encampments, riots, ridiculous housing prices, and the traffic sucks. Fast forward to 2023 and to this day my Mother and I have yet to return again except to go to the airport. NOT ONCE. Oregon is a beautiful state but Portland has stained its reputation. The problems of Portland have now spilled over to the state as a whole. Homelessness, drug use, mental illness, and ridiculous housing prices have spread to places like Salem and Eugene, etc. I live in Woodburn, and there are new apartment complexes being built all over. I called one to ask how much a two bedroom apartment. They said $2000 per month. Just ridiculous.

“…cesspool of crime, anger, tension and FOOLISHNESS.” That sums up what happened in 2020, especially the last word.

R.I.P. city

i work downtown we had a drugs rage person chase a group of people with a hatchet just yesterday, Portland is done and its sad, and its not if its when it will affect you

Thank you for pointing out the Apple stores built into that wall protections for the building I never hear anybody point that out and I appreciate that you did

The main problem I see with downtown portland are many. We currently are a city that has no idea what it wants to be. It is a city that wants the arts and entertainment, but does not want to pay for it. It is a city that wants its restaurants then goes and double or triples the rent to the point that it is no longer feasible to run said restaurant. It is a city that wants the homeless to vanish without a trace as long as shelters or section 8 is not in their neighborhood. It is a city with decaying infrastructure and awful zoning laws that prevent the buildings downtown from being repurposed. It is a city government that wastes massive amounts of taxpayer money on ideas that never get beyond the endless planning meetings. As long as Portland continues to be run by people with no vision for a future it will remain the same it has always been. It sometimes hits me as funny that people seem to not remember what Portland was like in the nineties. If we truly want Portland to improve it will take all of us working together to build the city we can all be proud of.

I'm visiting tmmr, just booked amtrak without thinking too much abt it, now i don't feel great abt my trip 😬

the perception that downtown is dangerous is there because it is. feels like an attack is imminent when you walk down the streets at night.

In Charlotte, we did the same thing that the lady on the study said. It’s actually more fun to go downtown and Charlotte than it used to be. There are huge big name acts at our NFL stadium, lots of minor-league baseball games, we even had our first major music festival last week. There are two food halls, There are plenty of things to keep you busy that don’t have to do with work. I don’t know how Portland would be able to do that if they don’t get a handle on the crime issues.

I live in the Hood River Valley, love many things about downtown Portland, but just cannot accept the risk of bringing my family here. Hoping that the people demand their leaders take the necessary steps to enact true change, as opposed to the dithering and posturing we currently see from them.

Taxpayers cannot both pay for the people on the streets and their needs and the arts,which has always been considered a rich person's entertainment.The city has to decide which is more important the money on.

The average rent is over $1,000, this is the real reason why there is so many homeless

There is plenty of people in my neighborhood that now work from home.

being worried about getting mugged is one things - a more realistic situation is your car window gets smashed in and whatever thing you left on the seat taken.

Just wanted to say I really appreciate your reporting (to the whole team). Everything from the perspective of eastern Oregonians and the greater Idaho movement to topics like this here in Portland. I really think you're fair and thorough. Thank you for being a positive force.

Walmart, Target, Safeway, WinCo all cut hours do people cannot pay their rent and get evicted

Moved to Washington and try to never go into Portland. Sad what the city has become

Let's do weekly meet-ups in the city. I went to the Christmas festivals and a fire performance festival in the "Winter Wonderland of lights" in Downtown Portland, and I loved it; the city looked great all lit up.

His notion of progress about how people enjoy a spring day... a city of thousands and shows one family out and about... during the day when most of the other people they interview about night outs in downtown feeling unsaved. Show us a video of the host walking around downtown and how he feels

Some of us left Portland because some of us are seniors and did not want to waste our precious remaining time waiting for the city of Portland and Multnomah County to bring back the city the way it was before BLM riots and the pandemic. I am not very optimistic that it can revive the city in the next 5 years, given the homeless issues. We loved Portland before 2020 but we lost faith in the city and county management, even the state legislature. Some of the new bills that are being discussed such as decriminalizing homeless encampments in “PUBLIC” places and allow homeless people to “SUE” for $1,000 if harassed or told to leave, are outrageous and not being fair to law abiding and tax paying citizens. And some of us are seniors paying higher taxes in this high inflation economy. Portland has much to offer and hence, we moved to Portland to retire to enjoy the city, the coast, and to the east, Mt. Hood. But after 2020, the city is on the decline and have not seen any improvement. The advocates of the homeless are not reasonable, do not come up with productive and collaborative solutions and hence Portland will not recover unless they become more reasonable, logical and come up with solutions that are fair to both the homeless as well as the law abiding and tax paying homeowners.

Bring the Elk back! If it needs armed guard give it armed guard. It’s on the sign for Christ’s sake

Why should people be compelled to come downtown just because they plea for it? Why take a risk or hassle with your safety? Nothing is more valuable or takes precedence! The government certainly doesn’t give a damn.

Portland will come back. It'll have to do it in a different way of course. Working from home has altered the way of downtown commerce. Is there one solution? No. But the overall theme is creativity. The city has to get smart about how it uses space. The arts is a great way to help that. We can't go back to how Portland was. We gotta stop wishing for a past to be our present. It's not a healthy way to go into the future.

City of dead rose 🥀

So it's the 'perception' of crime that is killing Portland? I thought it was actual crime killing Portland. There is no safe place to park, good chance your car will get broken into or stolen. Until the place is cleaned up and laws are actually enforced, nobody is coming back. You are a real piece of work if you encourage family and loved ones to go see a show at night in Portland,

I worked downtown for 15 years, 5 in Pioneer Square and 10 at 1st & Market. I loved walking through the downtown streets on my lunch hour, eating at different restaurants and food carts, shopping in the boutiques and department stores. I loved showing off the beautiful and vibrant downtown to out-of-town guests. Since the pandemic, it looks pretty depressing. I don’t feel unsafe, but the decline in the bustle, closed businesses, boarded up windows and graffiti, homeless camping, and open drug use is sad to see.

A angel once told me as thrice I held a dying newborn, a life for a life you must atone. As a child a grew up on little lies told by my parents and family and as I became a adult I did the same as the lies grew and grew I also told them to my children. The smallest lie turns into a greater truth. Turn away and you give up your innocence causing nothing but chaos to all life. We must all acknowledge the truth at some point but generally it only happens in the face of death. A life for a life we have lost our innocence.

"And no one wants to be your friend, cause you're not from round here like them, As if that were something to be proud about. The pearly king of the Isle of dogs feels up children in the bogs". Blur, Mile End

Oh dear. I visited this place for a week during their Rose Parade in 1991. It was a beautiful and safe city. Now Singapore has moved on to replicate the safe and beautiful city and we we do have a beautiful Garden By The Bay in downtown. Hopefully this city can restore back to a safe and beautiful city! God Bless! 🙏❤🌹🌹🌹

I remember visiting Portland in 2010 and thinking what a cool city it was, beyond the homeless issues it was already dealing with back then. At this point, Portland is a total disaster, and it basically died and has none of the appeal it used to have.

In the economic downturn heralded by layoffs and hyperinflation large city centers will not be the place to be when unrest starts to grow.

How's the east side doing? Hawthorne/Alberta/Mississippi? I haven't been in years.

Thank you for that balanced presentation. My recent evenings downtown have been uneventful, and felt quite safe. Some areas like Chinatown feel a bit sketch, but certainly not dangerous.

This city has so much potential, if we can elect leaders who care we can turn it around.

moving to Vancouver......taxes in Portland is killing companies .......I fired 11 employees in Portland area.....

The Apple Store did not take down that fence they built that fence into their wall the glass can break but each one of those panels can have a piece of plywood put up pretty fast not sure if you remember they had floor to ceiling windows what is at 20 ft tall pieces of glass I think it's great that they Incorporated protections for their building into the new front but when you news guys go down there and say huh they took it all down no they just built it in of course there was no way they could continue to have that huge pieces of glass 20 x 8 all of them are 8 by 4 the same size as a piece of plywood relatively easily installed removed when they undoubtedly will be damaged again

No free concerts will get me downtown

The arts and restaurants and food truck scene are what keep me wanting to go downtown. But the decay and lawlessness must be at least slowed down.

The riots and pandemic made it Worse, sure, but I used to work downtown and walk or take transit through Old Town several times a week as part of my commute and it was getting worse for several years before Covid and everything else.

I've lived downtown for like six years. The last few years have been rough but I feel its coming back. Theres a ton of people down here enjoying being down here.

Defunding the cops is the silliest idea I have ever heard.

An optimist among the ruins!

Seriously... why doesn't the symphony and other arts just move out of Portland? I will never, never, never set foot in the city again.

San Francisco is the same. There will always be great areas in The City and just like this article so much of the news focuses on the crime and bad and very rarely on the good.

I can see Seattle and to a lesser extent San Francisco making a recovery, but I think Portland is a stretch.

Where have you gone, Charles Bronson, our city turns its lonely eyes to you.

What do you think journalism is? A 4k walking video?

The man saying he smells urine was shocking most of the homeless use the library bathroom, and other places

There’s good? I went in 2018 and it was roughy then

Humans truly suck at times!!

Nothing is coming back,it’s a mess

Too expensive there.. That's why the city is in its condition. People can't afford to live and can't afford to leave. So, these are the results

7:05 Is it a perception or reality?

Postponing that drug bill enactment until September was a stupid mistake. Should have made it start immediately.

Facts. Many native Portlanders have done dirty things that have caused me loss of job, station and in any other place they would be sued and there would be oversight. I speak now of MODA CENTER, LEVY RESTAURANTS< ALUARA TAGGART, one of PDX's darlings. She is also a liar, rude and defames the character of others. What a pearl. With people like that, this town is worse than Chicago in the 1940s. It must have been nice to have your own playground to grow up on though.

Thank you. When people have hope there is progress.

Well, if yu'all won't try offering free parking from 4pm on & ALL weekends, then how about a return to FARELESS SQUARE?! - even if just for the summer, to see if you can pick up more foot traffic?? maybe even just try weekends for awhile? From N (the Pearl D > S where PSU ends; & from E, where it was b4 (starting at the Lloyd Center > W - Providence Park! After games, Folks might want to Max or Bus into DT & peruse Restaurants or some 'Artsy' Events? what have you?? anyhoo, any idea at this point, should be worth considering????!

“Portland depended too much on office workers and offices are vacant, we need to rethink how we approach downtowns” *refuses to even entertain the idea of converting empty offices into more housing*

Must be nice being able to work from home.

Oregon chooses not to have a sales TAX , so this is your fault

Strange to read the comment section and see all the excuses for Portlands decline while everyone ignores the giant elephant in the room that coincided with the decline.

This video is: danger, homeless, drugs unsafe danger homeless drugs business leaving rent to high danger homeless drugs danger homeless drugs closed business vacant business vacant offices danger homeless drugs I've been working in downtown Portland most of my life, I did the math yesterday and it's been 27 years. I don't hang out downtown anymore because it costs too much. This video even has a blurb on how much rent has increased... but it's only a blurb. Every business I know of has stated, "Rent is higher, revenue is lower" but the drugs-homeless-danger, though there, is the headline. You even state the April '19 to April '23 comparison is not "stupid high" though it is higher. How much has rent increased in that same time?

Our former secretary of state? 🤬

Lived downtown portland starting in 2011. The city is now dirty, unsafe and property taxes almost doubled in 10 years. Sick of the Democratic leadership and policy. Sold my home and left in 2021. May leadership change hands and be accountable on spending and support this city!!!!!

Mixed. Use. Zoning!

Come downtown. Nah. Thank you for your statistics. My family would rather spend the night out on town where we live… Washington County has more than enough to offer for our family. I work as a Security officer in Washington County. I’ve also held the same position in Portland. We’re very happy where we’re at. Thank you though.

Encouraging video. Bringing Portland back as an arts and entertainment area is a great idea.

Somebody dropped the ball in Portland

This situation is not the police fault. The leadership has tied their hands.

Move now be happy

I love Portland and ive lived in many cities. Safest ive felt in any major city.

Please please come downtown. Beg them. You're so liberal and care for all, well that's YOUR issue. Afraid of losing your job, why worry just join the homeless. Blame it on the Pandemic sure. How about explaining why you got so much crime, riots and homelessness. Is it due to policies? Who wants to open any business with camps outside their doors and people using drugs and fighting, serious question. Just let them be, ok so dont help them in any way....so this is the result. You elect people to be in charge of your city so be it. Good luck Portland, you need it.

Pro-law enforcement political candidates need to show these videos when campaigning.

Portland is the "Land of Oz" Complete/ the flying monkeys and odd characters. I've lived in old town for years. Just gotta watch out. This ain't Kansas anymore

I live in Portland and am anxiously waiting to get out. I used to be a liberal. I am not their kind of liberal. Get me out.

I won’t go there

Portland is past the point of no return. I live within a couple hours of Portland. We used to to Portland alot. Now no one goes to Portland. It's done...

Make inexpensive instruments and music lessons available to those homeless people who aren't currently addicted to anything, and bring them into the orchestra when they're ready. It wouldn't solve the whole problem, but it would make a small dent in it, and it would help them have some income, get them off the streets, make more room on the sidewalks, and make a more positive impression of the Downtown Portland area. It would also set an example for other employers. The real "perception" problem is the idea that some human beings are trash, while others are angelic. Neither is true.

Don't believe the hype. There are major issues to overcome. It will happen. Most of the idiots commenting here don't even understand the cause(s) and blame the wrong people. I hope more people move away.

For all the people who left goodbyee. You obviously didn't care that much, so long. Thank you for leaving so maybe these rents don't continue to go up.

It will come back 💜 lower the empty spaces rents ..so business can hire security guards for awhile 💜 make it easier for smaller new business!!

The woke Louis Vuitton store boarded up and left in ruins with black power graffiti on it is so symbolic. The dead-end of pandering to people who hate you.

Not risking my life for a show….no thanks

This is what happens when you take advice from social justice warriors.

The mayor does nothing, we don’t go.

Portland isn't dead, it's undead

You read the news and live in denial

I find it frustrating that the majority of coverage on Portland focuses so much on the protests and homelessness instead of their causes. Stop investors from holding our city for ransom, stop kicking out local bushiness to build hotels and luxury apartments and make it affordable to live again. Only then will downtown be a place people actually want to visit.