Livable no more
Forty years ago, or even 10, a visitor to Portland from any other part of the country would immediately remark how clean it was here.
Now it's the opposite. Garbage, human waste, used needles, abandoned vehicles, graffiti all over town. It's a pigsty. And unhealthy.
A big part of the problem is created by the population living in tents, but that's not all of it. City Hall seems to have given up and decided to let things go, somewhere around five years ago.
Somewhere around the time Ted Wheeler and Chloe Eudaly showed up.
The Oregonian has an interesting story on the troubles here, but you'll have to pay (or game the paywall) to see it. The article has some humorous moments. As in, get this: There's going to be a cleanup effort run by former Mayor Sam Adams. The jokes write themselves.
I suggest paying the homeless to pick up the trash. Not hourly. Piece work. By bag? There's plenty of them doing nothing. It's not that tough of a job. Many would do it vs panhandling. So why not? Does it have to be union city workers?
ReplyDeleteGive it a try. It may be surprisingly successful. The city burns money on failures every day.
Whatever they do, it will involve creating a new bureaucracy and a property tax measure to fund it.
ReplyDeleteI posted a picture on Dead Memories taken at 3rd and Taylor back in 72' in Dead Memories Portland on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=4367314313285687&set=gm.4256449411050514 of what was then a seedy part of town but I have to confess the sidewalks were spotless.
ReplyDeleteI always thought about moving to San Francisco because of the scenery and the scene, but now I don't have to- we look and act just like it now...
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