Life in Portland right now

[saraha]

Last year we took an epic anniversary trip that included a stay in Portland, and fell in love with it. I was just wondering what daily life is like right now for people who live there. It is so much in the news here.

Thanks

[BeachGal]

One of my sons lives in Portland, a mile away from the area you’re seeing in the news, and he said most of the city is fine. He feels safe where he is at.

[saraha]

That is so good to hear!

[Lawyer&Mom]

I have coworkers in Portland who can’t access their downtown office building, but otherwise are fine.

[Ali in OR]

I don't live in Portland and haven't been there (other than PDX once) since before the pandemic. But I would be wary of some of what you see on TV and anything Donald Trump says. Portland is liberal and supports protests in general and BLM in particular. It's unfortunate that other groups, far left and far right, use it as a stage/battleground. Keep in mind that any time the news mentions pro-Trump protests or activity in Portland, they're coming from somewhere else.

[prairiewindmomma]

Right now, we’re having a windy day. Last night a lot of wildfire smoke blew in, but it has mostly blown out.

Some favorite restaurants have closed or shut down locations. Definitely look at google maps or whatever if you want to eat some place special. There’s a lot of sidewalk seating and takeout—most people aren’t eating indoors.

Movie theaters, museums, and other large gathering places remain closed. OMSI has their ticketed special exhibit open, but the rest is shut down. Powell Books is open in Beaverton but the downtown location only has two sections open.

We have pretty strict masking rules. People are still avoiding public transport for the most part (I see empty trains and buses a lot).

I don’t recommend being down by the Justice Center after 8 pm, but otherwise life is pretty normal. It’s weird to watch National news when I feel like we are living a different reality.

[Farrar]

I think people who don't live in cities, don't always realize the extent to which "mass unrest" or "large scale protests" or "clashes with police" barely register for most people in a city. I have friends and one family member left in Portland. No one I know feels threatened or anything. More like what Prairewindmama said.

I would also urge folks to be very wary of anything the administration claims about "what it's like." Not just in Portland but in any city experiencing this sort of unrest right now. They are trying to spin a particular narrative.

[Pen]

 

My Godson was attacked recently while riding his bike early in the morning . It isn’t clear if it was related to the things on news or not. He took defensive action and got away from attacker. 

ETA: While not clear if it relates to the news stuff, it is out of character in our experience of Portland for someone to be attacked by people with baseball bats while riding a bike. 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Pen

[Happy2BaMom]

I have a close friend who lives less than 15 minutes from downtown. Her daily life has been unaffected (tho neither she or her husband work downtown). From what she tells me, the protests (the ones featured on TV) are concentrated in a small geographic area and don't really impact any other area. 

 

[saraha]

37 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I don’t recommend being down by the Justice Center after 8 pm, but otherwise life is pretty normal. It’s weird to watch National news when I feel like we are living a different reality.

I would say it would be really weird to see a completely different experience on tv than what you are living! With media the way it is now, I wanted to take advantage of the large membership of the hive to get a ground view.

5 minutes ago, Pen said:

My Godson was attacked while riding his bike early in the morning . It isn’t clear if it was related to the things on news or not. He took defensive action and got away from attacker.

I am so sorry about this!

[Jean in Newcastle]

38 minutes ago, Farrar said:

I think people who don't live in cities, don't always realize the extent to which "mass unrest" or "large scale protests" or "clashes with police" barely register for most people in a city. I have friends and one family member left in Portland. No one I know feels threatened or anything. More like what Prairewindmama said.

I would also urge folks to be very wary of anything the administration claims about "what it's like." Not just in Portland but in any city experiencing this sort of unrest right now. They are trying to spin a particular narrative.

Yes.  I recently was in a rural area of my state and someone who obviously had a certain political leaning kept badgering me about the "unrest" where I live.  She didn't believe me when I said that I had not personally seen any unrest.  It was kind of surreal, actually, how insistent she was that my experience was a lie.  (I know that there is unrest.  I just don't go to those areas - which are in a very specific area and aren't actually even in my little city but are in the bigger city close by and are mostly after 8 pm.  )  

As to Portland, a Native American friend of mine was harassed while trying to walk downtown recently.  She said that it was weird to be harassed for "being white" when she actually isn't white (or is actually only half white).  But I had the opposite experience (years ago) when I was harassed by Skinheads for being with my Filipino husband.  You can't extrapolate from a bad encounter because you can encounter very different people with very different prejudices while also encountering a lot of people who are kind and thoughtful and inclusive. 

[Loowit]

My DH's office is in Portland, but he is full time work from home.  He very rarely, and right now never, has to go in.  I am glad because his office building is right on the edge of the unrest.

From what I am hearing and seeing it is limited to small areas of the city, but in those areas it can get pretty bad.  I have a friend whose husband is a cop in Portland.  Most of what he is seeing is the protesting against cops and it being very unsafe for him and his coworkers.  There have been a number of cops, protesters, and civilians injured in the parts where the unrest is not being contained well.

I used to live down there when I was in college, and there were parts that were always a bit dodgy but as long as we were in a group we felt safe enough.  Now there are a few parts I just don't think I would feel comfortable going even in a group especially after dark, but I don't think that is different than any other large city.

[prairiewindmomma]

This is a good point. I would not go in the area between Voodoo doughnuts and the Lan Su gardens right now with children at all or in the evening. There are a lot of homeless struggling with mental illness there (due to the nearby shelters). The Skidmore Fountain max station area is sketchy...exit at the next stop (old Chinatown) instead.

[Slache]

My girlfriend works in a lab downtown and she began paying more for safer parking because she gets off at 2AM, but doesn't think it was necessary. She did this around CHOP time, but continues to pay just to be safe.

My church that does a lot of work downtown says no biggie.

My cop friend has been shot at twice (both missed), been through several bomb and arson attempts and is now being treated for PTSD. He wears civilian clothing, but works in the building all night.

[annandatje]

My son works nights in a building within a couple blocks of protests.  The supervisor sent them home early a couple nights when explosives (flash bangs?) rattled windows.  Other than that, it has had no impact on his daily routine.