Is Oregon even safe to live in now? (Portland, Eugene: 2014, neighborhoods)

[JackieLovesSun]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Or maybe just stop watching Fox News.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

I think it is pretty likely she will and would be shocked if she doesn't sign it.

If she vetoes the bill then the repeal initiatives move forward with tremendous momentum and I think they call for harsher penalties than the legislation awaiting the governor's signature.

She is a long-time speaker of the OR House and so very politically astute and savvy. She would know that vetoing the bill will only energize the petition repeal process and make it a partisan issue for Republicans who would wield it to their partisan advantage and campaign against her as the pro-drug governor. People may disagree with her politics but she is no fool.

The majority of Oregonians want it repealed and she wants a second term. She is a highly intelligent politician who knows how the game is played for sure. I think she will sign it too.

[WiringGuru2]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Define "safe".

For the cost to live here though, it's pretty crappy in comparison to most of America.
Uber Progressive stupidity has wrecked a lot of things.

It's unfortunate because Oregon 20+ years ago was very safe. Even when I was working around Portland I didn't worry too much about jobsite thefts or that sort of thing. Then I began to notice dumb stuff by the city council like they spent law enforcement funds to hire a weirdo artist to paint dumb **** around town & I knew it was going downhill.



At least there are still some pretty rural areas but the people who ruined Portland will migrate to those areas and ruin them too it's only a matter of time. They are locusts.

[WiringGuru2]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

The majority of Oregonians want it repealed and she wants a second term. She is a highly intelligent politician who knows how the game is played for sure. I think she will sign it too.

I'd be surprised if it doesn't pass. Whenever I go to Oregon for work or family it seems like everybody is fed up about that issue.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by WiringGuru2

At least there are still some pretty rural areas but the people who ruined Portland will migrate to those areas and ruin them too it's only a matter of time. They are locusts.

Rural people and city people are not the same people. No need to worry.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by WiringGuru2

It's unfortunate because Oregon 20+ years ago was very safe. Even when I was working around Portland I didn't worry too much about jobsite thefts or that sort of thing. Then I began to notice dumb stuff by the city council like they spent law enforcement funds to hire a weirdo artist to paint dumb **** around town & I knew it was going downhill.


At least there are still some pretty rural areas but the people who ruined Portland will migrate to those areas and ruin them too it's only a matter of time. They are locusts.

Rural folks are always complaining that urban people don't treat them with respect.

And then we all too often see this sort of rhetoric. Locusts? Really?

I don't think you have to worry. Crappy rural areas are actually bleeding population, not the other way around.

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Rural folks are always complaining that urban people don't treat them with respect.

And then we all too often see this sort of rhetoric. Locusts? Really?

I don't think you have to worry. Crappy rural areas are actually bleeding population, not the other way around.

Disagree

Lots of City folks do stupid things, make stupid decisions and vote unwisely.
Logical commentary is just natural reaction.

Crappy urban areas lose population too.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Disagree

Lots of City folks do stupid things, make stupid decisions and vote unwisely.
Logical commentary is just natural reaction.

Crappy urban areas lose population too.

Voting unwisely is often in the eye of the beholder.

Across the south and in rural areas around the country many people voted for politicians who campaigned on cutting health care and opposing the Affordable Care Act. And in many southern states they blocked expansion of Medicaid.

What was the very predictable result? Rural hospitals have been closing around the country but especially in the south in states that refused to expand Medicaid. Why is that? It is because there are a lot of rural poor in this country and Medicaid is the means by which hospitals are compensated for their care. No Medicaid recipient pockets a dime of Medicaid, every Medicaid dollar goes straight to hospitals and other health care providers.

Without those Federal dollars to reimburse rural hospitals, many around the country went bankrupt and closed. Or they closed vital services like OB/GYN and delivery rooms. Which is often the death knell for rural communities. When the local hospital closes many of the high-paying jobs disappear along with those people and the town slowly shrivels and dies. The kicker is that those people are still paying the same Federal taxes, it is just being spent in other states and not their own state which has rejected it.

Are rural voters who vote for the politicians who end up killing off their own towns voting unwisely? Arguably they are.

This thread is about crime. But objectively, violent crime nationally and in Oregon is far lower than it was two decades ago, and the bump we saw during the pandemic is already fading. The difference between 1990 and today is that social media tends to sensationalize and nationalize every example of crime anywhere whereas back in 1990 before social media, crime was more of a local issue unless it was something of dramatic national interest like the OJ trial or some such.

People also equate homelessness, drug abuse, and crime into a single issue. When they are, in fact, three separate issues that require separate solutions, even if there is often overlap.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Rural folks are always complaining that urban people don't treat them with respect.

And then we all too often see this sort of rhetoric. Locusts? Really?

I don't think you have to worry. Crappy rural areas are actually bleeding population, not the other way around.

Agreed, and this is from someone who grew up in rural Oregon.

On the other hand, the other side isn't that hard to see if you've ever lived in a place where a lot of urban types come to recreate. Or even if you live on the other side of the river from Oregon's second-largest population of urban liberals.

Anyway, I don't feel unsafe in Oregon, but I have to admit that when I decided to move back to the valley from the California retiree-infested hellscape known as Florence, I deliberately chose an area with minimal-to-no homeless activity — not so much for safety issues but for quality of life issues. My town gets a lot of knee-jerk hate and is smugly referred to as "Springtucky" by the usual wannabe edgelords who've never had an original thought of their own, but in reality, it's got a nice little downtown core with decent restaurants and coffee shops, a museum, library, a community theater, and retail where you don't have to worry about stepping on biohazards or being hit up by an incessant stream of panhandlers, and the parks are actual parks rather than homeless encampments. Were were also the inspiration for The Simpsons and have the murals to prove it.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Agreed, and this is from someone who grew up in rural Oregon.

On the other hand, the other side isn't that hard to see if you've ever lived in a place where a lot of urban types come to recreate. Or even if you live on the other side of the river from Oregon's second-largest population of urban liberals.

Anyway, I don't feel unsafe in Oregon, but I have to admit that when I decided to move back to the valley from the California retiree-infested hellscape known as Florence, I deliberately chose an area with minimal-to-no homeless activity — not so much for safety issues but for quality of life issues. My town gets a lot of knee-jerk hate and is smugly referred to as "Springtucky" by the usual wannabe edgelords who've never had an original thought of their own, but in reality, it's got a nice little downtown core with decent restaurants and coffee shops, a museum, library, a community theater, and retail where you don't have to worry about stepping on biohazards or being hit up by an incessant stream of panhandlers, and the parks are actual parks rather than homeless encampments. Were were also the inspiration for The Simpsons and have the murals to prove it.

I just had some clients move to Springfield from Salem because they wanted a smaller town (but not too small) and Salem was becoming too urban. They like it there.

Matt Groening is from Oregon. I wonder if he designed any of the murals for Springfield...