Portland, Ore., Is Losing Residents Weary of Crime and High Housing Prices
Portland, Ore., Is Losing Residents Weary of Crime and High Housing Prices
The city’s population decline of about 17,400 people to 635,000 was the sixth largest decline among the 50 largest U.S. cities.
Pacific Northwest city lost nearly 3% of its population between 2020 and 2022
Mark Rogers has made a list of things he misses about Portland—its vegan restaurants, Powell’s bookstore, public transit—and the things he doesn’t—having his things stolen, stepping in human excrement, extreme politics.
The 44-year-old artist moved across the country to Fort Wayne, Ind., last year.
“I don’t want to talk trash about my home city even though there’s trash everywhere,” Rogers said. “I still love Portland even though it’s got some problems, and I wouldn’t have left if the housing prices weren’t so high.”
Unfortunately for him, he probably moved from one political extreme to another. It's like there's no home for normies anymore.
What will the WSJ do when they don’t have portland as their punching bag?
The idea that portland is losing people in droves is a fun one. And as a portland resident I would support it because we have way more humanity than the city was meant to support. But the levels of traffic and the competitive rental market do not backup these stories.
I think you can probably take the census data at face value: Portland is perhaps losing residents. The reasons the WSJ is offering are purely anecdotal, though.
Having said that, high rent doesn't mean that the city isn't losing residents. Rents are skyrocketing in entire countries with declining populations (eg, Portugal).
Nice to see another WSJ reader around here. 👋
I have fond memories of Portland from the late 90s. It was reasonably affordable, cute, easily navigated, and quirky. What happened?
I can understand leaving Portland because of crime and bullshit.
I can't really understand preferring Indiana.
WSJ; Didn't read.