{UAH} DEMOCRATS HAVE TURNED PORTLAND INTO FIRKIN BEIRUT

Portland residents scared to visit downtown area, citing riots and homelessness: Poll

by Michael Lee |

May 16, 2021 02:29 PM

“I love Portland, generally speaking,” said Matthew Forsyth, a Portland resident who participated in the poll. “It’s just that downtown right now, it feels like it needs to be revitalized, and it doesn’t feel safe.”

Forsyth wasn’t alone in his assessment of the city, with respondents to the poll using words such as “destroyed,” “trashed,” “riots,” and “sad" to describe how they now feel about downtown Portland.

While 86% of respondents said they feel safe where they live, they are a lot more pessimistic about the city’s downtown area, where 53% said they feel safe during the day and only 20% said they feel safe at night.

The area's homeless population and the continued riots and protests that have plagued the city since George Floyd's death are among the issues leading to unease among residents. Asked how they view city leadership’s response to protests, 55% of respondents said they strongly disapprove, while another 20% said they somewhat disapprove.

While 85% of respondents said they believe the downtown area was vital to the city’s economy, they expressed concern about returning to the area.

Portland resident Myrna Brown said she used to go downtown frequently with her 13-year-old son to enjoy festivals and other activities, but now, she says the city has let things get out of hand over the past year.

“He’s very afraid to go downtown now,” Brown said of her son. “He loved to go down just to the waterfront and walk around. He loved to go to Saturday Market. These are things that cannot happen anymore.”

Many respondents felt the same way.

“I didn’t feel safe downtown anymore,” said Tosha Morgan-Platt, another poll participant. “Now, I don’t go downtown unless I have to.”

Portland resident Laurie Lago said city leaders shoulder much of the blame for the issue and that they have let violence and property destruction go on unpunished.

“There seems in the last year to be this permission to do violence,” Lago said.

The poll had 600 respondents and a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

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