Oregon, My Oregon

From Mark Hemingway, spouse of the Unsinkable Mollie at RCI, Model City: Portland’s Journey From Symbol of Chic to Shabby

That one of America’s most progressive cities has become a laughingstock in one of the country’s more progressive magazines is a sign of Portland’s ongoing troubles. Like other big cities with major challenges, such as Chicago and San Francisco, Portland boasts many lovely areas and vibrant neighborhoods. But it is also defined by a range of pervasive problems – including crime, homelessness, drug addiction – that are less the consequences of modern society than self-inflicted wounds created by ineffective policies. If Portland stands out from other beleaguered cities, it is because its decline has been so swift.

But, as they say, read the whole thing, and weep.

Although I claim a connection to Oregon as a 9 year resident, and former landowner there, Portland was never really my venue. I had some family there, my Dad's sister Dorothy, and her clan, and we visited from time to time, but when I was in Oregon, it had not yet gained its status as a progressive Utopia. I tend to blame refugees from California, noting the irony that I was one.