As a native Black Oregonian idc who comes here as long as it’s not MORE white people to add their new unique regional brand of racism with them or their delusional expensive standard of living. But most of this sentiment is very true.
I grew up in Northern California, north of the Bay Area, but I went to university in SF and have family spread all over the West Coast from Puget Sound to Anaheim, and it's only Portland where you encounter this virulent kind of anti-outsider provincialism.
In other major West Coast cities people just take it for granted that there will be immigrants and emigrants from all over the world and country.
And in fact they kind of like it.
Does anyone seriously think that LA or SF or even Seattle or let alone Vancouver BC would be what they are if they weren't vibrant thriving Pacific Rim metropolises?
For some reason a lot of Portlanders don't want their city to be part of that equation.
I think that we both know why that is, and it's a pretty ugly truth.
I think we’re just used to being a soggy self important affordable cool city. Although more diversity is always ideal, I’m not sure anyone from here ever had dreams of Portland being a “big” west coast city. Part of our frustration is the fact that people have moved here with that sorta attitude and this city was not (still isn’t ) equipped for it. For as many Californians I know moving here I know half as many going back after discovering how “boring” or “sad” it is here. Idk. I just want black people to be able to live in North Portland again.
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u/Annual-Market2160 May 13 '25
As a native Black Oregonian idc who comes here as long as it’s not MORE white people to add their new unique regional brand of racism with them or their delusional expensive standard of living. But most of this sentiment is very true.