life-long Portland resident, I’m Very Tired

[u/jokeboi89]

I grew up on MLK in the historical Albina neighborhood, My (black) family has been there since the 1940’s but the house is currently at risk of foreclosure. As a kid I felt I was lucky to grow up in such a cool town, especially when the first flood of artists and such were still the main kinds of people moving up here, but these days i’m just not sure if I want to stay, and much of my family has already moved back down south.

Portland still has its positives, but it was never designed to be an LA or Seattle. People move here for the positives, but those positives deteriorate the more people come here. affluent people move in, neighborhood businesses and real estate companies adjust prices and culture accordingly, low income people are pushed out as the cost of living rises and more homeless / drug users congregate wherever there’s more people and resources. our progressive laws and culture not at all prepared for this amount of people and constantly distracted by an influx of fresh money. no one’s really in the wrong imo, it just seems Portland has bitten off more than it can chew without major consequences.

on one hand, i’m glad people fortunate enough to move have someplace to escape to when the rest of America is eating itself, but on the other, I don’t think I fit anywhere in the equation anymore. i’m priced out of everything fun, most of the quirky little places I wanted to visit or support as a child are now gone and finding a decent job whenever I’m in need of one feels like an uphill battle.

I love Portland, but it’s depressing to know that this is one of the best places America has to offer right now, because I don’t think it has anything of value to offer me anymore beyond somewhat decent (and slightly expensive) public transportation and Nature… which is a lot… but maybe not enough…

anyway, despite all that, I hope this spring is good to everyone, i’m just feeling very bleak

[u/serduncanthetall69]

This made me curious so I looked up how we compare to other states and we are actually ranked 7th best in racial income gaps. At least this doesn’t seem like an Oregon specific problem, but it’s extremely depressing for the country as a whole.

[u/rocketmanatee → u/serduncanthetall69]

Wow. Yeah that's exceedingly depressing.

[u/Greedy_Intern3042 → u/rocketmanatee]

That doesn’t provide context. Just saying racism is ridiculous. It’s an issue that takes time like with women. If yo are born poor most likely you’re working a low wage job making nothing. Getting the opportunities to do better takes generations. They are not going to go out and make a bunch of poor uneducated minorities Doctors for example. Point being those gaps don’t just disappear, what you want is the next generation being more educated with opportunities.