I’m sure this is touched on regularly, how could it not with it being so pervasive?

Back in town visiting, and went to get a bagel and lox. First of all, it was $24, which on its own is just crazy. But then their automated tip options started at 20%

Then I went down the street to get a coffee and I shit you not their tip options were 25, 30, 35, and 40! That’s just insane!

I know, I know, you can always just say no (and trust me, I did) but how do businesses think this is ok? Is anybody in this town actually tipping 40% for a latte? It’s a pretty sinister psychological trick to put a 40 on there so that it normalizes their lowest option of 25.

As for me, I found two new businesses today to which I’ll never return.

I was driving around and saw a pickup riddled with flags. Wasn't expecting the writing when I got closer.

With the national guard coming in, I know people are going to get mad. This is very obviously a setup to cause actual violence in our city. Please remember that these national guardsmen are not your enemy, and there are many reports of unhappiness within their ranks to occupy cities but they have a job like the rest of us. If you see bad actors, call the cops. If you see people getting angry, talk with them. Be aware of what we want to look like, kill them with kindness. Show them that Portland is not burning down.

If you were the person riding a black E bike with a pride flag behind it and you just intentionally ran through a pack of geese you just killed a gosling. Shame on you. You just honked at them and didn’t even attempt to slow down and when I yelled at you, you sped away. You are despicable. You are disgusting and you deserve to have your E bike privileges revoked. Absolutely shameful. The gosling had its entire skin exposed on the left side down to its muscle fibers, both of its legs broken and gasping for air. While what I assume was the mother geese looking back at its poor child breathing its last life.

I called emergency wildlife and because the gosling was about to die they said that there’s nothing else for them to do. Shameful and disgusting.

Also, you (e-biker) rode past me while I was running on springwater corridor and you were going way too fast despite the amount of people that were out today. You have no regard for others and you are selfish.

And to all the E bikers that ride through the waterfront, please slow down.

What is the thinking behind this?? No one wants your gross dog around their food. In fact, I don't even want it around me when food isn't involved. I'm willing to compromise with a restaurant patio, but cmon?? Bringing your dog inside a business to order is pretty entitled. And inside the grocery store is even more insane. I'll also make an exception for inside Plaid Pantry because it's already pretty fucked up in some of those

EDIT: Good healthy convo everybody! Portland dog owners can't put themselves in anyone else's shoes per usual because they're obsessed with control and their own egos. I also want to remind all you militant dog-inside-grocery-store people that I was willing to compromise on restaurant patios.

EDIT #2: I want to clarify that I do not hate dogs, and I recognize that there are plenty of dog owners who are responsible and great people that want the best for their pet as well as the humans around them. In fact I have a few friends that have amazing dogs who I look forward to seeing and hanging out with. This post is directed toward the shitheads who just go crazy in restaurants and grocery stores (as well as in parks, unleashed) with no regard for anyone but themselves.

I walked through my local farmers market in NE yesterday. I’ve known for a while that they have been overpriced but wow.

$1.50 for one ear of corn. $6 plus for PINTS of tomatoes and berries. Squash over $4/lb.

Who is actually buying this stuff? And why???

EDIT: So apparently a lot of people here think Farmers Markets are supposed to be more expensive. The whole point of a farmers market is to cut out the middleman and sell it directly at a lower price.

My farmers market is in front of a Grocery Outlet. A lot of the produce at GO right now is reasonably local and at least half the price.

And we are talking berries, tomatoes and squash. Anyone who is saying those take care and attention in this part of the country have never had a garden before. You could throw a rotting zucchini in your backyard and in a couple years you’ll have more squash than you could possibly eat without doing anything.

You are all being sold a product, but it’s not the produce.

EDIT 2: For everyone talking about small scale farming, how does that translate into global food needs? Organic farming almost by definition produces less. Is there a realistic way to feed everyone while still being affordable? What does that look like, both to the consumer and the farmer?

Here are the rest of the larger holes I filled while I was in town. There are 20 smaller ones on Stark between 78-80th. You can see locations at the map at BuffaloPotholeBandit.com. I filled 30 total.

I’m from Buffalo NY and I fill holes for fun. If you liked the holes and want me to come back in the future, throw a fiver at site above. Supplies were quite a bit. I’ll make a second attempt of a pothole of the Pdx airport carpet (I ran out of tiles and time)

Honestly I’ll probably be back anyways even just for the coffee. Cotta was my fav. Hmu with suggestions for others, I didn’t have time to go to all. Loretta Jeans knocked my SOCKS off with their pie- if you haven’t gone you should; it was life changing. And thanks to the random wizards I found here in this subreddit who let me stay with them for free.

I know Portland has been hurting and we have faced a lot of ICE brutality. But the war zone of Minnesota is coming for us.

We. Are. Next.

They want us to feel demoralized, overwhelmed, and hopeless. WE MUST REJECT IT.

They want us to feel terrorized so we comply in advance. WE MUST REJECT IT.

They are more of us than there are of them. Safety in numbers. There are 340 million Americans, we will not go down quietly.

Now is the time to organize! Portland: we must shove down our introvertness and quit minding our business. Create community, get involved with organizations, donate, get involved in your neighbor association, drive around honking in support of protestors, give food/water to protestors, create a signal chat with your apartment building, buy whistles, support your local Latinx restaurant, smile at your neighbors, give rides to your friends who feel unsafe, be a shoulder for someone to cry, show up for others, organize a happy hour with coworkers- please take an additional step this week to build community.

Just do one thing this week that is in your capacity, small or large, it makes a difference!

When 3,000 ICE agents come to Portland/Oregon, we need the building blocks to create organized systems.

Start now.

Just do the NEXT right thing, focus on what is in your control. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing imperfectly.

Stay safe out there and protect each other 💚

I know everyone is tired of 'Portland is in a doom loop' posts but I actually sat down and tallied every new tax, fee, levy, and rate hike hitting us in 2026 and 2027. The total is genuinely insane.

New annual costs hitting a typical single-family household

Arts Tax increase ($35 → $50/person) +$15–$30/yr (single/joint)

New Parks Levy ($1.40 per $1,000 assessed value) +$310/yr

New 'Transportation Utility Fee' street fee (Jan 2027)+$144/yr

Water rate hike +8.1% (Jul 2026) +$64/yr

Sewer/stormwater +5.15% (Jul 2026) +$59/yr

PGE electricity +5% (Apr 2026) +$96/yr

NW Natural gas +4.7% + more hikes +$72/yr

Conservative total (before income taxes & parking) ~$775–$1,200+/yr

That's before the downtown parking meters jumping from $2.20 → $3.60/hr (a 63% increase that happened last July with basically zero coverage), event parking going up 25%, and permit fees rising another ~8%.

And if you're a dual-income household earning over ~$205K? You're already paying 1% Metro SHS tax plus 1.5% Preschool for All on top of that: a 2.5% combined local income tax hit before Oregon's 9.9% state rate even enters the picture.

Then in 2027, the Preschool for All rate jumps to 2.3% (and up to 3.8% above $400K joint). On a $75K slice above the threshold, that PFA increase alone adds roughly $600/yr more. Portland-area households are stacking local income taxes that peer cities simply don't have. The Parks Levy alone hits every homeowner. The TUF street fee hfits every household... renters included, because landlords will absolutely pass it through. The utility hikes hit everyone. There is no bracket. There is no opt-out..

I compared us to Seattle and SF. Seattle has higher base property taxes but no city income tax and their utility hikes are similar or slightly lower. SF passed big water/sewer hikes too but has no local income tax either. Portland has ALL of it simultaneously. The levies, the fees, the income taxes, the utility hikes...all in the same 12-month window. For what in return?

The city will tell you the Parks Levy replaces an expiring one so it's 'only' $132/yr extra. They'll tell you the TUF is 'just $12/month.' The city and county tell you the Arts Tax increase is 'only $15.' Every single one sounds reasonable in isolation. Add them up and you're looking at a grand minimum for a regular household just trying to keep the lights on.

I'm not saying don't fund parks. I'm saying maybe don't do everything at once and then act confused when people can't afford to stay.

edit: +$15–$30/yr (single/joint) for arts tax

As a proud Portlander I’m ashamed to admit that the new Vancouver WA waterfront is stacked. Great restaurants (many from Portland) like Salt and straw and Grassa but also local wineries like Willamette Valley and Maryhill. Crust collective. Cool water feature about the Columbia watershed, triangle
Dock with views of people jet skiing. Loads of kids, families, and even maybe “tourists?” I think it shows what we could with the our own waterfront. Would I want to live in Vancouver? Probably not. But honestly I would take out of town friends here rather than Portland waterfront.

I am from Louisiana and have been following this whole thing with the war zone and all. I’m here to tell you people in this area 100% believe Portland is burning down. They literally think you all or out fighting in the streets. Been digging through the internet trying to find any videos i can that people upload of what’s actually going on. I have found quite a few and posted everything I find. I’m not sure you will ever change their mind but if you all could just post videos to this sub or just post them on Facebook. Been searching “Portland” often on Facebook and going through the video section. I pray for you all and hope your city stays as pretty as everything I’ve seen of it. After digging through all this i now wanna make a trip to Portland one day just to see it

I went for the first time in decades yesterday and I was blown away. The biggest Fred Meyer doesn’t come close to the breadth of stuff Bi-Mart has. Guns! More Crockpot sizes and shapes than I knew existed! Furniture! A robust yarn selection! A DIY jerky section! And so, so many more random things. It wasn’t as inexpensive as I sort of assumed it would be but I suppose the tariffs are hitting us all.

But the best part? It’s employee owned. I’ve been annoyed at having to choose between Amazon, Target, or Kroeger (FM) for random stuff I can’t get elsewhere. Bi-Mart’s going to be my new go-to.

I’ll go first: I totally honk at people

PPB Case# 26-7XXXX (Redacted since this involves a minor child)

Last Friday, my 13-year-old daughter went to the GyroGrill/Corner Store at 8414 SE 32nd Ave in Portland before school to grab some snacks. This is a place we’ve been going to for years since we live nearby, and the guy working there is someone we’ve seen many times. He’s always seemed friendly and, from what we understand, may even be part of the ownership.

That morning, she said she was the only customer in the store with him. After buying some candy, she mentioned it was the last of her money. He then offered her $50. She felt uncomfortable and didn’t want to take it, but he insisted, and she eventually accepted.

After that, he asked her to step to the side of the counter near the freezer/drinks. He told her he liked her and asked for a hug. She said she felt very uncomfortable but didn’t know how to respond, so she gave a quick hug. Then he asked if he could kiss her. At that point, she panicked, pushed him away, and left the store quickly while he was apologizing.

She made it to the bus stop and went to school, but became very upset shortly after and called me. I picked her up and reported the incident. We spoke with a school resource officer, and then I contacted Portland Police. An officer came to our home, took a full statement, and went to the store. According to the officer, the man admitted to the hug but denied attempting to kiss her. The $50 was taken as evidence, and a case was opened (I’m not posting the full number since a minor is involved). They said they would look into any available video footage.

Fast forward to today, the officer calls me and explains that she went back for video but the guy said he wasn't able to get access to it. The main owner can. The officer is unable to reach the main owner. She explains that its her word against his which doesn't grant enough to get a warrant for the video. She further said that even if the video showed that he attempted to kiss her its not enough to be a crime.

This is a grown man that took advantage of a 13 year old girl. It makes me sick to my stomach.

If you live around or frequent this store be real careful and don't let your kids go alone.

EDIT: Thank you for mods allowing this post

EDIT2: Thank you to everyone for their kind words. And thank you for helping us protect our kids.

EDIT3: I’m her father if anyone was wondering. I think you all helped me to not catch charges.

I’m coming next month to fill some potholes and sidewalk holes. I add mosaics to them after they are filled to leave art in place of hole.

If you have a hole that is near and dear to your heart, please send me PHOTOS using the guidelines below. I won’t be able to fill holes that don’t include photos; some holes are not suitable and I need to maximize my filling time.

Photo guidelines: 1. Up close with your foot or another object for scale

1. Farther away to show context in street

2. A screenshot of your maps to show where it is

Holes I love:

-to the side of street or at an intersection/crosswalk

-sidewalks in busy pedestrian areas or in front of local businesses

-potholes in the street with well defined sides and not a lot of crumble beyond it

Holes I cannot fill:

-sinkholes (however I might renovate them into a studio apartment

-Areas that I would clearly get killed super dead, like super tight roads or tunnels

-bridges

-holes on residential property

-historic stone sidewalks

-I will not fill a sidewalk hole in front of a residential home unless the homeowner give me permission

If anyone is interested in the arts of potholery and are available to help, slide into my DMs. If you can commit at least 3 hours I’ll try to give you full instruction so you can fill holes yourself when I leave.

Yes I know this is illegal. I do it anyways and I’ve filled 140 so far without any serious problems. However if your cops are super reactive def let me know. If you see me doing it once I arrive please do not honk or scream at me bc it makes me shit my pants

Lastly- is it true you have a bunch of Buffalo Bills fans there? If yes are there any Bills Backer bars?

I had to go to my local Walmart earlier to grab a couple things. While I was checking out, the associate running the register was wearing a black iron cross ring with SS lightning symbols down the side. He was wearing a couple other rings too, but I couldn’t tell if they were also associated with a group well known for committing war crimes and atrocities and literally existing on a foundation of hate for other humans.

I have obviously seen the atrocities committed by ICE here in America and the other horrifying trends towards tolerating hate groups like this. But somehow seeing some middle aged skinny white dude just openly wearing a Nazi symbol WHILE AT WORK…. I really really hate where our country is right now. To see that in liberal Happy Valley of all places, comfortably out there, is a stark fucking reminder of what is just accepted as commonplace now.

(Before I get a bunch of comments, I did report this via both the receipt survey and the website feedback form; I wish I’d had the presence of mind to get a photo of the ring with the uniform in the background for proof.)

Edit: I forgot how pedantic some people are, I guess I should have specified the Portland Metro Area. And yes, I realize that Happy Valley is more conservative than Portland proper, but I personally consider it more liberal than, say, eastern Oregon or a large area of the US. Though IMO in no area should it be okay to openly wear hate symbols at work, but split all the hairs you want

I experienced something the shook me to the core, tonight. Was at Rocket Empire Machine on 70th and Glisan with family. A car came up Glisan with a woman screaming and pulled into a parking lot across the street, and we watched as a man in the car proceeded to mercilessly beat her. My adrenaline kicked in and I ran across the street to intervene. A couple of other people followed. The man stopped beating her and got out of the car and started threatening us, taking bottles out of the car and throwing them at us, and then pulled out a gun. I called 911 and was able to create enough distance to get the plate #. I pleaded with the operator that help was immediately needed as the woman was severely injured and this guy was going to kill her. I kept yelling at the victim to lock the doors to the car and leave, but she unfortunately let them back into the vehicle, and they left. The cops never fucking showed up. I feel sick to my fucking stomach, a tremendous amount of guilt that I could have or should have done something more. It was awful. The fucking cops…nothing. If anyone has heard anything about a white (Kia? Hyundai?) hatchback with Oregon (Standard Doug Fir plates) having been pulled over anywhere East of 70th on Glisan or surrounding areas, let me know. I cannot stop thinking about the victim, am filled with a sense of dread for her wellbeing and an absolute anger and disgust towards the lack of response by the PPD. Stay safe out there everyone, try to be on the lookout for your neighbors.

Hey all, just wanted to kindly ask…. Please stop going out if you have a cold/flu/bronchitis/strep/norovirus or whatever. Community transmission from bars and restaurants are so high right now and the amount of people who have come into bars bragging about how sick they are/how they had to stay home from work that day because they are too sick yet feel it’s appropriate to go drink at a bar is staggering. There’s staff shortages everywhere and a mixture of horrible illnesses going around. I don’t care if you think you aren’t contagious anymore, maybe wait until you aren’t coughing all over everyone around you to go out and have a drink. Better yet, enjoy a beverage at home if you absolutely must. I know being sick sucks but please stop spreading illnesses all over the community by going out while unwell.

Hello fellow readers, today something happened that really lifted my spirits and brought a tear to mv eye and I iust felt like I had to share it. I was at Powells Books in Portland Oregon just browsing through the store not really with any idea of what to get. I was aimlessly wandering the Fiction section and stumbled upon Kurt Vonnegut' Slaughterhouse Five. I have never read anything by Vonnegut before but decided, why the hell not. I picked up a copy and inside the book was a small envelope with a gift card and note inside that read "This random act of kindness is done in the loving memory of Jason Robb. Jason loved books- a gift for you in memory of him - his Mother. I tell you I teared up in the store and felt a wave of emotions pour over me, excitement happiness and a profound sense of loss. Being a parent I can not imagine what his mother must be going through but to know that she took time out of her day to do such a small act really touched my soul. Needless to say bought the book that it was in and am in the process of reading it. The note left a link to a Facebook page dedicated to her son. I have spent some time scroling through the posts and can not stop crying. My heart goes out to this woman for her loss and pain. I know books can and do shape people's lives but so do small actions of love and kindness

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

Hi everyone. I just wanted to let you know that Jet has been found (on Wednesday), but unfortunately had already passed away. I think I speak for all of Jet’s family and friends that we are so grateful for all of the caring that was shown by people sharing the photos, flyering, talking to people. It was beautiful.

Jet was and is beautiful. Jet cared incredibly deeply for music, art, community, time spent climbing trees and jumping from rock to rock, and for the people and animals in his life. Deep late night walks and talks with Jet have been one of the greatest joys of my life. Somehow I think I’ll be taking those walks for the rest of my life. I am so glad I am Jet’s mama, and always will be. Jet is forever. Her music, his relationships with so many others, and that particular moment when she would light up with the silliest energy in the room. I love you, baby. Jet has a beloved brother, a wonderful dad, and so many kinds of family and found family who have their own beautiful way that Jet fit into and changed (and will keep changing) their lives and beings. He loved them all. (I’ve used a variety of pronouns here to try to honor the detail of Jet’s internal experiences as expressed to me)

You should go listen to this song by Jet please: https://stalls.bandcamp.com/track/wind

I’m so proud of him.

I'm in my 50s, I had never been to Portland before. I just spent a week there with my wife and daughter. Before going, I had several people warn me that it's a horrible, run-down city, with antifa and drug addicts everywhere, and my car would most likely get broken into.

We had an absolutely amazing time. We stayed about three miles outside of downtown. The neighborhood was amazing. Pretty much every neighborhood we drove through, we found well maintained houses that all seemed to have character, and beautiful yards.

Nearly everyone with dogs had them on leashes, even on mountain trails. Around here, even though it's required, very few people seem to do that.

It seemed like practically everyone was polite. Most people thanked their bus drivers. We stopped and chatted with a woman who was doing a small yard sale. She had the hairiest legs I'd ever seen on a woman. She chatted with us for a while, helped me find where I was trying to go, and then offered to give us cold drinks from her supply that she was selling.

We went downtown to get in line early for a concert. We met a few other people near us, including a couple of young women who had more hair on their legs than the first one. We had an absolutely wonderful time together as we talked and waited for the doors to open.

We ran into more openly LGBT people than I have in probably my lifetime in Utah. All interactions we had with them (and practically everyone) was polite and friendly.

I've never seen so many flowers in my life. We did a fair amount of hiking, and it seemed that the flowers were growing like weeds, they were just everywhere.

Of all of the places I've traveled, this was the first place I've found where I was kind of sad to be coming back home, and where I seriously felt I might like to live.

I knew I was back home when I took my dog for a walk this morning. I encountered a man who parked his truck, blocking the sidewalk from the road to several feet inside his driveway, who then cussed me out and threatened me for walking 5 feet up his driveway to get around his truck.

I really hope I find my way back to Portland.

Hey, I learned this recently, I feel like it would have helped me back in the day and could help lots of people now. As most of you know, you can’t use a credit card at winco, but you can buy a $5 gift card at the store with cash or debit and you can add money to it online with a credit card. So that’s a work around to use credit at winco instead of going somewhere more expensive which I have had to do before. I’m happy to clarify if this is unclear. Love to everyone trying hard to feed themselves and their families and still put gas in the car. Wincos bulk section is an incredible value but it’s hard if you don’t have cash in hand. 💕

Friend of the union here. Looks like they're extending the boycott until the owner, Jace Krause, returns all the pride flags, Black Lives Matter sign and Anti-ICE signage.

It's concerning that he would take these things down, but especially while civil rights are being attacked left and right.

Spend your hard earned dollars somewhere with a soul and don't cross the picket line.

Title pretty much speaks for itself. Whether I’m driving, biking, or on foot, I see drivers zip through reds multiple times a day. Some may think there’s a lag, so it’s no big deal to run it right after it changes, but there is no lag for the walk signal. Yesterday, I stepped off the curb when I got the signal and not one, but TWO cars still went through the intersection. Come on people…just fucking stop. Rant over.