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Last week, WW profiled five people who made a counterintuitive choice: They moved to Portland in the past 18 months (“Welcome to Portland,” Aug. 4, 2021). The recent transplants WW spoke to range from a vegan blogger to an architecture student, and came to Portland from places as close as San Francisco and as far as Yangon, Myanmar. We asked the new arrivals why they moved to Portland during a year when the city has made national headlines for political unrest, a homelessness crisis, and deadly climate events. Here’s what our readers had to say:
Dot Halford, via wweek.com: “Looking forward to the companion piece of this article: ‘Why People Are Leaving Portland Right Now.’”
Keith Lamond, via wweek.com: “My wife and I moved here in late fall of 2019 and guess what, we are happy we are here. We love our neighborhood and all the shops, restaurants and bars that are close by. I also love that Mount Hood and the beach are pretty close by. Chinatown area is a mess, I don’t see us going back there for a while, but the rest of downtown is coming back. My wife and I enjoyed a recent trip to Powell’s and walking around that area. Portland is also a lot more than just downtown. The pandemic hit Portland hard, but there still is a lot to like.”
Ryan Miller, via wweek.com: “Clean and safe. These two basic priorities must be met to a much higher degree—everything else Portland has to offer is secondary. I’m optimistic we are turning the corner after a horrific 18 months. But there is a lot of work to do.”
Tom Mcroy, via Facebook: “Portland’s long game is sound. It’s got a diverse economy, temperate weather and smart people. I think the riot prom and COVID will eventually be a footnote. With Boise and Salt Lake now as expensive, maybe our soiled rep might chill things out a bit.”
Jeff Roth, via wweek.com: “I feel like they could have found at least one houseless person that arrived here in the last year to interview, just to balance out the article. Aside from the student, this is basically Californians and New Yorkers that found a much cheaper place to live and a couple that doesn’t eat anything that casts a shadow. I think they’ll all fit in nicely.”
@VaderSnark, via Twitter: “Did you interview any of the low-income people that were displaced to the numbers and Gresham by the out-of-state bourgeoisie?”
Maura Gingerich, via wweek.com: “It is quite dehumanizing to focus on random strangers’ personal feelings about ‘the homeless problem,’ when it is clear that the interviewees had no great problem finding housing in Portland. Curious if WW tasked the contributors with this offensive focus or if they chose it themselves.”
@lasertag19, via Twitter: “Did you seek out transplants of privilege or was that all you could find?”
Mary Thiel, via Facebook: “All of these people interviewed are a great addition to the Portland population and embody what is best about Portland, especially their ability to see the city as offering so much more than what detracts from it, and their compassion for the homeless, like many Portlanders. I moved here from Southern California six years ago, and I still love Portland more than any place I’ve been.”
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Submit to: 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210.
Email: mzusman@wweek.com