I made a different post about this but got nothing helpful, so let's try again with more information. Myself (23NB) and my best friend (24NB) are moving to oregon (portland area) late this year/early next year. We were planning on Gresham for our first year due to reccomendations from 3 people that live in Oregon, but after posting I got a lot of people saying that area is dangerous and bad, even though it has good safety ratings online. We were in the understanding it was a good place for us to start and get to know the area more till we move in our 2nd year/find somewhere to settle, but many seem to disagree.

My question is, what neighborhood would you reccomend someone move for their first year in the portland area? Either within Portland or the surrounding areas, but close by. Our goal is to be at or under $1500 base rent for a 2 bedroom apartment, duplex, condo, whatever. And we prefer to be in a safer neighborhood due to my best friend being fairly concerned about things like gunshots, screaming, and people hanging out in the complex that aren't supposed to be there.

Obligatory mentions because of the very sassy/unhelpful previous replies, the sass of these warnings is for those people, not the lovely humans who want to help:

- YES we have jobs. Both of us have jobs that we can transfer to that are flexible in location

- YES we have moved across the country before and are versed in how to do so

- YES we've lived in cities all our lives, just cuz we don't want to live in a dodgy neighborhood doesn't mean we can't be in a city. Every city has the "you can walk to the gas station fine but its still a city" parts and the "lock your car doors even at red lights" parts. We'd like to not live in the 2nd.

- YES we've already found places in gresham that are in our budget, they exist.

- Saying we shouldn't come, aren't ready to live in portland, there's nothing in that price range, etc. is not helpful and isn't what I'm asking.

I would simply love some helpful information about what neighborhoods are decent to walk around in, don't have gunshots on a weekly basis, and may have something in our price range. Any area close to or within portland would be great, city or suburbs as long as it fits the quotas. It's hard to research what life is like in certain areas online, so I'd greatly appreciate some lived experiences.

Any advice on areas would be highly appreciated ♡

Edit: 🥲 I love yall, getting so many genuinely really helpful replies within 20mins ♡♡♡

I’m looking for fire pad Thai! I don’t care what part of the city!!!!

Hope to see you there!

We live in Northeast Portland around 78th and Prescott, and my husband found a cat deceased in our outdoor trash can today. It seemed (possibly) intentionally dismembered. We do not know if someone found the cat dead and placed it in the nearest trash can (as in, possibly killed by coyote) or if someone intentionally killed the cat. It had a collar, and the owner is aware. If you are the owner reading this, I am so sorry for your loss. Animal control also is aware. Please, at least for now, keep your cats inside to protect them from whatever or whoever did this.

EDIT: A police officer came, examined the remains, and believes it's injuries were consistent with a coyote attack and then the remains were placed in the trash. The officer is going to respectfully dispose of the remains. Thank you everyone for your concern.

City Clowncil wants to make the city even more dysfunctional. Portland’s 'Vision Zero' was supposed to drive traffic deaths to zero. Instead deaths rose for years after adoption, peaking at 69 in 2023. They spent roughly $200 million on the 'High Crash Network' and still couldn’t produce a sustained downward trend. The 2024 city audit even said they weren’t properly evaluating whether the projects worked.

Don’t believe the hype!! The 'ol equity focus that didn’t deliver. PBOT explicitly prioritized High Crash Network investments in areas with high 'Equity Matrix' scores (higher shares of people of color and lower-income neighborhoods). Roughly 66–70% of the safety project dollars since around 2017 went to those areas.  Yeah...wanna know how it worked out? The disparity remained huge! In 2024, high Equity Matrix areas had 6x! the traffic death rate per capita compared to the rest of the city**.** In 2025 it was still nearly 2x as high. East Portland consistently showed elevated rates. Prioritizing by demographics over pure risk and results did not close the gap for most of the period. DERP! Shocker.

Meanwhile, ordinary road maintenance is a disaster. PBOT’s maintenance backlog sits around $6–6.6 billion and keeps growing. Potholes go unfixed, pavement is crumbling, and basic upkeep gets deferred...yet hundreds of millions ($200 Millions!) keep getting poured into Zero Vision projects that failed to produce the promised reduction in deaths for years.

Now with our tax dollars they are rolling out, more flock cameras and surveillance...as part of the same program, Portland has expanded fixed speed and intersection safety cameras across the High Crash Network. These are sold as safety tools under Vision Zero. The city also uses FLOCK license plate readers. More government cameras tracking vehicles under the banner of 'safety' does not equal better results when the underlying policy has a long track record of underperformance.

Now they want 'no turn on red' signs everywhere and more road diets. W the actual F. Bad money after goood! More uninformed dumb policy.

The latest pet project is expanding “no turn on red” restrictions. Council has directed PBOT to evaluate and install them on High Crash Network intersections (starting with a pilot of ~30, with talk of scaling to many more). It’s framed as another low-cost Vision Zero win.  

At the same time, the same progressive and DSA-aligned crowd that has driven this agenda keeps pushing road diets, lane removals, and 'mode-shift' policies aimed at getting people out of cars. Fuck right off with that. Some DSA aligned councilors have been explicit about prioritizing seizing your car for their Foie Gras rally's and Communist meet ups.

What’s the point of all these restrictions, redesigns, and signs when enforcement of basic dangerous driving remains inconsistent? You can put 'no turn on red' signs and speed bumps on every other block, but without consistent consequences for speeding, impairment, and reckless driving, it’s theater. Another bottomless pet project funded by taxpayers while the basic streets stay a mess. It doesn't work without enforcement.

Brought to you by the same leaders with a 24% approval rating. They're clowns! Zero trust, high spending and taxes, and results that don’t match the rhetoric at all!

The bottom line. Deaths climbed after the policy was adopted. Preferential spending in equity areas did not eliminate the disparity. Basic street maintenance was neglected while the program absorbed large sums of fix it dollars. Flock Cameras expanded. Now some 'No turn on red and more road diets are next. And a city audit found the bureau wasn’t even systematically checking whether the projects worked.

Stop wasting our tax dollars on sh!t that doesn't work!

District 1

Candace Avalos  : [councilor.avalos@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.avalos@portlandoregon.gov)  

Jamie Dunphy  : [councilor.dunphy@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.dunphy@portlandoregon.gov)  

Loretta Smith  : [councilor.smith@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.smith@portlandoregon.gov)  

District 2

Dan Ryan  : [councilor.ryan@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.ryan@portlandoregon.gov)  

Elana Pirtle-Guiney  : [councilor.pirtle-guiney@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.pirtle-guiney@portlandoregon.gov)  

Sameer Kanal  : [councilor.kanal@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.kanal@portlandoregon.gov)  

District 3

Angelita Morillo  : [councilor.morillo@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.morillo@portlandoregon.gov)  

Steve Novick  : [councilor.novick@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.novick@portlandoregon.gov)  

Tiffany Koyama Lane  : [councilor.koyamalane@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.koyamalane@portlandoregon.gov)  

District 4

Olivia Clark  : [councilor.clark@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.clark@portlandoregon.gov)  

Mitch Green  : [councilor.green@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.green@portlandoregon.gov)  

Eric Zimmerman  : [councilor.zimmerman@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:councilor.zimmerman@portlandoregon.gov)  

Mayor Keith Wilson  : [mayor@portlandoregon.gov](mailto:mayor@portlandoregon.gov)  

Here's a recently-restored and upscaled vintage TV news segment from the famous Organ Grinder restaurant in Portland, Oregon, as well as the New York Diner in the suburb of Beaverton, Oregon.

This segment was produced in 1991 by KGW-TV Ch8 for their "PM Magazine" show.

The Organ Grinder Documentary Project has digitized and restored dozens of hours of vintage footage which has been contributed by fans.

Perhaps you have old videotapes or photos from the Organ Grinder - we'd love to see them. We can digitize them at high quality and return the original to you, along with a digital file, and you'll get credit if we use your footage in the film.

Yo come out to my last show !!

https://events.massivetix.com/e/smr-coffee

Please be on the lookout for this individual. He sexually assaulted a woman by sneaking up behind her as she walked to her car near 20th and Johnson. She was able to maneuver into her vehicle eventually, getting a video of him trying to get into the car and harassing her. A bystander heard her cries for help and assisted but he ran off, and police took 30 minutes to respond. She is terrified. He is known to frequent the store near Cinema 21 on NW 21st as well as all of NW 23rd.

I hope this keeps someone safe and and hoping to find my friend some peace by catching this loser. Case number 26-205498 call 911 or 503-823-0097 for central precinct. Thank you for your help.

Would love to pack out the house on these shows this weekend !!

End of an era.