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Originally Posted by Paxil
It almost seems like Portland does not deserve an NBA team. 15 years ago it was a nice place to live. Seems like the snob ratio has gone way up now... haves and have nots. Parts of the city are dieing and our politicians gave up long ago on building the roads and freeways that we planned like many many years ago. By the time we realize it is ridiculous it will be too late. So sad for the city... Blazers will go and so will their support for the community... the boys and girls clubs... the money to Portland schools, and of course we drop even more off the National radar... which will affect us in even more ways... tourism, business etc...
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What are you talking about. Do you even know what this city was like in 91'. North and Northeast were raveged by Crips and Bloods and the south was infested with skinheads. Every time it rained the Willamette was a open sewer. None of the bridges could stand up to a major earthquake. There was no MAX and the buses were out-dated and covered with soot. The Timbers were gone. The Beavers were going. Civic Stadium was a shambles. Lloyd Center was a dying mall. No East-Bank esplanade. No Bike lanes ( ANYWHERE ).
Get things straight. The city has made major improvements in a ton of areas and deserves credit for that. The schools have lacked proper funding for as far back as I can remember, so that is nothing new. But, the city has done major renovations on a lot of bridges, roads, sewers, and mass-transit to make it so the utilities will hold up for years to come. North Portland has boomed and is a lot more livable. The neighborhoods of Alberta, Mississippi, Hawthorne, Sellwood, The Pearl, and Interstate are booming communities again due to an influx of investment from people moving here.
I will agree that some things are a little more snooty, but I feel much safer in Portland now than I did in '91.
What Portland tax payers are fed up with is the legislature and top officials with the state continually getting nowhere in balancing a budget and focusing on the schools while still making large salaries. The Oregonian is so ineffective at reporting that by the time it makes a report about something that the public should no about, cough cough Downtown Bus Mall Max Line, it is to late to make a difference.