Portland Is a Bit of a Disaster (But Not for the Reasons You Think)

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My name is Xavier, I’m a student of planning at PSU and a huge fan of yours. I was the one who advocated that the Oak Street slip lane across from Powell’s be closed and turned into Pod Plaza. One of the best feelings I’ve ever felt is seeing those benches in Pod Plaza in one of your videos. I cannot understate how accomplished I feel in this moment. Thank you, CityNerd. It’s been a tough week with the Broadway Scandal, but this has made me feel so much better. Keep up the good work!!

Portland's downtown is like if Vancouver's west end and Seattle's Pioneer Square districts combined: good pedestrian access, and trees actually shading the streets for the whole downtown

I live in downtown and take the MAX and bike to work. It is rough, consistently late (or trains don't come), 15 minutes is "frequent" service and there are people screaming and smoking fent on the MAX probably 3 days a week and rent keeps going up :(. Portland is beautiful and the public transportation is SO close to being awesome but it feels like public transportation has been given the backseat in the last decade. I can't believe you helped with the FX line!! That line is a lifesaver when the green line train doesn't show up in the morning. I'm a civil engineering major and want to work on projects that improve urban life, thanks for this channel!

I'm a fan of one-way streets. Much easier to cross by foot or bike and can allow you to get rid of a car lane for sidewalks, cycle lanes, or transit

The biggest issue with that right turn situation is that unless you put physical barriers up, people will do exactly what you saw. Worse yet, a lot of people driving just "follow the leader", so will just follow the car in front without really thinking critically about what is going on or what the road is telling them to do. Perhaps the answer is actually physical barriers between the right turn lane and the bus lane.

i live in portland and used to be a strictly public transit commuter. even before the pandemic, when the homeless population went from “kinda bad” to “apocalyptic”, public transit here was a gamble. buses and max trains pretty regularly just never came, with no explanation, and there was always at least one person experiencing drug-induced psychosis on any given max train (that did bother to show up). but i felt like it was manageable and the convenience outweighed the danger. now it’s just a freaking nightmare, there’s always someone screaming, and someone tranqed out, and someone who looks like he’s seconds from attacking everyone near him. i don’t know what anybody can do about this, but whatever it is, it’s not being done.

Ray the problem is that there are not enough people LIVING in the downtown area. You can’t rely on people just coming downtown to work for the lifeblood of city and patronizing the businesses.

The issue with Portland public transportation is that whether it’s functional for you is highly dependent on where you live, and if you live somewhere affordable public transit probably doesn’t serve you. I have never lived anywhere in this city where driving to work isn’t literally 3 times faster. Right now google maps says this: driving is 21 minutes, bike is 57 minutes, public transit is 58 minutes.

Its so weird seeing Portland Oregon less vibrant than downtown Portland Maine. Our city is way smaller but its always got lots of people walking around

If you look at "Miles of bike infrastructure created or improved" with miles of "car infrastructure" (as a ratio) the greater portland area with, for example, the greater seattle area, portland has been resting on its laurels as a "good bike city" for at least 10 years. There are other metrics to use of course, but its illuminating to look at. Edit: THANK YOU FOR COVERING THE BROADWAY SCANDAL

Jonathan Maus' reporting seems to have led to some backtracking on the plan to tear up the Bdwy lanes. They're talking more about studying the issue. The hotel owners contribute to campaigns so their complaints are going to be heard. Commissioner Mapps is running for mayor, incidentally.

I live in SE Portland, and the problem with drivers ignoring bike signals to turn right is even worse there. Sometimes there is a car in the bike lane illegally turning on EVERY cycle.

Grew up in Oregon and lived in Portland for awhile, been in NYC for 30 years. I visited Oregon friends this summer, after a long hiatus, and headed downtown to see the hellhole I'd been promised it is now, by both friends and local news. Yes, I can see there's problems, but net/net, I was blown away by how absolutely beautiful Portland has become. Truly gorgeous. If I were looking to move again, I'd seriously consider it.

I visited Portland last year. Coming from Europe and hearing the news, I went in with very low expectations. I only went there because it was relatively close by and I wanted to experience America's infamous train system. I was really surprised by how nice the city was. I didn't feel unsafe at all either. Unfortunately, there weren't many people walking or biking around, so it felt empty at times

We visit portland every year from Vancouver bc, and we always have a good time. It's definitely more quiet now than before the pandemic, though. I also found it funny that our relatives from red US states were asking if Portland was a warzone, and to be careful when we visited. The level of extreme disinformation is comical.

love the video! (long time Portland resident, for 17.5yrs, around nw/sw) and it's insane how much more car dependent it has become. It doesn't make any sense to me because of how much of Portland isn't designed for the amount of cars going around now. Plus the recent push back against any improvements in transit and bike lanes is just confusing to me.

Thank you for making this video. Reasonable talk about downtown portland just doesn't exist and it gets absolutely obnoxious. So tired of hearing from people that live out in the suburbs eating up right wing news outlets when they haven't been downtown in 5 years. As for the light rail, there's a shuttle that goes from the airport to gateway until construction is done.

Great video Ray! I used the SW broadway bike lane everyday to get to work and the new protected bike lane was super nice. The decision to remove the SW broadway bike lane is a testament to Portlands stagnation and poor leadership. Portland also now charges businesses for taking up street parking for outdoor dining. While it gets a terrible rep, I think Portland has a lot of potential and it’s absolutely beautiful. There is a great community of biking advocates and it’s pretty easy to get around without a car for a city of its size.

Could you make a video on the needs and trade offs of converting downtown office space into housing? How are city planners involved in this process?