The louse that roared


A gig I would not want is promoting tourism in Portland in this era. It's a tough sell. And I would have a hard time looking the tourists in the eye when they got a good dose of what's happening here.

The guy who's currently getting paid to perform this task made some comical headlines the other day when he declared that tourism in town is "really roaring back." He's feeling pretty good now that he's managed to get the national teachers' union to commit to hold their annual confab here two years from now, in our white elephant Convention Center. They're more daring than I would be. 

Between now and then, I'm sure the tourism bureau's going to continue insisting that we all need to start going downtown again to make it seem more "vibrant." But as they well know, the locals are a lot smarter than the tourists. Even the arrogant bureaucrats in city government refuse to risk a daily round trip through the ongoing fentanyl festival to work in person at City Hall.

Undaunted, the tourism guy prattles on. His new motto is "We're no worse than anywhere else."

“We as Portlanders are surprised by what we see and what we’ve seen. But we are also hearing very positive news from the mayor and from our elected officials that change is happening, and we actually do see it on the streets too,” Miller said.

“Come downtown, see it, see how exciting it is. Go out to a restaurant, we’ve got Ticket to Dine going on right now. So, there’s lots of good reasons to get you back downtown.”

Maybe if you never knew downtown when it was good, you wouldn't regard its current state as a disaster. But for the rest of us, there's simply no reason to go down there any more. Maybe a rare musical event – maybe. Then again, even the Portland Jazz Festival is running some of its shows in Beaverton these days. Until people feel safe, there will be no "excitement," at least none of the good kind, in inner Portland. I doubt that day will arrive before the teachers from Des Moines do.

Comments

  1. A block away the Mercantile has bars on all its windows.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I attended a music event downtown in October. GWAR!!! Upon exiting the Roseland, I walked straight into yellow police tape. There had been a stabbing a block away while we were inside. Sheesh.

    Pro-tip, the further south and west you go downtown, the better things are relatively. No one likes to walk uphill.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just spoke to the owner of a men’s clothing store and he said the new nearby county homeless day spa (thanks Deborah) is causing the area huge problems.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The first few sentences of his pitch reminded me of that inexperienced NFL sidelines reporter who went viral some 10 years ago. You know the one with “Coach so and so is enjoying his moment, as you can see him now on your screen.”

    He doesn’t even believe in what he is spouting, but gives it a go anyway. Good for a laugh, but nothing else.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I wonder how many of those city government bureaucrats even live in the Portland metro area.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Somehow this guy makes a half million a year, even with tourism in the crapper. Not really sure how that check continues to clear.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Many, decades ago. A group of my friends discussed the behavioral concept of “flight vs fight”. At that time the consensus was that flight was spineless. Maybe it’s my age speaking. But, flight is beginning to look sensible.

    ReplyDelete
  8. A tent in the entryway to the (once) beautiful Art Deco Chas. F. Berg building. This is why I can't go downtown anymore. Like Joni Mitchell sang, 'Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you had till it's gone." Breaks my heart.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very sad, the group that bought the Berg building did a beautiful job keeping the art deco look while making it safe for the big shaker coming one day. It’s totally empty today. This was a beautiful high end store in its day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 4th generation Portland here. My mom, grandma and great grandma used to dress up to go downtown. My sis wore black at her sales job at Meier & Frank. I was more hippie style but I spent hours at the library and shopping. This pix hit me a bit in the sentimental part of my brain. I seriously doubt I will ever see this part of downtown revitalized in any recognizable way in my lifetime.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

The platform used for this blog is awfully wonky when it comes to comments. It may work for you, it may not. It's a Google thing, and beyond my control. Apologies if you can't get through. You can email me a comment at jackbogsblog@comcast.net, and if it's appropriate, I can post it here for you.