Hollywood nights
I was sad to see more violence over by the Hollywood Tri-Met facility at 42nd and Halsey. Overnight Saturday night, a guy was shot and killed. There's a lot of gunplay in that neighborhood after dark any more. I seem to recall a delivery guy getting shot trying to avoid a carjacking attempt there not too far back. The urban planning overlords keep slapping up apartment bunkers over that way – Tri-Met is in the apartment business there now, too – but that hasn't stopped the crime and the violence.
There's a Trader Joe's near the scene of the latest shooting, and a Whole Foods a couple of blocks away. Oh, and of course a bunch of tent squatters, this being Portland. If you're like me, and you do your shopping there sometimes, you might want to, as they say, "be aware of your surroundings."
If you were new to Portland and someone showed you a map of the Hollywood District, you'd think it's a little slice of heaven. Wedged between two high-income neighborhoods. A straight-shot to downtown (at least before Scam Adams' Burnside-Couch "couplet"). Easy access to MAX and I-84. It's a developers dream. But, bit by bit, the bobblehead make the area less and less attractive ... high-rise low-income housing, limited parking, blocking of streets to make "greenways," traffic cameras, and an overwhelming tolerance for tents, tarps, drugs, and crime. We've come a long way from the days of Yaw's.
ReplyDeleteYeah I worked at Yaw’s.....even the Lloyd Center location later on. And Poor Richards too, where if the food didn’t kill you the cigarette smoke would. I commented a few weeks ago about how my friends and I would hang out in the Hollywood area in the early 80’s because it was full of restaurants when we had the munchies, but so empty at the same time.
DeleteIt was like a stoners paradise, especially Wing Wah’s, which used to be in the old Arctic Circle building. That was like Shangri-la to us. Now that area is full of pretentious hipsters and homeless types. Just sad.
The Hollywood district and the Lloyd center were fun, safe places before the Max line.
ReplyDeleteThat was 40 years ago. A lot has happened, not just Max. But yeah, I'd say it's not been a net plus for those two areas. Not to mention the unspeakable waste known as the streetcar. A Charlie Hales-Tera Hurst extra-special scam.
DeleteAnother thing that I noticed many years ago is the almost complete elimination of elderly people in the Hollywood/Lloyd Center areas. I used to love to go to Newberry’s for their $2 breakfast at the lunch counter. It was always packed with seniors who used it as their gathering place. Same with the Village Inn restaurant.
DeleteIn fact I used to see more seniors in and around Lloyd Center and Hollywood than I would younger people. Where did they all go? A mass alien abduction perhaps?
Well, a lot of them died. And the new crop of senior citizens is probably too scared to venture out. Although they sure do go to the Portland Jazz Festival. :)
DeleteMost of my contemporaries (I’m old) don’t congregate anywhere on the east side. It’s places are setup for a different interest group
DeleteThe old joke is, if you want to meet hot young women in Portland, go to the Dixie Tavern. If you want to meet their dads, go to the Waterfront Blues Festival.
DeleteShooting was around 2 AM, so we haven't bottomed out yet... Always looking for the silver lining, but keep seeing Aluminum crack pipes...
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