Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
One of my biggest pet peeves is overhearing students talk about how “sketchy” or “unsafe” downtown Portland is. So often, these comments come from students who grew up in suburbs and whose parents paid for them to live in spacious houses in Lake Oswego or other affluent neighborhoods surrounding Lewis & Clark, and who have failed to even give downtown Portland the benefit of the doubt for a mere night out on the town.
I am always surprised and disappointed to hear about students spending all four years of their time in Portland living on campus, and am even more disheartened to hear those students complain about feeling unsafe downtown. On the one hand, I understand that walking alone in a city — particularly at night and especially as a woman — can be uncomfortable, daunting and at times, dangerous. I also understand that it can be jarring, at first, to see so many tents and encampments, but I do not think that is a reason to avoid the streets of Portland.
Perhaps, instead of jumping with fright and clutching your pearls at the thought of walking through the Pearl District, you could go with friends during daylight to visit the Chinese Garden or explore a new coffee shop. Perhaps, you could even practice what I would deem necessary “adulting” skills and learn to get comfortable in a city by being alert, keeping an eye on your valuables and staying aware of your surroundings. Perhaps, instead of awkwardly and presumptuously rushing to the other side of the street when you see a couple of tents coming up on the sidewalk, you could continue walking like a normal person, and even have a lovely conversation with a fellow Portlander. I know, a crazy concept — connecting with your community. Talking to people.
Portland suffers from a damaged national reputation — which, in my opinion, stems from the right wing media’s unfairly-established and woefully-misguided characterization of the 2020 racial justice protests as proof of rampant crime and violence in a city known for its blue-haired liberals. Public perception of Portland was completely blown out of proportion by national and international media outlets, who used inflammatory language to declare it a city in decline or a protest and drug-ridden hellscape. In my experience, that is not the case at all.
I moved to Portland in 2021, when the city was still recovering from — and still somewhat in the trenches of — the Covid-19 pandemic. Businesses had closed down, windows were boarded up, and the city was quiet, unlively and worn-out.
Those of us who came to Portland post-2020 were inundated with nostalgic stories about the city’s vibrancy before the pandemic. It is easy to accidentally internalize the assumptions and judgments thrust upon us by sensationalized narratives. And it is easy for us students to sequester ourselves from the city in this forested, insular, liberal arts community.
Do not get me wrong — our campus is beautiful, but so is the rest of our city. It is beyond me why anyone with free will would decide to live in one of the most artistic, weird, lush, food-abundant cities in this country for the first four years of their adult life, and then isolate themselves entirely to a small, undergraduate community verging on the suburbs of Portland. Being a student is about more than just campus life. It is not an opportunity to delay adulthood — it is an opportunity to transition into adulthood.
As graduation season approaches, I hear a lot of people jumping at the bit to get out of Portland, often with only negative things to say about this city. In my own experience, these are most often the people who failed to venture into the city and its community beyond Palatine Hill. Not everyone needs to love Portland as much as I do — it is a funky city and it is not for everyone. But it is unfortunate to see how few students give Portland and its residents — housed and unhoused — the benefit of the doubt.
Those of you who have chosen, intentionally, to spend four years of your life — or any amount of time, really — at this college in this city, should take advantage of the limited time you have to connect with Portland, explore downtown, talk to locals and engage with this corner of the world. Portland is a city filled with character — it boasts food cart pods, expressive fashion, natural greenery and weird characters. As LC students, we can and should contribute invaluable connections, perspectives and identities to our weird and beautiful city.
You are more than just a student — you are a person, a human being who lives in Portland, OR. Do not let campus life keep you from connecting with the outside world through outings, adventures, work and living situations. Be mindful of whether your judgments of Portland stem from your own aversion to and discomfort with seeing unhoused people, or whether they are rooted in genuine experience and observation. Show up with open-mindedness and a willingness to engage with the world around you. You chose to live here. So take advantage of it.
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