Originally Posted by
country978
The area around Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. And in Penn Station itself. I felt unsafe mostly because I was with my sister and my 80 year old mom when we were accosted by a deranged person. And there were many more in the area who didn't bother with us. There was also a murder in that same area just a few weeks later.
Thats just called an "average Tuesday" out here now.
One thing that irks me here, in regards to how I perceive how the rest of "you" (read as: anyone outside of Portland) see our homeless situation is so framed by the media as being this continuous problem that has plagued the city for years, and then the left portrays how so many of them are just "single moms who missed rent once and are out on the streets". Completely and utterly false.
15 years ago, the truly homeless were very few compared to now, and mainly segregated to a few areas of town. There WERE much more street kids/quasi-homeless, and ironically, many MORE panhandlers. Some of the panhandlers were just pro-panhandlers who went home to their house everyday after work, but the majority were legit people who needed a hand. Today, its tent city in pockets all over town, while panhandling is rare.
Easy explanation for that. De-criminalizing all drug use makes this a homeless junkies dream. These people will just break into your car or business to steal shit to sell/trade for their next fix rather than put in work trying to ask for money. Fun ecosystem. Property crime was always bad here but now it's through the roof. Violent crimes also at all-time highs for here, but thats only partially related to the homeless, and also comparatively a drop-in-the-bucket compared to Chicago/St. Louis/Baltimore and etc.