Tonight we are talking about the way people
think about Portland and its many issues,
and that is certainly our big s.
We're taking a look at the
Portland Inside Survey.
It was commissioned by the City
of Portland to get an idea
of what people actually think
about the city and its problems.
I'll go ahead and tell you upfr,
none of this information is
really going to surprise you.
I'm betting that every one of yu
can tell us what people think te
city's top problems are here.
They are homelessness,
community safety and the cost of living here.
Homelessness overwhelmingly
takes the top spot.
More than 44% of the people surd
said that was their top concern,
21% said cost of living and 19% said safety.
By the way, if you're wondering,
this was a random survey sent to
20,000 households throughout the city,
with additional targeted outreao
traditionally underrepresented groups.
They got back about 5300 completed surveys.
Racial discrimination and climate change,
by the way,
were the next highest concerns,
but those didn't even crack 4% of the total.
The purpose of the survey was to give
city leaders an idea of what's really
weighing on the minds of Portlanders.
They also wanted to hear from
people who moved out of the city
within the last few years,
presumably so that leaders can e
decisions and maybe make changes
that would address those concer.
So let's dig into some of the responses,
because those three issues are
pretty closely tied together.
As you'll see with some of these responses,
the survey allowed people to anonymously
write out their opinion on each section.
Here's what someone said about homelessness.
Homelessness is the biggest prom
which is tied to lack of affordability.
However,
the biggest issue is our handlig
of the homeless problem.
The homeless population and
permissiveness of camping everye
has led to rampant property cris
and lack of public safety.
Now when it comes to where city leaders
should focus their budget again,
overwhelmingly the response was
affordable housing and homeless services.
Nearly half of the survey takers
chose that option,
but safety services like police,
fire and 911 We're next with the
next highest choice.
Now when it comes to safety.
The survey asked people whethery
feel safe walking around day or night
in their own neighborhoods versus downtown.
74% agreed or strongly
agreed with the statement.
I do feel safe walking around
during the day in my neighborho,
but the answer is very different when
we talk about Portland's downto.
During the day.
About 42% of the people said that they
feel safe walking around the central city.
About 35% of the people said
they do not feel safe during the
day in downtown Portland,
and it's a much different
picture at night In downtown,
72% of the people say they do
not feel safe walking around.
In downtown Portland at night,
only 21% of the people said,
yeah, I'm okay with it.
Let's take a look at some
of the responses there.
One person summed it up pretty succinctly.
It's not safe to walk alone
in this city anymore.
Another person I wouldn't go out
night because I would be afraido
get killed outside and one respondent
worried about safety and racism writing.
Currently I do not feel safe for myself or
my wife to walk around in downtown Portland.
Asian hate crimes and mental
health homeless challenges chand
my mindset in regards to safety.
I currently do not recommend any
friends or family go visit or ce
to Portland due to safety conce,
so pretty strong there.
People reported not feeling safe
on public transit as well walkig
or biking through the city,
even taking their kids to schoo,
So pretty widespread.
They blamed it on Portland's increased
crime rates, Openair drug use,
people sleeping in public areas,
in tents, speeding cars,
and people having mental health crisis.
So yes, all the things you've heard about.
And they also blame Portland poe
for either being slow to respono
their concerns, not responding at all,
or not following up after they
have reported things to them.
Another graph that probably
won't surprise you.
How satisfied are people
that Portland is clean?
Most people not at all satisfie.
Nearly 74% said Portland streets
were not clean enough for them.
And remember, this survey did ha
decent sample size of over 5000 people.
So if none of this is surprisin,
why are we reporting it?
Well,
for one thing,
it's because a lot of people are
moving away from Portland and ot
of Multnomah County and they're
taking a ton of money with them.
The Oregonian just did a big analysis
of all this and we think that
is worth your time to check out.
They took a look at data released by the
Internal Revenue Service and found the
people leaving Multnomah Countym
2020 to 2021 took more than a billion.
Yes, with a BA billion dollars
in income with them,
that's a record loss for the co.
More than 14,000 tax filers and their
dependents gone in a single yea.
That's a big number according to the O.
Most of them were higher earners as well.
You can check out their article.
They also get into where people are going.
But we wanted to hear from a Multnomah
County economist for his take on how the
population shrinkage affects you and me.
First, the available labor force shrinks,
so there are fewer people that e
able to work the available jobs.
And with fewer people working,
there is less money coming
into the local economy.
So from an economic perspective,
you don't like that. But then ao
with less people earning income,
you have fewer people paying ta.
So city services or government
services could potentially decl,
and it could also lead to
stuff like school closures.
So yeah, taxpayers are importan.
In fact, higher earning
taxpayers are important.
Some of you might be thinking a smaller
population might be nice, less traffic,
smaller class sizes for your ki,
maybe even some more housing available.
We need that, don't we?
But the economist said, Nah,
those benefits will be small
and won't do much to offset the
hit to the local economy.
We're already seeing this effect play
out in a smaller way when you ta
look at the drop in the number of people
commuting into Multnomah County every day.
That number has fallen
dramatically since before the
pandemic and it's impacting job.
This has had in a huge effect,
especially in Portland and Multnomah County,
because there's about an
estimated 59,000 fewer people in
the county during the work day.
It's a 6% decline from 2019.
So this has had an effect on moy
service positions across the ci,
but mostly in the downtown core.
Isn't that amazing?
59,000 less people in the
county during the work day.
The economist said that leisure
and hospitality employment is
currently down 16% since 2019.
That translates to about 9000 fewer jobs.
Let's take a look now at
why people are leaving.
Going back to the Portland Insit
survey that we started with.
When we take a look at the three
biggest issues in Portland,
homelessness, affordability and crime,
which one do you think has
people leaving the most?
Well, turns out it's affordabily
more than anything else.
Around 37% of people said they t
Portland within the last five ys
because they found a more affordable home.
The other top reasons had more to do with
personal life than with wider city issues.
People left to be closer to wor,
school,
family or friends,
or for a better job or school district.
Only about 10% of people said tt
they left the city because theye
concerned about public safety and violence,
and less than 7% left because
of the homelessness issue.
So of the top three problems in the survey,
affordability seems to be the biggest
reason for people to be moving .
Okay, one last graph for you.
Because the whole point of the
survey was to get city leaders o
give them an idea of the proble,
to try to help them address the.
So what do people think about or
city leaders and city governmen?
You get one guess and the firste
doesn't count because you know the answer.
Just over half the responders say Portland
does not have an effective government.
Less than 1/4 of respondents,
only 23%,
think that city leaders are doing well.
As for the written responses,
many people directly blamed Portland's
leaders for its current problem.
One person wrote.
Because of weak political leadership,
I watched my own neighborhood
grow substantially more unsafe
over the last two years,
and another simply said the locl
government has failed to meet te
challenges of the last four to five years.
The city is in total disarray.
Well, as always,
we want your take as well.
We know you always have great thoughts
on the state of the City of Portland and
how city leaders are doing to address it.
Tell us your top concerns,
William,
and why you feel that way.
If you left Portland or Multnomh
County in the last few years,
why did you leave and what do yu
think are the solutions to the
situation that we find ourselve?
Send us an e-mail,
the address is the story at kgwm
or call and leave a voicemail.
The phone number is
5 O3 226-5090.