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A new report by the Urban Land Institute says Portland has plummeted from one of the nation's most desirable real estate markets to the bottom of an 80-city ranking. The decline occurred over just four years. In 2017, Portland ranked third in the institute's survey of national real estate experts, lenders and developers. For 2021, Portland ranks 66th. Here's what our readers had to say:
Courtney Sherwood via Facebook: "Well, yeah, we have demolished almost everything interesting about it."
Jennifer Gilbert via Facebook: "Rise in homelessness on the streets, graffiti and garbage everywhere, riots that last 100 days, mayor that does nothing. Is this news any surprise at all? Has anyone traveled through Portland lately, especially the I-5 corridor?"
EricMit via wweek.com: "Good, whatever is bad for house flippers and real estate speculators is good for working-class Portlanders."
@geekmikeOregon via Twitter: "Downtown real estate value doesn't really mean much to the vast majority of the citizens. Sure does mean a lot to corporate investment firms, though."
Conneeps via wweek.com: "Coming from an outsider's viewpoint, so take this for what it's worth…and I realize what locals think of non-locals. My wife and I have been visiting Portland consistently several times a year for the last seven years. There's so much we've loved about this city. With COVID and our jobs moving to permanently remote, we considered if this was the time to relocate to Portland. This summer, though, it was very striking the changes that have occurred. I'm not referring to the homelessness or grit you get in any urban area, which we're very used to and comfortable with. This summer, the city and bits of the eastside quite frankly looked…trashed. It was striking, next-level vandalism, trash, graffiti, homelessness, etc., that by itself in pockets isn't awful, but it had clearly so exponentially accelerated in 2020 that I didn't feel like I was in the same city."
Philip Higgins via Facebook: "Hint, it's not vandalism and trash. It's inclusionary zoning and rent control."
Jason Jaworski via Facebook: "Is this such a bad thing? We have been complaining about the growth rate for years. If it is really taking a pause solely due to the negative press, enjoy the moment because it's an awesome place to live and the masses will soon be moving in again."
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Email: mzusman@wweek.com