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HHusky
Member Posts: 21,591
in Tug Tavern
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Congrats HH, you have proven to be the conspiracy king! What next? Hands Up? The Russians are coming the Russians are coming!
LOL!
https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2021/06/plywood-boards-fencing-are-still-protecting-downtown-portland-property-will-they-harm-the-areas-rebound.html
Signs of renewal abounded this week in downtown Portland.
Hundreds flocked to the Portland Farmer’s Market at Shemanski Park for produce while others soaked in the sun and socialized at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Tents and trash that have troubled some visitors and residents for months during the pandemic have started to vanish.
Yet virtually every block in the heart of the city continues to have boarded-up buildings and windows, a jarring juxtaposition to the budding vibrancy.
Imposing metal fences still loom in front of the Apple store and the towering office building that is home to The Standard, both reoccurring targets of vandalism. Corporate chains and mom-and-pops alike hide behind thick slabs of plywood.
As city officials seek to appease retailers and employers and encourage residents to work, shop, dine and attend cultural events downtown, the patchwork of boards and barriers remains an intractable hurdle.
Dorian Butcher encased his entire storefront a year ago after a riot erupted and led to widespread looting downtown following the murder of George Floyd.
He said the city’s seeming inability to curb property crime downtown and late-night demonstrations that turn destructive are causes to keep the wooden wall up indefinitely.
“Unfortunately, I’m not comfortable with having big panes glass while people rove around freely with rocks and hammers,” said Butcher, who opened Dorian’s Shoe Repair on Southwest Sixth Avenue in 2003. “You may have noticed there’s been all sorts of shenanigans in the last year. I’ve no doubt we’re going to see more of it this summer.”
Sporadic acts of vandalism and property destruction continue to haunt many business and government property owners, despite police and prosecutors’ efforts to crack down on the worst actors. So do brazen burglaries and break-ins that police and merchants say have surged since the pandemic.
Trepidation and uncertainty linger even as workers begin to return to downtown’s largest employers and a slate of cultural events and festivals are on the horizon.
“I couldn’t tell you when retailers are going to feel totally fine with taking their boards down,” said Vanessa Sturgeon, a developer and property manager who helped found the Rose City Downtown Collective, a group that advocates for businesses in the area. “It feels a little bit to them like being naked.”
Downtown in distress: Portland’s core is unsafe and uninviting, residents say in new poll, threatening city’s recovery
Results suggest deep pessimism about downtown Portland, the city’s economic, cultural and transportation hub. They also could pose severe obstacles to the city’s recovery from the pandemic recession.