The vast majority of Oregon voters have a negative impression of Portland, a poll commissioned by The Oregonian/OregonLive shows.
Half the respondents said they have a very negative view of Oregon’s largest city, while another 22% said they have a somewhat negative impression of Portland, according to the poll conducted by Portland firm DHM Research.
Only 5% view the city very positively while 18% view it somewhat positively, according to the poll of 600 likely Oregon voters chosen to match the likely demographics of the state’s turnout in the November election. The poll was conducted Sept. 23 and 24 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Portland is facing a concerning surge in gun violence and is on track this year to near or surpass the record 92 homicides recorded in the city in 2021. The number of people in Portland living on the streets has risen sharply since the onset of the pandemic, and both Portland metro area residents (42%) and Oregonians as a whole (32%) believe homelessness is the biggest issue facing the state today, according to the poll.
Northeast Portland resident Roger Keto said he loved the city when he first moved here in 1989, but he believes it has become dirtier and grown less safe since the start of the pandemic and that the police have been strapped by understaffing that’s prevented them from adequately addressing increased crime in the city.
Keto, 65, said he is particularly worried about the growing number of people living on the streets. He said he has noticed increased drug use and crime since a homeless camp appeared two blocks from his home in the Hazelwood neighborhood just east of Interstate 205. He is also concerned that the city is planning to open one of six tiny home villages for homeless individuals near his home and said he would like to see city officials instead clear homeless camps and move houseless individuals into shelters away from residential neighborhoods.
“Since I’ve lived here, it’s always been a one-sided Democratic state,” said Keto, a registered Republican who told pollsters he views Portland very negatively. “I never had a problem with that before, but these politicians are so out of touch. Look at the way they’ve run this city. We need a change.”
The negative impression of Portland mirrors results from other polls conducted within the last few years. A DHM poll commissioned by The Oregonian/OregonLive in May 2021 found that metro area residents believed that downtown Portland had become dirty, unsafe and uninviting. A separate DHM poll commissioned by the city in May of this year found that 59% of Portland residents had a negative impression of downtown.
The new poll results come six weeks before Portlanders are set to vote on a sweeping charter reform measure this November that would transform how Portland’s government is run. Residents will also decide whether to reelect Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty or vote for her opponent Rene Gonzalez, a business owner and political newcomer.
Conditions in Portland have also been a hot-button issue in the three-way race for governor between Democrat Tina Kotek, Republican Christine Drazan and unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson. The poll found a strong correlation between how voters view Portland and their choice for governor. Fully 52% of Kotek’s backers view the city positively while just 12% of Johnson’s backers view it positively and 4% of Drazan’s backers view it positively.
In contrast, 83% of Drazan’s backers view the city “very negatively” compared to 59% of Johnson’s backers and just 13% of Kotek’s backers.
Beaverton resident Chuan Xu said he used to go to downtown Portland often to eat dinner and attend concerts, but said he no longer feels safe going out with his family downtown because of the homeless camps and drug use. Xu, 39, is a registered Democrat, but plans to back Johnson in the governor’s race because he is concerned about Kotek’s continued support for Measure 110, Oregon’s pioneering drug decriminalization law. He is hopeful that Johnson would bring much-needed change to the governor’s office and could be a leader that would help solve the issues plaguing Portland.
“I don’t think Portland can solve these problems by itself,” said Xu, who told pollsters he views the city very negatively. “There must be some help from the state.”
Nearly 80% of those who have a negative impression of Portland also feel Oregon as a whole is heading in the wrong direction. In comparison, 62% of those who have a positive impression of the city believe Oregon is on the right track.
Democrats are much more likely than those of other parties to view Portland positively, with 48% expressing that view. Meanwhile, just 6% of Republicans have a positive view of the state’s largest city.
Among voters polled who said they view Portland positively, 55% would prefer local governments to set up permanent housing, such as converted hotels, tiny home villages or affordable apartments to address homelessness, even if it takes more time. Those who said they view Portland negatively are much more unsure how local government officials should proceed, with 39% saying they would prefer local officials quickly create emergency shelters to make room for nearly everyone now living outside, 27% favoring creation of permanent housing even if it takes longer and 34% unsure which would be best.
The vast majority of those who view the city positively (85%) and a significant number of those who view it negatively (42%) said the state should tackle crime by doing more to address social and economic problems such as homelessness, drug addiction and mental illness. A majority of those who view the city negatively (52%) said the state should respond to crime by doing more to strengthen law enforcement.
— Jamie Goldberg; jgoldberg@oregonian.com; 503-221-8228; @jamiebgoldberg
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