My humble opinion.... it has to be located at the Redtail Golf Course. Portland is heading towards a doom loop scenario (see San Francisco). The other area in regard to the Lloyd Center, is not the location I would suggest for anyone looking to build or revitalize. A couple things to consider. One, we have a DA in portland that doesn’t prosecute crimes, thus the crux of major issues plaguing Portland’s city central areas. Two, give yourself a fighting chance to have some semblance of safety when visitors come to the ballpark. The Redtail area is by far safer than downtown. I carry every time I go downtown. Regardless of what side of the river I’m on in Portland. The issues are real. It’s not blown out of proportion. The argument that this ballpark will fix and revitalize the area located at the Lloyd center is not going to happen without a serious crime crackdown. The homeless issue.... just as horrific in the Lloyd Center area. Which puts the bow on that area... What basis do I have for my opinion? I have a plethora of police clients, on-site visual references I’ve witnessed myself. And yes, statistics, and friends, and business owners all trying to flee that area. So, an easier build and a more sustainable area with less crime..... Redtail. Just my two cents.
Red Tail is not a solid site either. Taking out a golf course that is so good and convenient to all is not what we need to do. This site sucks for north and east. Has no transportation options
lloyd Center is the right place. Tons of hotels, down the street from Blazers, on transit. It's available and can't be beat
Really, you carry a weapon with you every time you go downtown? That's not what we need, more guns... are you really that afraid? Revitalizing that Lloyd Center district and connecting it to the Convention Center and Moda would be a part of the plan to get a handle on dealing with the homeless and crime crisis. If you think one out of touch DA who will not be around when the shovels hit the dirt on a mega project like this is the biggest problem it faces then it looks like a go!
While I respect your opinion of not needing more guns, I vehemently disagree with you. Scared? More like smart. The Homeless and drug addicts carry weapons coach. I don’t walk into a knife fight with a knife, I bring a gun. Period. Gone are the days of my youth where we can man up and go toe to toe. I’m still willing to do that. But, that’s not what gets presented in downtown when dealing with the underbelly of society in a confrontation. I suppose you think ANTIFA is just an idea and not actual people running around creating and promoting destructive behavior? Portland is a virtual open drug market because of our legislature and city leaders. While I respect your liberal view, portland doesn’t oust DA’s. Even if the DA moves on into private practice, Portland/Multnomah county is a Hydra. Cut one off, two more appear. They whom vote, harbor, and facilitate ideals that simply don’t work in regard to policing and enforcement. Further, if building a ballpark is a helpful fix for the “homeless crisis”, we should build a ball park on every corner. Try this on for size as a fix: enforce the laws, prosecute the criminals, remove illegal homeless encampments, re-institute mental facilities that house mentally handicapped and addicted, (until they can safely rejoin society). As “Jerry Maguire” would say show me the money, I say show me the above approach I outlined. Do that and I’ll stop carrying when I go downtown. Dammasch Hospitals are needed more now than ever, and would be effective in reducing the homeless issues most ricky tick in my opinion. Again, I respect your view, but I disagree.
Be careful, in the Progressive mindset when you 'defend' yourself with a weapon, you are depriving a criminal its right to murder you. You will be prosecuted for menacing or attempted murder.
Looking forward to your logic in this statement. You do know there has not been one case where a citizen has defended himself with a weapon against a criminal who has attacked him/her with a weapon. I'm also interested why you need to label people with different perspectives as progressives or liberals as opposed to conservatives. Does that bring people with much in common closer together or divide them further?
I would be glad to discuss with you the basics of culture, worldview, and belief systems. Cultural Anthropology 101. Reality. Portland has many problems. Livability affects investment and willingness to attend events within its boundaries. One's worldview determines one's political affiliation, thus quite germane to the topic at hand. A 'label' is an expression of a collection of one's beliefs and societal aspirations which determine political affiliation. Fact Oregon as a whole has elected liberal political leadership and Portland has one of the highest concentration of those identifying with a Progressive worldview.
OMG, was that your defense for more guns in our streets, or of dividing people into echo chambers through labels? So glad I didn't ask you a complex question about baseball. Are you for a team or against? ;)
This is why I chose pay my taxes elsewhere. The state (and particularly Multnomah Co.) persecutes honest citizens and actively promotes activity that was once illegal (and is most other places). From the outside in, it truly looks like a nightmare.
You can't be tough on crime, when the highest courts have ruled that the dangerous mentally ill or psychotic/addicted cannot be held responsible for their actions or detained until a murder is committed. or the homeless that trash/destroy property cannot be detained unless they are provided suitable housing at public expense. My favorite last line is from Animal Farm by George Orwell. “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” and "2 + 2 = 5" Orwell's warning from 1984 has come to pass."Ignorance is Strength."and the converse. Truth is ignorance. Objective reality can be controlled and manipulated by the state. Those who refuse to believe, will be made to believe. ("I love Big Brother": In the end, the Party is able to breach Winston's mind and accept Big Brother's will, even if it defies objective reality.)
Oh Chris. Invoking “Jesus” is a little much but, I’ll pray for you man! It would be a little prayer. It’s not a fixation. It’s a defense of my stance and a suggested solution. That’s all. Saying that to me as you did about locking me up for perceived “fixation” would be like me saying to you that you get triggered (a favorite saying now a days) easily. Stay calm and carry on!
It is really amazing that George Orwell (and Ayn Rand) had it right all along, generations before where we are. Of course, they were looking at the example of Hitler and Tojo as examples of authoritarianism run amok. But that seems to be what humans do if they do not intellectually and voluntarily select democratic principles and the freedom of opinion and speech. (and no, democracy is not alive and well in a state which allows a sliver of the population to run the state with an iron fist)
We do indeed disagree... i appreciate you doing so without being disagreeable... good on you. We totally agree on this statement you made "Try this on for size as a fix: enforce the laws, prosecute the criminals, remove illegal homeless encampments, re-institute mental facilities that house mentally handicapped and addicted, (until they can safely rejoin society)." I also despise ANTIFA and those loose cannons who somehow think their actions make the world better place. We need to empower our police to arrest them and the courts to sentence them to hard labor. I want all these so-called taggers rounded up and put to work cleaning up their own mess and repainting any damaged property... on their nickel. Carrying more weapons downtown is no solution... I hope you will reconsider.
Thank you for the calm debate. I really appreciate it! My counter point to carrying downtown in regard to myself is this. Are worried about any gun, or just a gun carried by someone with malice or mentally ill? I carry none of those negative issues and I’ve trained and continue to train with my weapons. I can get behind you on less guns for criminals, but for those who are upstanding citizens they should not be of concern for those whom are lawfully protecting themselves and mentally sound. Blanket no guns or less guns we will never get there.
You are not going into a stadium with a knife or a gun now...so you can do whatever you want
We are not going to take out a well used, central golf course when we have other facilities....Red Tail has no transit options beyond cars, and an already packed highway.
True you aren’t going into the stadium with a knife or a gun. But you have to get to the stadium prior to entering the stadium safely. And then leave and traverse to your mode of transportation safely after the game. Such as you suggest on the tram. That’s more the concern to me. Surroundings being safe. Not just the internal ballpark.
Nothing to get over. I just plan for the worst but hope for the best. I don’t consider that anxiousness. What’s of “bigger concern” is your inability to see others views as just that. Another’s views and an opinion. Nothing hurt by that for most people, but you seem to be upset by it.
So then it sounds like you are for more taxes to support all that work you are proposing. I ask as most of that is no longer done due to years of fighting more taxes. I also do not want to hear that we just need to use the money we get better. Unfinanced regulations from the Federal government represents the majority of the $$ now spent. I agree that bad choices were made in the past and currently but you have proposed a lot of steps to resolve your concern. Now please propose how we will finance all that work.
Eliminate the benefits of being a welfare state. Privatize mental health facilities that run more efficiently than government run facilities and this includes jails. Have those that are incarcerated produce and support projects such as this (mental hospitals) by using them as a labor force that creates and therefore sells or builds (see mental health hospitals again) something viable and lucrative to the population. Simply put we provide to many resources that do not do anything other than perpetuate the homeless to not seek help or of find alternative places to live. If it’s easy to take handouts by those whom are addicted and have no desire to change.... they won’t change. Before you say not in my backyard is my mentality in regard to homelessness, you are right. Mentally handicapped do need to be taken care of in care facilities. How do we get there, pivot and allocate the wasted welfare funds being used on those whom aren’t eligible. Eliminate the homeless Oregon Trail Card. Those whom can work fully and or are not physically capable that need the assistance, they can keep the Oregon Trail Card. I agree, government waste is the Bain of a lot of the problems. I’m not for new taxes. I’m for allocating it appropriately. It’s financed already, just not distributed correctly.
Get a grip. I've lived near Lloyd Center for 20+ years and you know how many guns / shootings I've seen in that time. ZERO. Violence can and does occur everywhere but comments like this are so unreasonably fear based.
Jun 29, 2023·edited Jun 29, 2023Liked by John Canzano
Exactly....why would owners or the city want to invest $500M for a stadium and another $500M or $1B adjacent to it for all to be trashed by criminals who the DA will not prosecute? Why would fans want to go to those games right in the middle of the worst of it? If Oregon had different leaders, who had vision and business sense, I can see the Lloyd Center site (I ice skated there as a kid and shopped at Meier & Frank so it is close to my heart) as a great choice. But city leaders instead embrace their own form of anarchy and celebrate criminals and addicts. It would be a waste of money to build downtown. Wilsonville makes a lot more sense
Those are all great points. When John mentioned the issues of houselessnes, widespread drug use, and rampant crime, I kind of wondered how you could put a new baseball stadium in the middle of all that. Personally, I think that both Nashville and Salt Lake City are ahead of Portland in this chase. I'm obviously more familiar with the SLC option, but both of those projects seem "shovel ready" without any of the distractions and obstacles that are present in Portland.
Maybe, but Oregon has been going the same political direction for decades. I see nothing on the horizon to indicate a change in direction. The Oregon legislature has a super-majority and the state has not elected a conservative governor for decades. Portland the same. Wheeler was just re-elected on the back of the destruction of downtown as was the DA. You might hope for change but there is none that I can see coming
This DA and this strategy did not work. He will be voted out in the next election.
The legalization of drugs was a citizen passed initiative...and we were a test case and it does not work. Optimally we need these people off the street, but the problem is it is not criminal to be homeless. The 9th circuit has said so. The only way they can be removed is if the government provides shelter and has an open bed. if so they can be removed.
We as a citizenry need to re-visit legalizatiom of all of the drugs, including marijuana. It just does not provide solutions.....we need to stop making this easy and need to stop making it something we dont frown upon
Starts with us - the voters of this state. We need to undo this legalization provision.
It's easy to bash Portland and all it's current problems. This is a good distillation of Larson's talking points. It's boring and short-sighted.
What we're talking about here is a $3B+ money bomb dropped into the heart of Portland's business district. To give you an idea of the scale of that, the budget for the City of Portland in 2023 is just shy of $7B. So we're talking about dropping almost half of the city's annual budget into a 45-acre parcel. The ripple effects from that would be enormous. There's a LOT to like about the Lloyd Center site.
Chris Tom I don’t listen to Larson other than knowing whom he is. I make my own opinions and judgements based on what I see, and hear from those on the front lines. It’s easy to “bash” on something when the insanity of continually doing the same thing over and over again doesn’t work. I prefer to call it critical thinking. Not bashing. Stating the obvious and engineering a thought process by using one’s own concepts as to create solutions may seem offensive to those whom don’t offer anything. To lead and inspire and to effect change takes an individual to be their authentic self. That’s why I do not agree with your association of me with anyone. If I were to do what you just did in associating me with someone else, I would associate you with probably the wrong person. I do appreciate your view of the benefits of it being in the Lloyd area.
You should listen to Lars. I think you'd like him. I think you'd enjoy the Joe Rogan podcast, too. They're both a couple of free-thinkers who blaze their own trails, just like you.
The area is just fine. And I think the residents of Irvington, Laurelhurst, and Alameda Ridge wouldnt be spending millions of dollars per home to live there if it was an issue. I live near Grant HS and it’s very walkable, clean and safe. I own lots of firearms and feel no need to carry. Downtown is another matter.
Portland really needs to support this. The Lloyd Center Park with the promised new housing units would be a boon to the city. Summer nights in the new ballpark will be the greatest attraction of our beautiful city!
The Lloyd Center location makes all the sense in the world being in the city with a max line running to it already. Imagine the traffic on 217 trying to get to a game out there.
Oh the Lloyd Center site is the best suited by far! Mass transit is in place, there's that huge influx of money that Phil & Penny Knight have so graciously earmarked for the exact same area,and as we all know, malls are dying right and left. It would also merge with the Moda Center and bring a healthy entertainment destination to an area that has been treated so poorly over so many decades. What a boost this would be. Sadly, I just think we're too small minded and too "Portland" to make this move. It would benefit the city more that anything done in the past. Politicians should get off their "don't rock the boat" mentality and push forward. Think long term; be progressive Portland like you say you are. Back it up!!!
So you say there is a chance? Guess my movie reference....
All for this and really appreciate your positive vibes here, but if I was a gambling man I'd have to think we are the 3rd wheel at this point and by quite a bit.
I live near Red Tail. A HARD NO! The only access is two lane Scholls Ferry Rd for 30,000 plus people? The Lloyd Center site makes total sense. I lot of us will fight against Red Tail. Sorry, there are better sites in the suburbs.
Jun 29, 2023·edited Jun 29, 2023Liked by John Canzano
Way back when I was in my 50's and there was talk of MLB in Portland, I vowed I would buy season tickets, a condo next to the ballpark, and live and retire there. Well, now I'm in my 70's, retired and this news has me once again getting excited about implementing my plan. Can't happen soon enough to suit me, for obvious reasons.
PDX is just to poopy (excuse my poor French). I would love to see it happen but, the leadership here can’t even handle taking care of the city let alone getting a ball club to land. Phil knight has the money but isn’t involved from what I have heard. Hate to rain on this parade but pie in the sky.
A win for city would be dumping the Multnomah county DA. There’s also a massive expansion of the PDX city council coming (is it up to 12 now?) I don’t see that turning out well, either. Lots of experiments in Portland keep it sliding in the wrong direction. I don’t see MLB taking root in Multnomah county anytime soon. Re-criminalizing drugs could be a good first step back from current, crappy state of downtown
Lloyd Center makes more sense, making it accessible for the larger metro area, and next to the Moda Center, creating a fantastic sports district right at the nexus of our Metro transportation hub. MAX trains already converge at that point. You'll get many more east county fans attending. It's Unfortunate that people are using this forum to rant about city politics and our recent struggles stemming from Covid. Yes, it's been a rough several years, but this city is fighting its way back and I have no doubt Portland will be destination city again in the near future. The ballpark will only help.
As someone who does not drive, I could support any location that doesn't require a lengthy round trip via TriMet. That's why I'd lean heavily toward Lloyd Center.
And yes, discussing MLB parallel to Portland's other major issues should be OK. Why not?
Urban, urban, urban. The 500,000+ people who live in Clark County would not make the trek to Red Tail. Plus, the infrastructure is already there at Lloyd Center. This is a no-brainer.
Lived in San Diego when the decision was made to abandon Qualcomm Field for a new ballpark in downtown San Diego. The effort started with a central downtown shopping mall, Horton Plaza. This replaced tattoo parlors, sex shops, and areas of prostitution. The downtown was revitalized with the Gaslamp Quarter, a new convention center, numerous hotels etc.. This isn’t a novel idea. It just lacks political leadership in Portland. For the liberal idealists it is better to fund your projects with economic growth than taxing the average man to death.
It isn't political leadership that's going to get this done. The place far down below will freeze over before city leaders in ANY potential MLB expansion city play anything more than a minor role. Political leaders can only take an existing movement and make it a little more palatable to the majority of constituents.
The vision, initiative, and --much more importantly, the money -- have to come from the private sector. At the moment, this MLB to PDX effort falls short on at least two of those three dimensions.
Red tail golf course is too nice to destroy for a baseball stadium. Terrible location for a bb stadium. Traffic would be terrible and besides BB would be a terrible waste of money. No other golf courses in the area.
My humble opinion.... it has to be located at the Redtail Golf Course. Portland is heading towards a doom loop scenario (see San Francisco). The other area in regard to the Lloyd Center, is not the location I would suggest for anyone looking to build or revitalize. A couple things to consider. One, we have a DA in portland that doesn’t prosecute crimes, thus the crux of major issues plaguing Portland’s city central areas. Two, give yourself a fighting chance to have some semblance of safety when visitors come to the ballpark. The Redtail area is by far safer than downtown. I carry every time I go downtown. Regardless of what side of the river I’m on in Portland. The issues are real. It’s not blown out of proportion. The argument that this ballpark will fix and revitalize the area located at the Lloyd center is not going to happen without a serious crime crackdown. The homeless issue.... just as horrific in the Lloyd Center area. Which puts the bow on that area... What basis do I have for my opinion? I have a plethora of police clients, on-site visual references I’ve witnessed myself. And yes, statistics, and friends, and business owners all trying to flee that area. So, an easier build and a more sustainable area with less crime..... Redtail. Just my two cents.
I think both sites work for different reasons.
Red Tail is not a solid site either. Taking out a golf course that is so good and convenient to all is not what we need to do. This site sucks for north and east. Has no transportation options
lloyd Center is the right place. Tons of hotels, down the street from Blazers, on transit. It's available and can't be beat
Really, you carry a weapon with you every time you go downtown? That's not what we need, more guns... are you really that afraid? Revitalizing that Lloyd Center district and connecting it to the Convention Center and Moda would be a part of the plan to get a handle on dealing with the homeless and crime crisis. If you think one out of touch DA who will not be around when the shovels hit the dirt on a mega project like this is the biggest problem it faces then it looks like a go!
While I respect your opinion of not needing more guns, I vehemently disagree with you. Scared? More like smart. The Homeless and drug addicts carry weapons coach. I don’t walk into a knife fight with a knife, I bring a gun. Period. Gone are the days of my youth where we can man up and go toe to toe. I’m still willing to do that. But, that’s not what gets presented in downtown when dealing with the underbelly of society in a confrontation. I suppose you think ANTIFA is just an idea and not actual people running around creating and promoting destructive behavior? Portland is a virtual open drug market because of our legislature and city leaders. While I respect your liberal view, portland doesn’t oust DA’s. Even if the DA moves on into private practice, Portland/Multnomah county is a Hydra. Cut one off, two more appear. They whom vote, harbor, and facilitate ideals that simply don’t work in regard to policing and enforcement. Further, if building a ballpark is a helpful fix for the “homeless crisis”, we should build a ball park on every corner. Try this on for size as a fix: enforce the laws, prosecute the criminals, remove illegal homeless encampments, re-institute mental facilities that house mentally handicapped and addicted, (until they can safely rejoin society). As “Jerry Maguire” would say show me the money, I say show me the above approach I outlined. Do that and I’ll stop carrying when I go downtown. Dammasch Hospitals are needed more now than ever, and would be effective in reducing the homeless issues most ricky tick in my opinion. Again, I respect your view, but I disagree.
Be careful, in the Progressive mindset when you 'defend' yourself with a weapon, you are depriving a criminal its right to murder you. You will be prosecuted for menacing or attempted murder.
True. Sad and true. But when faced with breathing or not at the end of the day... I take breathing.
Looking forward to your logic in this statement. You do know there has not been one case where a citizen has defended himself with a weapon against a criminal who has attacked him/her with a weapon. I'm also interested why you need to label people with different perspectives as progressives or liberals as opposed to conservatives. Does that bring people with much in common closer together or divide them further?
I would be glad to discuss with you the basics of culture, worldview, and belief systems. Cultural Anthropology 101. Reality. Portland has many problems. Livability affects investment and willingness to attend events within its boundaries. One's worldview determines one's political affiliation, thus quite germane to the topic at hand. A 'label' is an expression of a collection of one's beliefs and societal aspirations which determine political affiliation. Fact Oregon as a whole has elected liberal political leadership and Portland has one of the highest concentration of those identifying with a Progressive worldview.
OMG, was that your defense for more guns in our streets, or of dividing people into echo chambers through labels? So glad I didn't ask you a complex question about baseball. Are you for a team or against? ;)
Wow, 92 words later and you have completely side-stepped the hyperbole accusation. I see a future in politics ahead of you!
This is why I chose pay my taxes elsewhere. The state (and particularly Multnomah Co.) persecutes honest citizens and actively promotes activity that was once illegal (and is most other places). From the outside in, it truly looks like a nightmare.
The drug thing in Portland and in Oregon was passed by the voters
The legislature is scared to change the will of the people.
Mail in voting is AWESOME!
What does that have to do with it? Nothing
You can't be tough on crime, when the highest courts have ruled that the dangerous mentally ill or psychotic/addicted cannot be held responsible for their actions or detained until a murder is committed. or the homeless that trash/destroy property cannot be detained unless they are provided suitable housing at public expense. My favorite last line is from Animal Farm by George Orwell. “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” and "2 + 2 = 5" Orwell's warning from 1984 has come to pass."Ignorance is Strength."and the converse. Truth is ignorance. Objective reality can be controlled and manipulated by the state. Those who refuse to believe, will be made to believe. ("I love Big Brother": In the end, the Party is able to breach Winston's mind and accept Big Brother's will, even if it defies objective reality.)
Thus we need mental hospitals to house them. And we need to get aggressive with building them quickly.
Jesus Christ, you cannot institutionalize someone in the manner you suggest.
If it were that easy I'd already have you placed there for your own fixation on guns as a solution to every problem.
Oh Chris. Invoking “Jesus” is a little much but, I’ll pray for you man! It would be a little prayer. It’s not a fixation. It’s a defense of my stance and a suggested solution. That’s all. Saying that to me as you did about locking me up for perceived “fixation” would be like me saying to you that you get triggered (a favorite saying now a days) easily. Stay calm and carry on!
It is really amazing that George Orwell (and Ayn Rand) had it right all along, generations before where we are. Of course, they were looking at the example of Hitler and Tojo as examples of authoritarianism run amok. But that seems to be what humans do if they do not intellectually and voluntarily select democratic principles and the freedom of opinion and speech. (and no, democracy is not alive and well in a state which allows a sliver of the population to run the state with an iron fist)
We do indeed disagree... i appreciate you doing so without being disagreeable... good on you. We totally agree on this statement you made "Try this on for size as a fix: enforce the laws, prosecute the criminals, remove illegal homeless encampments, re-institute mental facilities that house mentally handicapped and addicted, (until they can safely rejoin society)." I also despise ANTIFA and those loose cannons who somehow think their actions make the world better place. We need to empower our police to arrest them and the courts to sentence them to hard labor. I want all these so-called taggers rounded up and put to work cleaning up their own mess and repainting any damaged property... on their nickel. Carrying more weapons downtown is no solution... I hope you will reconsider.
Thank you for the calm debate. I really appreciate it! My counter point to carrying downtown in regard to myself is this. Are worried about any gun, or just a gun carried by someone with malice or mentally ill? I carry none of those negative issues and I’ve trained and continue to train with my weapons. I can get behind you on less guns for criminals, but for those who are upstanding citizens they should not be of concern for those whom are lawfully protecting themselves and mentally sound. Blanket no guns or less guns we will never get there.
So just how do you disagree? You sound like the rest of us sane conservatives
You are not going into a stadium with a knife or a gun now...so you can do whatever you want
We are not going to take out a well used, central golf course when we have other facilities....Red Tail has no transit options beyond cars, and an already packed highway.
Just not going to happen...
True you aren’t going into the stadium with a knife or a gun. But you have to get to the stadium prior to entering the stadium safely. And then leave and traverse to your mode of transportation safely after the game. Such as you suggest on the tram. That’s more the concern to me. Surroundings being safe. Not just the internal ballpark.
Get over it
Your anxiousness is a bigger issue.
Nothing to get over. I just plan for the worst but hope for the best. I don’t consider that anxiousness. What’s of “bigger concern” is your inability to see others views as just that. Another’s views and an opinion. Nothing hurt by that for most people, but you seem to be upset by it.
So then it sounds like you are for more taxes to support all that work you are proposing. I ask as most of that is no longer done due to years of fighting more taxes. I also do not want to hear that we just need to use the money we get better. Unfinanced regulations from the Federal government represents the majority of the $$ now spent. I agree that bad choices were made in the past and currently but you have proposed a lot of steps to resolve your concern. Now please propose how we will finance all that work.
Eliminate the benefits of being a welfare state. Privatize mental health facilities that run more efficiently than government run facilities and this includes jails. Have those that are incarcerated produce and support projects such as this (mental hospitals) by using them as a labor force that creates and therefore sells or builds (see mental health hospitals again) something viable and lucrative to the population. Simply put we provide to many resources that do not do anything other than perpetuate the homeless to not seek help or of find alternative places to live. If it’s easy to take handouts by those whom are addicted and have no desire to change.... they won’t change. Before you say not in my backyard is my mentality in regard to homelessness, you are right. Mentally handicapped do need to be taken care of in care facilities. How do we get there, pivot and allocate the wasted welfare funds being used on those whom aren’t eligible. Eliminate the homeless Oregon Trail Card. Those whom can work fully and or are not physically capable that need the assistance, they can keep the Oregon Trail Card. I agree, government waste is the Bain of a lot of the problems. I’m not for new taxes. I’m for allocating it appropriately. It’s financed already, just not distributed correctly.
Get a grip. I've lived near Lloyd Center for 20+ years and you know how many guns / shootings I've seen in that time. ZERO. Violence can and does occur everywhere but comments like this are so unreasonably fear based.
When you refuse to prosecute psychotics and addicts who assault innocent citizens and visitors, why would you want to subject anyone to that reality.
Could be huge.
Could huge at Lloyd Center. Would be a disaster at Red Tail.
Exactly....why would owners or the city want to invest $500M for a stadium and another $500M or $1B adjacent to it for all to be trashed by criminals who the DA will not prosecute? Why would fans want to go to those games right in the middle of the worst of it? If Oregon had different leaders, who had vision and business sense, I can see the Lloyd Center site (I ice skated there as a kid and shopped at Meier & Frank so it is close to my heart) as a great choice. But city leaders instead embrace their own form of anarchy and celebrate criminals and addicts. It would be a waste of money to build downtown. Wilsonville makes a lot more sense
Those are all great points. When John mentioned the issues of houselessnes, widespread drug use, and rampant crime, I kind of wondered how you could put a new baseball stadium in the middle of all that. Personally, I think that both Nashville and Salt Lake City are ahead of Portland in this chase. I'm obviously more familiar with the SLC option, but both of those projects seem "shovel ready" without any of the distractions and obstacles that are present in Portland.
The current politicians would be gone and you’re view is way too short sighted.
Maybe, but Oregon has been going the same political direction for decades. I see nothing on the horizon to indicate a change in direction. The Oregon legislature has a super-majority and the state has not elected a conservative governor for decades. Portland the same. Wheeler was just re-elected on the back of the destruction of downtown as was the DA. You might hope for change but there is none that I can see coming
Spot on Brian!
All valid points. I’m hoping for changes but not optimistic.
This DA and this strategy did not work. He will be voted out in the next election.
The legalization of drugs was a citizen passed initiative...and we were a test case and it does not work. Optimally we need these people off the street, but the problem is it is not criminal to be homeless. The 9th circuit has said so. The only way they can be removed is if the government provides shelter and has an open bed. if so they can be removed.
We as a citizenry need to re-visit legalizatiom of all of the drugs, including marijuana. It just does not provide solutions.....we need to stop making this easy and need to stop making it something we dont frown upon
Starts with us - the voters of this state. We need to undo this legalization provision.
It's easy to bash Portland and all it's current problems. This is a good distillation of Larson's talking points. It's boring and short-sighted.
What we're talking about here is a $3B+ money bomb dropped into the heart of Portland's business district. To give you an idea of the scale of that, the budget for the City of Portland in 2023 is just shy of $7B. So we're talking about dropping almost half of the city's annual budget into a 45-acre parcel. The ripple effects from that would be enormous. There's a LOT to like about the Lloyd Center site.
Chris Tom I don’t listen to Larson other than knowing whom he is. I make my own opinions and judgements based on what I see, and hear from those on the front lines. It’s easy to “bash” on something when the insanity of continually doing the same thing over and over again doesn’t work. I prefer to call it critical thinking. Not bashing. Stating the obvious and engineering a thought process by using one’s own concepts as to create solutions may seem offensive to those whom don’t offer anything. To lead and inspire and to effect change takes an individual to be their authentic self. That’s why I do not agree with your association of me with anyone. If I were to do what you just did in associating me with someone else, I would associate you with probably the wrong person. I do appreciate your view of the benefits of it being in the Lloyd area.
You should listen to Lars. I think you'd like him. I think you'd enjoy the Joe Rogan podcast, too. They're both a couple of free-thinkers who blaze their own trails, just like you.
Lars? He's a right wing crackpot.
We don't need more polarizing people in this world.
LOL! Here we go.....
Just Stop!
You'd like them too!
The area is just fine. And I think the residents of Irvington, Laurelhurst, and Alameda Ridge wouldnt be spending millions of dollars per home to live there if it was an issue. I live near Grant HS and it’s very walkable, clean and safe. I own lots of firearms and feel no need to carry. Downtown is another matter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giwkngfQ0W4
Portland really needs to support this. The Lloyd Center Park with the promised new housing units would be a boon to the city. Summer nights in the new ballpark will be the greatest attraction of our beautiful city!
Need a champion in Mayor's office... or governor's office.
The Lloyd Center location makes all the sense in the world being in the city with a max line running to it already. Imagine the traffic on 217 trying to get to a game out there.
Game-changer... if the city gets on board.
Ted has to get on board..I think he will. This revitalizes....hotels...restaurants...condos and it will spread across the river too
This is exactly what the city needs.
Oh the Lloyd Center site is the best suited by far! Mass transit is in place, there's that huge influx of money that Phil & Penny Knight have so graciously earmarked for the exact same area,and as we all know, malls are dying right and left. It would also merge with the Moda Center and bring a healthy entertainment destination to an area that has been treated so poorly over so many decades. What a boost this would be. Sadly, I just think we're too small minded and too "Portland" to make this move. It would benefit the city more that anything done in the past. Politicians should get off their "don't rock the boat" mentality and push forward. Think long term; be progressive Portland like you say you are. Back it up!!!
There is a chance here for Portland to matter.
So you say there is a chance? Guess my movie reference....
All for this and really appreciate your positive vibes here, but if I was a gambling man I'd have to think we are the 3rd wheel at this point and by quite a bit.
Build It And They Will Come.
I live near Red Tail. A HARD NO! The only access is two lane Scholls Ferry Rd for 30,000 plus people? The Lloyd Center site makes total sense. I lot of us will fight against Red Tail. Sorry, there are better sites in the suburbs.
Way back when I was in my 50's and there was talk of MLB in Portland, I vowed I would buy season tickets, a condo next to the ballpark, and live and retire there. Well, now I'm in my 70's, retired and this news has me once again getting excited about implementing my plan. Can't happen soon enough to suit me, for obvious reasons.
Let's get this going
Same for me. Hit 70 this year and time's running out.
Lloyd center area would be amazing. We will see if the city will be helpful for once.
Eyes on the city.
PDX is just to poopy (excuse my poor French). I would love to see it happen but, the leadership here can’t even handle taking care of the city let alone getting a ball club to land. Phil knight has the money but isn’t involved from what I have heard. Hate to rain on this parade but pie in the sky.
Looks like there may be some new motivation. City needs a win.
A win for city would be dumping the Multnomah county DA. There’s also a massive expansion of the PDX city council coming (is it up to 12 now?) I don’t see that turning out well, either. Lots of experiments in Portland keep it sliding in the wrong direction. I don’t see MLB taking root in Multnomah county anytime soon. Re-criminalizing drugs could be a good first step back from current, crappy state of downtown
Lloyd Center makes more sense, making it accessible for the larger metro area, and next to the Moda Center, creating a fantastic sports district right at the nexus of our Metro transportation hub. MAX trains already converge at that point. You'll get many more east county fans attending. It's Unfortunate that people are using this forum to rant about city politics and our recent struggles stemming from Covid. Yes, it's been a rough several years, but this city is fighting its way back and I have no doubt Portland will be destination city again in the near future. The ballpark will only help.
Great writing, John, as usual.
As someone who does not drive, I could support any location that doesn't require a lengthy round trip via TriMet. That's why I'd lean heavily toward Lloyd Center.
And yes, discussing MLB parallel to Portland's other major issues should be OK. Why not?
Urban, urban, urban. The 500,000+ people who live in Clark County would not make the trek to Red Tail. Plus, the infrastructure is already there at Lloyd Center. This is a no-brainer.
Great to see activity moving forward. I was thinking this was largely dead.
I was just about in the same place.
Lived in San Diego when the decision was made to abandon Qualcomm Field for a new ballpark in downtown San Diego. The effort started with a central downtown shopping mall, Horton Plaza. This replaced tattoo parlors, sex shops, and areas of prostitution. The downtown was revitalized with the Gaslamp Quarter, a new convention center, numerous hotels etc.. This isn’t a novel idea. It just lacks political leadership in Portland. For the liberal idealists it is better to fund your projects with economic growth than taxing the average man to death.
Feels different this time… Portland badly needs a win.
It isn't political leadership that's going to get this done. The place far down below will freeze over before city leaders in ANY potential MLB expansion city play anything more than a minor role. Political leaders can only take an existing movement and make it a little more palatable to the majority of constituents.
The vision, initiative, and --much more importantly, the money -- have to come from the private sector. At the moment, this MLB to PDX effort falls short on at least two of those three dimensions.
Red tail golf course is too nice to destroy for a baseball stadium. Terrible location for a bb stadium. Traffic would be terrible and besides BB would be a terrible waste of money. No other golf courses in the area.
Great idea for Lloyd Center; not so much Red Tail. Better transportation, more folks near Lloyd Center which badly needs upgrade
Lloyd Center would be a centerpiece
Lloyd Center would be a great location.