Live In Portland? Feel Things Are Getting Worse? You're Not Alone

PORTLAND, OR — To say that Portland residents are not happy with the state of things in the city would appear to be an understatement. A new survey from The Portland Business Alliance says that nearly 90 percent of likely voters think that things are getting worse.

That's up from 49 percent who felt that way in 2017.

The Portland Business Alliance, working with DHM Research, conducts a survey every year to take the pulse of residents. This one was conducted from December 9 through the 15th and is based the results of surveying 500 likely voters in Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington Counties. About half of the voters were Portland residents.

"Never have we seen such unequivocal alignment in the priorities that our community is asking elected officials to execute," President and CEO of the Portland Business Alliance, . “With absolute certainty we can see that addressing homelessness, public safety, and cost of living are priorities that cannot be dismissed by those with the ability to influence policy.

"In this election year, every candidate running for local and state office must communicate their plans for addressing these challenges in their campaigns."

The survey is particularly grim for the two city commissioners up for reelection this year – Dan Ryan and Jo Ann Hardesty.

The survey found that only 10 percent would vote for Ryan while 34 percent said that they would vote for a generic opponent. The good news, if you can call it that, is that 56 percent don't know for whom they will vote.

While 18 percent of voters said that they would reelect Hardesty, 54 percent said that they would vote for someone else. Of those surveyed, 28 percent said that they were undecided.

The survey found that 81 percent of people see the city government as somewhat or very ineffective. That's up from 55 percent two yers ago.

Here are some of the other findings of the survey:

• 88% of voters say that quality of life is getting worse – up from 49% in 2017.
• 62% of voters say the Portland region is headed on the wrong track – up from only 26% in 2017.
• Voters overwhelmingly support requiring people currently living outside to sleep in shelters or designated camping areas.
• Most voters overwhelmingly support specific policies to address public safety. Most notably, 90% of voters polled “strongly” or “somewhat” support funding to require police officers to wear body worn cameras, while another 83% “strongly” or “somewhat” support funding to hire and train new police officers.
• Voter trust in local elected officials regarding the economy and jobs is low. Notably, voter mistrust of local officials is at 66%.
• 81% of voters view City Council as ineffective when it comes to providing public services.
• A majority of Portland voters (56%) support a switch to a unified city government with a professional city manager that reports to City Council, with only 8% of voters opposing.
• Stronger majorities support district elections of Portland city commissioners. Annual polling over time reveals that, for the last three years, 70% or more of voters have consistently supported moving to districts.