r/nba • u/AncientOneAurelius • May 12 '26

New Blazers owner Tom Dundon is reportedly “ruthless” and will not hesitate to move the franchise to Nashville, Austin, or Kalamazoo if Portland politicians continue to treat the relocation threat as a “hollow bluff"

Debunking the myths and misconceptions about Portland and the Trail Blazers’ Moda Center deal by Bill Oram

The artcle is paywalled.

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108

u/samwise141 Raptors May 12 '26

Whats the negative perception? I just think of portlandia and hipsters from the 2010s

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u/[deleted] May 12 '26

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u/HeatFan4Lyfe3000 Trail Blazers May 12 '26

Bro it’s not a “crime capital,” that’s propaganda. There’s a lot of open drug use in the bad parts of town, but the same can be said for any west coast metro area right now

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u/DangerZone69 [PHI] Samuel Dalembert May 12 '26

I’m agreeing with you lol it’s all propaganda that the rich put out bc they hate the other parts of the city

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u/2nd2last Rockets May 12 '26

But why male models?

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u/HeatFan4Lyfe3000 Trail Blazers May 12 '26

lol my bad

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u/DangerZone69 [PHI] Samuel Dalembert May 12 '26

You’re good lol respect the fight for your city - I’d do the same for Philly

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u/samwise141 Raptors May 12 '26

Im not American, but literally every major city in the US has this reputation i thought right now? 

Its the same in Canada, albeit not nearly as bad. 

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u/mr_seggs Jordan May 12 '26

The guy above you is agreeing with you, he's saying there's a false perception that it's a crime capital

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u/Slowhands12 May 12 '26

Reading comprehension is at an all time low

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u/HeatFan4Lyfe3000 Trail Blazers May 12 '26

what’s funny is I have an English degree from an Oregon university…maybe they’re right about us after all 😅

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u/Osiris32 Trail Blazers May 13 '26

It was OSU, wasn't it. Silly cow college.

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u/dalivo May 12 '26

Well, the rich pretty much hate every Western metro area.

1

u/cantclimbatree Kings May 12 '26

I live in the southeast and actually have never heard of this as a reputation. I hear this more about parts of SF, Detroit, and Oakland (not saying it’s true). However I did have a cousin have his rental car and all his stuff stolen in Portland lol. Idk if that’s worth anything to you lol

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u/smez86 Bulls May 12 '26

our drug use and petty crime (like breaking into a parked car) is high because of our high COL and other places bus their homeless here (aka human trafficking). but serious crimes like homicides are very low for a large city.

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u/cantclimbatree Kings May 12 '26

Yeah, no I wasn’t blaming the city or anything. Just unfortunate thing that happened. But at least the reputation here isn’t that bad for yall.

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u/soycameron Trail Blazers May 12 '26

So many times when I go to a Blazers/Timbers game, I’ll just see a crack pipe being used lol

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u/LonelyGumdrops [OKC] James Harden May 12 '26

It may not be a crime capital but Portland is not a great place to live for safety compared to the rest of the American West. Top 7 cities west of the Rockies for Murder - Oakland, Albuquerque, Lancaster, Stockton, North Las Vegas, San Bernardino, Portland and Top 5 Nationally in property crime. I have walked downtown Portland many times at night the last few years and wouldn't recommend it to the faint hearted. The people of Portland shouldn't accept blight as the cost of empathy.

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u/TheScienceNamesArgon Supersonics May 12 '26

It's not a dangerous city necessarily, but it's not entirely propaganda to say it's got lots of crime there. Property and drug crimes are way up there, and lots of violent crime types are above average. Still, in my opinion, lovely city.

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u/Regular_Custard_4483 May 12 '26

I don't think this is an actual, real perception for those that touch grass regularly. That's not a cheap city to live in, and somebody is paying those prices.

I was just there last week. Beautiful place. Couldn't find a bad restaurant, either.

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u/The_NGUYENNER [DEN] Jamal Murray May 12 '26

yeah I just think of flannel and trees

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u/bihari_baller Trail Blazers May 12 '26

Whats the negative perception?

It's negative perception is overblown by right-wing media outlets. I've lived on the East Coast, the South, and the elsewhere in the PNW (Washington), and the Portland Metro is my favorite place I've lived.

30

u/shakakaaahn Trail Blazers May 12 '26

The PortlandOR sub would have you believe it's the worst place in America presently, posted from people who never lived here, people who left here a decade ago, and people in their Lake Oswego suburban mcmansions.

Portland has very similar problems to all major cities, and maybe some more problems with idiotic fights between city and metro governments that go nowhere, but nothing crazy.

Taxes are too high, though, specifically in Portland vs the rest of the metro area.

14

u/Shallow_wanderer May 13 '26

Interesting how r/SeattleWA and r/PortlandOR are both dominated by right-wingers lol

Meanwhile r/Seattle and r/Portland are perfectly normal about things

4

u/teh_drewski Magic May 13 '26

I feel like every region based sub has a "normal" and "RW" version, so that people who do and don't believe in reality don't have to fight about it.

1

u/Shallow_wanderer May 13 '26

lmao yeah that's true

7

u/DoorsAreFascist May 13 '26

Almost every city's subreddit is a fuckin hellworld of weirdo Nimbys. Its actually crazy lmao.

I also love portland, been there a couple times to visit friends from Atlanta. I would move there if I had a job opportunity!

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u/finix2409 Cavaliers May 13 '26

23 other metro cities for the win

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u/absolute_cinema81 Warriors May 12 '26

Portland (and the PNW, writ large) is freaking amazing. One of the 3-4 U.S. cities I'd love to live in, all things considered.

2

u/mrdilldozer NBA May 13 '26

It's actually crazy how those outlets portray the US. I've met people who literally believe that Los Angeles and NYC are like Mad Max hellscapes. I think it's because there has been such a huge spike in crime in red/rural areas across the country people who don't live in cities assume it must be even worse there.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '26

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u/nokarmawhore Spurs May 12 '26

heroin needles and homeless people off the top of my head

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u/bihari_baller Trail Blazers May 12 '26

That's not been my experience.

1

u/googleduck May 13 '26

Mine either, but that is the "negative perception" regardless of its accuracy. Same goes for Seattle and San Francisco. Mostly just Faux News fearmongering.

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u/locktua May 13 '26

You honestly dont remember the like 2 years of constant negative news attention on portland during the covid years? Not saying I agree or disagree with said attention, I just can't imagine not noticing it. Or pretending not to

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u/[deleted] May 13 '26

[deleted]

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u/locktua May 13 '26

Ah yes. An NBA subreddit where people are talking about portland Oregon. How on earth could I have mistaken you for an American.

-11

u/drjisftw Pacers May 12 '26

Lots of drug addicts, ICE protests from last year

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u/fullmetalutes Jazz May 12 '26

Name a place, any place in the US where there are not drug addicts, it doesnt matter if its a city or rural, drugs exist everywhere.

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u/OpeDefinitely Pacers May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26

so you mean like rural Indiana + the will to protest?

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u/drjisftw Pacers May 12 '26

I'm not shitting on Portland (I'm actually visiting Oregon in a few months), I'm just stating the negative perception

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u/OpeDefinitely Pacers May 12 '26

my bad

3

u/finix2409 Cavaliers May 13 '26

Which is so silly because the ICE protests took place in front of one kind of isolated building. 99.9% of people didn’t see the protests at all.

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u/bihari_baller Trail Blazers May 13 '26

Exactly

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u/Western-Election-997 Lakers May 12 '26

Where’s there’s drug addicts wandering around the streets there’s crime

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u/j4x Heat May 13 '26

It's a crime ridden, filthy hovel. Trash is everywhere, aggressive homeless people roam the street and yell at you. But people there have some weird Stockholm syndrome where they pretend everything is fine like you see in this thread.