Please nominate feedback by replying with “remark of the week” or “COTW” so I can extra simply discover them by way of search. Thanks.
We had one other nice week of feedback. It makes me so extraordinarily completely satisfied that in any case these years we nonetheless have a strong remark part that’s usually simply as illuminating — if no more so! — than the tales we share above them. When most media shops gave up on feedback, I doubled-down. And it has paid off. Practically 600,000 feedback later we’ve a platform the place (nearly) all views will be shared, the place we will be taught from one another, and the place respect is earned by the worth of your concepts and the way you select to specific them. Thanks.
With that, let’s get to the Remark of the Week.
We’re making progress in bringing downtown Portland again, however we have to do extra. And it doesn’t matter what metropolis leaders do, folks received’t hang around downtown if there’s nowhere to alleviate themselves. Sure I’m speaking about public restroom! I hoped no less than one candidate would run on a “extra loos downtown!” pledge, but it surely didn’t occur. It is a big challenge that we should tackle.
The subject got here up within the feedback of my story a few current journey to the Pearl District the place a pleasant bike parking space had been besmirched by human pee. Reader Beth H. had a response that deserves extra consideration. Learn Beth’s remark beneath:
I used to be on the residents advisory committee a few years in the past that helped to advocate for the Portland Loos. Far fewer than the advised quantity (initially 25 to 30) had been put in, attributable to the price of building and upkeep. Of the unique models put in downtown, a pair had been fully destroyed by vandalism (which in a single case included bathrooms plugged with quick-dry cement) throughout the first two years of operation. Upkeep on the remaining models has been inconsistent, most likely proudly owning to a mixture of finances cuts and the pandemic.
Earlier than the pandemic, when my journeys downtown had been way more frequent, I attempted to make use of the Portland Loos and about half the time they had been inaccessible as a result of somebody was sleeping or doing medication in them. I used to be warned greater than as soon as by whomever was inside “simply go elsewhere, you’re not gonna get in right here anytime quickly.”
The final time I wanted to make use of one downtown was in June through the Bike Summer season kickoff social gathering. The closest one was chained shut attributable to intensive vandalism injury, and I needed to trip till I discovered a short lived porta-potty eight blocks away.
I volunteered to be on that advisory committee as a result of, as somebody with Crohn’s illness, I can’t all the time predict once I’ll have to discover a restroom. I figured there is likely to be others with related wants. In the long run, it hasn’t actually mattered.
Right this moment, I solely go downtown if I completely should, and I take public transit. I’m older and slower now, and there’s no level in placing myself in hurt’s means if I don’t must. When a spot — a avenue, a motorcycle lane, or a public restroom — isn’t protected sufficient for essentially the most susceptible, then it’s not likely protected.
I really feel your ache Beth H.! It is a main challenge that isn’t getting sufficient consideration. Hopefully we will make progress quickly, in order that extra of us can really feel relaxed and relieved whereas spending time downtown. Thanks for all the good feedback final week. And keep in mind to please nominate good ones by replying to them with “remark of the week” or “COTW.”
