

How Oregon's Second Largest City Vanished in a Day - testrun
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/vanport-oregon-how-countrys-largest-housing-project-vanished-day-180954040/?no-ist

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cullenking
As a resident of Portland, I was surprised at the historic levels of racism,
though I wasn't surprised at the decreasing population of minorities. We have
become a mecca of white hipsters, it's kinda crazy watching the transformation
of various neighborhoods in human-scale timelines. We are talking 12 or less
months to take a cheap/quiet neighborhood and have it turn into a new hotspot
with new multi-story apartment buildings. See Division street for the latest.

Another note: the historic city of Vanport is now a racetrack, owned and
operated by the city. PIR circumnavigates the old town perimeter, you can see
in these two photos:

[http://www.corvetteracing.com/tracks/trk_img/portland/portla...](http://www.corvetteracing.com/tracks/trk_img/portland/portland.jpg)

[http://thumbs.media.smithsonianmag.com//filer/ac/46/ac46ca81...](http://thumbs.media.smithsonianmag.com//filer/ac/46/ac46ca81-69dc-4edd-9b73-56eeb309a629/vanport006.jpg__800x450_q85_crop_upscale.jpg)

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kafkaesque
How bad is the racism in Portland, Oregon?

My girlfriend is Japanese and doesn't speak a lot of English. We were thinking
of moving there, but I'm worried about this. She is a ballet dancer, so I
assume artists mostly everywhere (in the US--and Canada--I'm originally from
Canada) are more welcoming. But I understand there are less minorities in
Portland than where we are right now (Los Angeles).

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cullenking
Racism is not apparent unless you are good at picking up subtle/subconscious
racism. Meaning overt racism or hostility is very rare.

Essentially it's a non-issue, come enjoy all the good things about the city!

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Frondo
Racism is not apparent if you're white, it is probably more accurate to say.
You have to really dig to learn about the experiences of people of color,
living here. Having such a tiny black population helps reinforce this; there
just isn't much chance to see or interact with (or see someone else behave
badly toward) someone of color if you're white in Portland.

