“Why bother now? It’s too late. The damage has been done,” said one store employee this afternoon. Sharon works on the Congress Street strip experiencing store closures that is of concern to city officials and non-profits associated with the area. (The two non-profits are Downtown Portland and Creatvie Portland, the city funded art agency.) “We often get shoplifters in here. Sometimes 2 or 3 times a day and we have to call the Portland Police in here,” she continued. She added that tourists, from abroad, especially ask her why the city doesn’t do anything to house the homeless and stop the begging for money they encounter. Comments reported to this blogger by other businesses along the corridor. Sharon and other businesses on Congress Street are frustrated with the city of Portland. Here’s why:
Back on June 24, 2025, the city rolled out a massive two page plan on its intent to make the Monument Square area on Congress Street a “cleaner, safer and more activated” part of the city. It was going to clean up the area and make it presentable for all to occupy once again. But, the press release offered no facts or figures to indicate why this clean up is necessary. Has the crime rate increased in Monument Square, for example? Two inquiries from this blogger to the Portland Police Department in June asking for this information were never answered. Instead, a temporary spokesperson for the Department even claimed the Department never received this blogger’s two email requests.. BS. “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
However, one of the ways in which to accomplish the “revitalization” called for in the June 24 big plan is by setting up a “temporary, community policing center” in the Monument Square area.. But multiple; on foot inquiries by this blogger have stated that multiple businesses in the Monument Square area and the Arts District are “frustrated” they have not received information from the city as to when and where this Policing Community Center will be up and running. Could this be a ruse?
Multiple business employees who talked anonymously to this blogger today and on previous occasions reported broken windows and rampant shoplifting requiring frequent assistance from the Portland Police Department. One employee of a business on Congress Street when told the Policing Center had no concrete information to offer said: “That sounds typical for the city of Portland. What do you expect from the city?”
Other justifications for the closing of businesses along the Congress Street corridor could include lack of on-street parking and a general downturn in spending by some because of the economic uncertainities motivated by the eratic policies of President Trump.
Several recent responses to inquiries to the Portland Police Department spokesman and the city’s spokesman looking for updates on the establishment of a promised Community Policing Center in the Monument Square area have been vague and unprofessional to this blogger. “It’s a work in progress” has been the repeated two answers from the Police Department spokesman in the last several months – devoid of any other details.
For more background information on the city’s press release on the subject, please visit post herein dated June 24, 2025.