Biggest Oregon Pet Peeve

[StevensTechU]

As an Oregonian or former Oregonian, what is your biggest Oregon-related annoyance? I've listed the major ones I hear in the poll.

[Quietduck]

number two and number 5 are the same

[nogerO]

The politics. A small strip along I-5 is blue. The entirety of the rest of the state is RED. The state now reflects the policies of this 30 year reign.

[UOducksTK1]

Yeah it’s too extreme progressive, otherwise a great state! Drivers are pretty terrible too.

[dthomas=ddixon]

Drivers here are terrible. People bring their obsession with politeness and making sure everyone else follows the rules to the road and it’s so frustrating. I visited family in Boston a little while back and driving there was such a breathe of fresh air just because people are so on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Having a small, hyper-progressive area run the state is a bit weird too. I worked at a design studio downtown for a couple years and, while I really loved the people I worked with, they were shockingly progressive and out of touch with the world outside of Portlandia. I was the office freak because I went to church and owned a gun. Like, it was a genuine office controversy when people found out I owned a rifle haha. None of them had ever seen a gun in real life before…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nogerO]

Having a small, hyper-progressive area run the state is a bit weird too. I worked at a design studio downtown for a couple years and, while I really loved the people I worked with, they were shockingly progressive and out of touch with the world outside of Portlandia. I was the office freak because I went to church and owned a gun. Like, it was a genuine office controversy when people found out I owned a rifle haha. None of them had ever seen a gun in real life before…




They (the progressive takeover from California) have ruined my birth state. Moved away in 2005 when I realized that state mandated mail in ballots (far and away the easiest to manipulate!) were guaranteeing continued left wing lunacy running the state into the ground,

[RebelDuck]

I voted “other” for liberal ideologies

[Phalanx]

Kind of funny that politics aren't mentioned in the poll when that is probably the #1 most common objection to Oregon. The driving is a mixed bag. I like the politeness to a certain extent, but that guy who always gets in the fast lane and then drives the speed limit really gets on my nerves. I don't even have to look at the plate - that guy is always from Oregon.

[GrandpaDuck]

Short days in Winter (more so than the rain). While my favorite thing about the state is the long days of Summer. I envy the hummingbirds (except the stupid Anna's)

[TheDrake]

The politics. A small strip along I-5 is blue. The entirety of the rest of the state is RED. The state now reflects the policies of this 30 year reign.

Well gee whiz quess what? People vote not vast expanses of land where nobody lives! And there are many progressive area on the coast and in Southern Oregon! Not to mention Bend!

[pezsez1]

The politics. I wish Portland's city council was a little less progressive, and I wish the rest of the state wasn't so eager to turn us into Lesser Idaho. Most Oregonians are liberal moderates, and I'd love to see our liberal leaders being more moderate, especially in our biggest city.

Which leads into my #1 practical pet peeve:

ROAD DIETS.

Not sure how many of you are familiar with this term, but it's the kind of progressive idea that causes democrats to lose elections. A road diet is basically a series of policies aimed to make driving a pain in the ass in hopes of forcing people to adopt other forms of transportation. In the Portland metro area, this includes:

1. Designating entire lanes of traffic for buses only.
2. Narrowing busy roads by building ridiculously large bike lines.
3. Narrowing roads with ridiculously large medians/landscaping to force traffic and reduce speeds.
4. Reconfiguring roads/turn lanes/etc. to provide fewer options for drivers.
5. Permitting restaurants to build outdoor seating in the street.

I'm a fan of public transportation. It's necessary. But our public transit system isn't remotely good enough to try to force people to stop driving. I'll also never understand the logic behind investing millions of dollars in bike lanes in a state that's known for MONTHS OF RAIN. Mass bicycling is never going to happen here! And also, if the goal is reducing accidents, maybe we should be trying to discourage people from riding their bikes in traffic haha.

[dd10snoop28]

Too much common sense in the post. I see why you are drifting away from progressive policies.

[UOducksTK1]

Once Pez and Phalanx met in the middle with Dame, the whole world got repaired.

[pezsez1]

Eh we still disagree on Dame, but we both like Jrue and we're both Blazer fans, so that's something.

[UOducksTK1]

The politics. I wish Portland's city council was a little less progressive, and I wish the rest of the state wasn't so eager to turn us into Lesser Idaho. Most Oregonians are liberal moderates, and I'd love to see our liberal leaders being more moderate, especially in our biggest city.

Which leads into my #1 practical pet peeve:

ROAD DIETS.

Not sure how many of you are familiar with this term, but it's the kind of progressive idea that causes democrats to lose elections. A road diet is basically a series of policies aimed to make driving a pain in the ass in hopes of forcing people to adopt other forms of transportation. In the Portland metro area, this includes:

1. Designating entire lanes of traffic for buses only.
2. Narrowing busy roads by building ridiculously large bike lines.
3. Narrowing roads with ridiculously large medians/landscaping to force traffic and reduce speeds.
4. Reconfiguring roads/turn lanes/etc. to provide fewer options for drivers.
5. Permitting restaurants to build outdoor seating in the street.

I'm a fan of public transportation. It's necessary. But our public transit system isn't remotely good enough to try to force people to stop driving. I'll also never understand the logic behind investing millions of dollars in bike lanes in a state that's known for MONTHS OF RAIN. Mass bicycling is never going to happen here! And also, if the goal is reducing accidents, maybe we should be trying to discourage people from riding their bikes in traffic haha.

Yeah the road diets don't make sense. Best decision for me was to move out of state. Less taxes, better quality of life, better housing, no traffic, minimal drugs, almost no violent crime, no homelessness, etc.

But I do agree if Oregon gets less progressive, I think they would inherit some of the benefits I'm experiencing for the first time in my life! Maybe I'd come back.

I commuted frequently from West portland to West Linn/OC area. And 217 and 205 are brutal. I didn't go into the Portland Metro area too much after I graduated from Portland State, but I like where your head is going with this. Can you help fix the 217/205 log jams too? Or is there no hope for freeways?