All those point are valid but as long as both cities have dozens of overdoses a day and multiple deaths your point has little bite.

It is pointless to talk about the disruption and dismantling of downtown Portland without mentioning how much of it was preordained in 2019 when most of it was designated an “Opportunity Zone” leading to a redevelopment tax break gold rush. (https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-portland-opportunity-zones/#xj4y7vzkg) It is remarkable how well parts of Portland have hung on despite this taxpayer funded effort to destroy it. How much money was given away for underused luxury developments, and how little of it went to worker housing tells much of the story.

Seattle and Portland aren't dying. Anything that asserts that is being overly melodramatic to draw clicks however they are most certainly not thriving either and the continued push of articles by TS downplaying the drug/public safety issues in both cities is disenginuos and dangerous. The BLM riots (and they were riots) in Portland were despicable and did nothing to advance the cause of improving the lives of the BIPOC community. Night after night of assaults on police and ordinary citizens, multiple attempts to burn down the courthouse, harassment of the mayor and other public officials are not part of a peaceful protest. Of course Charles lays all of this at the feet of capitalism but he never mentions the alternatives are much worse. There has never been (and never will be) a successful socialist/marxist society. Countries who have attempted to embrace those policies have only watched their standard of living rapidly decline (see Venezuela). Capitalism has its flaws to be sure but it continues to be the only economic system that has lifted millions of people from poverty and allowed societies to flourish.

It’s hard to get that message across when there are unsanitary homeless encampments across the city and drug addicts passed out in doorways.

No, they are not dying, but most people who live in Seattle (except Charles apparently) are aware that downtown is a wasteland of drug addicts, criminals and homeless. People (including a pregnant women) getting randomly shot, massive fires in homeless encampments/drug distribution centers, etc. Most people who live here try to avoid it or limit their exposure to it. To ignore this is like putting horse blinders on to guide it through a fire. Seattle and Portland are nowhere near as dynamic and promising as they used to be and are well on the way to becoming San Francisco, which has shuttered numerous business downtown. (A city commissioner was going to lead a tour of "Why San Francisco is dying" until he got called out and resigned - for trying to show the truth.)

All these points are interesting, but so long as the Fear MSM needs clicks and views of old people terrified of life, nothing will change.

OMG! someone three states away lost a dog! Panic!

Another article from the Stranger on homelessness, in which drug addiction and other mental health issues are not even mentioned. Again, we are told, using the long-dead straw man of Dickensian London, that Capitalism Is Bad. Yawn. (As for the homeless themselves, as @1 notes,

You know what, Charles? Given a choice between a 19th Century capitalist slum, and a 20th Century Soviet Gulag, I’d take the former. Why? For the reason you mentioned: dive bars.

@6 and as long as people continue to deny the reality of the situation and downplay the obvious decline in safety nothing will change either. Oh, an elderly Asian man was tased and robbed outside his home? Guess that’s just normal city life.

@9:: “The media isn’t causing drug overdoses and crime.”

No, but to compete my thought @7, the Stranger could not possibly care less about how many homeless persons die of overdoses. The Stranger also does not care, at all, about victims of street crime in Seattle. And, as we see again here, the Stranger will post any number of times to deny the obvious connections between overdoses, street crime, and policies the Stranger supports.

“Blaming the media is pretty lame, even for you.”

Will has, without irony, used the term “MSM” to complain about timely and accurate reporting of facts he happens not to like. (https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2021/11/09/62717950/progressives-make-impressive-gains-in-south-king-county/comments/7) Horseshoe theory in action!

Does anyone recall TS ever mentioning that the homeless are overwhelmingly men:
"Gender also matters. Within the overall homeless population (which includes both adults and children), men, who are 68 percent of the individuals population, far outnumber women and are far more likely to experience homelessness. Serious systemic failures are occurring in relation to some of America’s men, implicating holes in the social safety net, challenges within feeder systems, and barriers to rehousing."
From: https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness/

Way back in my social work bachelor's program (1980's) we were taught that the safety net for men isn't as strong as it is for women and children. Men are expected to be able to solve their own problems, women and children not so much. This appears to be true today.

I ask again, has TS ever made mention of this?

@12: “It’s clear from the above stats what political ideology is working better to gain more job opportunities for people willing to work in their state.”

Correlation does not imply cause. Republican-led states and areas tend to be poorer than Democratically-led states and areas, so new money goes much further there. And many tech firms can be started anywhere, so why not choose more affordable places?

(Also, if you think Austin is conservative because it’s in Texas, then you really don’t know what you’re talking about.)

Do any of you who comment daily on this shit actually enjoy reading this publication? It doesn’t seem like it, in fact it seems like anything you are here just to be trolls.

The Stranger is a drop in the bucket of news media in this city and is definitely not at the forefront and at risk of spreading fake news/agenda to the unwitting masses.

So why the fuck do you continue to read it day after day only to criticize it? That appears to be the only reason why many of you read it is to comment and tear it up, which is the definition of an online troll.

If you don’t like it, don’t fucking read it. Or do and then complain about it in your bubble of friends.

@14: There is a lot of interesting entertainment and current event news here.

That said, silence is complicity. Letting some of the more fringe ideology of TS stand unchallenged can create the perception that it has significant support in the community.

@14: So, we should read only publications and viewpoints with which we already agree?