I currently live in a Portland suburb and enjoy regular trips to downtown Portland. I am considering moving to the city center as I get older, for the convenience and amenities. But a trip on New Year's Eve to see a movie gave me great pause.

We boarded the Max train for the trip, and as we got near Pioneer Courthouse Square a man boarded and started shouting mumbled obscenities at no one but his inner demons. As we walked to lunch and the theater we passed a man masturbating on a street corner one block from Powell's Bookstore.

We enjoyed our meal and movie very much, but as we walked back to Max we came across a couple nodding off at the base of an office tower surrounded by paper bags and many empty glue containers. We got back on the train, and soon after another man was on the platform yelling obscenities at the train as it loaded passengers. The train itself seemed to be the focus of his anger and bile.

Four disturbing interactions in one day is a record for us, and we lived in San Francisco for decades. There are no answers to these problems, the causes are rooted too deeply into our culture and are too complex to even begin to comprehend, but -- is this what Portland is becoming? Is this what Portland has become?

Bob Vetter, Milwaukie