Portland, OR is not as safe as Milwaukee, WI. That gave me a quick HUH? moment, having lived in both of them. I’ve wander through most of the neighborhoods of both places too, and I’ll tell you while I know I am in a city and hence watch my back appropriately, I’d happily wander Portland over Milwaukee, where some scary shit happens.
Scary things happen anywhere, I mean, but I definitely saw much scarier things in Milwaukee than in Portland. I also know many, many, many more people who have been mugged, held up, or had their car windows smashed in in Milwaukee than here (including an outdoor BBQ that was held up. SIGH). Could be just the group I ran with then versus the people I do now though. Just an observation on why the ranking surprised me.
It makes sense though when you look at the rankings – Milwaukee was dinged for violent crime, whereas Portland ranked much higher on natural disaster.
Tags: Milwaukee, odd polls, OR, Portland, rankings, safety, WI