Oh, geez. Now they've done it. Robberies elsewhere in Portland just encourage more tweeting. The moment word starts getting out that hipsters might be mugged and stabbed, though, and Jehovah himself couldn't protect the perps from Sam Adams's wrath. That might affect his legacy.

And on a bike, no less!

Just like in 1968 we have a society at odds with itself and those who feel disaffected are taking it to the streets. Gentrified, displaced, no place to fit into the society at large - what to do with all that anger and resentment? Violence is not right, but it is not a mystery. We need more jobs. Places people can go to and be productive and feel like their time matters, and earn a paycheck. Work and social connections are basic needs of a mentally healthy life, just as idleness and dependence are not. Whatever government can do to get out of the way of businesses wanting to hire new workers should be done. Everyone needs hope. And a purpose.

Yes, but if you say that, the answer the politicians give is short-term, government-sponsored make-work jobs like the Mystery Train to Milwaukie. That will some day come to a crashing halt.

Yeah, but then at least the muggings will happen out at the other end of the rail line.

How do those bio-swales handle blood?

It has always been tough for disconnected youth to get jobs. But now it is virtually impossible. Crime is about the only way to get some walking around change.

We have pretty much decayed back to the inner city chaos of (pick your era)

It's not fair to say they've done nothing. It's true that they've cut summer recreation programs by 60% or something like that, but they have provided a "gentrification therapeutic listening" (or some such) program of meetings in which people are encouraged to wail and moan about gentrification and it is all officially listened to by a paid facilitator. I think there might have been a charrette or two, also.

As one astute commenter said recently on oregonlive, certain unemployed persons would quit by noon, or have to be fired by noon, on the first day of any job they were allowed to start. I would say this truism applies to anyone who stabs bicyclists for their backpacks.

I recently talked to a lady in her sixties, who carries a concealed weapon. She told me that the other night two separate people asked her for money as she walked between her parked car and the door of the grocery store. She feels very nervous about the future.

It did make me ponder the concealed weapon question. I'd be too afraid to shoot myself in the thigh trying to draw it under duress. I know! The gun companies could develop special clothing, which, on command, would suddenly shows bright letters up in the air over the wearer:
"I carry". Bio-camouflage in reverse, just like all those those exotic poisonous squid or frogs-how come they get to have all the fun?

Like a snake's rattle, it would decidedly settle down the punk stabber population.

You people have no memory of what Alberta st was like in the late 80's or the first half of the 90's. The fact that such a minor crime is even reported says how much the neighborhood has changed. I'm guessing that some fools got out of stir and are back living with some relatives. It is depressing that all of the burgeoning of places like Mississippi seems to go right from slum to yuppieville without ever pausing in the land of safe and affordable. I firmly believe that what makes gentrification so easy is that there are so many immigrants that have no memory of the neighborhoods. Maybe it is just as well.