Big Boom Theory: Air intake used in the big dig gets backed up at some point in the system, and upon release makes a bellowing boom thru the city.

Looks like the guy who got shot downtown has some white supremacy issues he is working through... http://www.myspace.com/lukequerne10r Get well Luke and move back to the wherever you came from.

This city is the safest I've ever lived in. I feel perfectly safe walking around downtown here. The violence is not random here. If you are not running with a gang or goose stepping down Broadway, you are good to go.

See you at Lloyd Center for a smoothie. Wear a Kansas City Royals outfit.

Glad someone else noticed the "livability" issues. For some reason the local media seems to downgrade it.

"This city is the safest I've ever lived in."

Out of curiousity - Where have you lived before? And how long have you been working for Sam?

I figured it was thunder given how loud it was: it shook the house in SW Portland (near the intersection of Taylor's Ferry and Terwilliger). If it wasn't thunder, I would assume it happened on/near the water as the soundwaves travel straight up the hill.

(My) Big Boom Theory: somebody's having fun with some homemade explosives. Based on the distance the sound is traveling, he must be detonating them in the air somehow. If he was doing it in his backyard, his neighbors would turn him in.

Before the "Spring Break Quake" in 1993, we heard several instances of a loud rumble sound that would suddenly start and stop, unlike the planes and trains we hear on a regular basis which gradually build and trail off. We even checked with the PSU geo dept., who said there hadn't been any seismic activity when we heard them, but then there was the quake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotts_Mills_earthquake

One less meth cookery in Portland today. Go by riding lawnmower!

"This city is the safest I've ever lived in. I feel perfectly safe walking around downtown here."
I lived in the Bronx for 6 years and felt safer walking around there than I do walking around downtown Portland.

I thought I heard another one this morning about 3 or 4 am. Anyone hear something then?

I move at the behest of my employer. I've lived in LA, DC and Seattle. Walking around downtown in Portland by myself at night is no big deal. This city has a number of issues but public safety is not among them, IMHO. The closest I've come to getting rolled here was airing up my tires at the Cheveron at MLK and NE Fremont at 2am. Poor decision on my part.

I take the youngins to Lloyd center to buy them clothes at Old Navy. The disaffected youth running around in there don't care what jersey middle aged white dudes wear...

As the economy continues to crater I expect things to get more interesting, but it is all relative. What is the term for it, degentrification?

Transformer blew up--too much wind and rain

I'll bet on it

Portland's crime rate is the lowest it has been in years. Same with Oregon's.

You people are cynical as hell.

Portland's "reported" crime rate may be declining, but I'm not sure how inclusive it is. The disaffected and uninsured don't report every property crime. As for violent crimes, he Po-Po don't hear from many drug dealers, prostitutes, and foreigners who prefer to handle problems their own way.

Just think of all the traffic scofflaws you see during your daily commute vs. how many times you've seen cops writing a ticket. It's worse on the criminal side of the ledger.

2006 stats:

http://www.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm?c1=New+York&s1=NY&c2=Portland&s2=OR

stats per 100K

Murder
NYC 7.3
Portland 3.7
National 7

Forcible Rape
Portland 54.04
National 32.2
NYC 13.12

Robbery
NYC 287.9
Portland 239.2
National 205.8

Agg. Asssault
Portland 417.2
National 336.5
NYC 329.6

So we beat out NYC on rape and assault (NYC's number is less than half the national average), but you're twice as likely to be murdered in NYC and slightly more likely to be robbed.

Portland's "reported" crime rate may be declining, but I'm not sure how inclusive it is. The disaffected and uninsured don't report every property crime.

That's true for crime stats everywhere, however.

I thought the question was whether people posting to this blog felt safer in Portland than elsewhere? They may be disaffected (and how!) and possibly uninsured, but if they're griping about feeling unsafe on a public blog, I doubt that they'd fit into the profile of people who don't report significant crimes against their property to the police, and are therefore exactly the kinds of people covered in the stats.

"Walking around downtown in Portland by myself at night is no big deal."

OK

Pipe bomb-
http://www.kgw.com/news/What-was-that-loud-boom-in-SE-Portland-89391477.html

I miss the good old days..........