Old Town
2.5
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The area
Address
Neighborhood: Old Town - Chinatown
How to get there
- Union Station • 9 min walk
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Restaurants
2,046 within 3 miles
Attractions
598 within 6 miles
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
2.5
67 reviews
Excellent
9
Very good
8
Average
15
Poor
17
Terrible
18
lucycan
San Diego, CA3,564 contributions
Sep 2020
I used to come here all the time when visiting Portland and it was perhaps my favorite part of the city. I was there yesterday and it is very rough now. Homeless people accosting pedestrians and blocking streets. This is NOT a place you should take your kids and should probably avoid yourself.
Written September 14, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dan L
1 contribution
Feb 2024 • Business
Old Town Portland has so many places to go and see. The amount of people going out at night is amazing.
The museums are numerous and diverse. The story of Portland is seen in all the places to go and see.
The museums are numerous and diverse. The story of Portland is seen in all the places to go and see.
Written February 7, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tom C
1 contribution
Feb 2024 • Friends
Portland's Old Town has improved so much! After some difficult years during the pandemic, the area has been cleaned up very well. I walked the streets to enjoy the historic architecture and emerging small retail and restaurants. It is a bit quieter than in years past, but that is a good thing! It is a real gem!!!
Written March 10, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
wroughtironron
Rochdale, England404 contributions
Jun 2016 • Couples
Every city has problem areas, and Portland has this.
Drug addicts, alcoholics and those who have given up on life (or life has given up on them) abound.
You feel unsafe walking in broad daylight, so goodness knows what it's like after dark. The city centre is already overwhelmed with beggars on every street corner - a sad indictment of society, but it feels intimidating, and I'm afraid Portland has it more than most cities.
Drug addicts, alcoholics and those who have given up on life (or life has given up on them) abound.
You feel unsafe walking in broad daylight, so goodness knows what it's like after dark. The city centre is already overwhelmed with beggars on every street corner - a sad indictment of society, but it feels intimidating, and I'm afraid Portland has it more than most cities.
Written June 2, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RVing_Bikers2
322 contributions
Aug 2016 • Couples
My husband and I join the number of people who have mentioned the terrible problem of vagrants in downtown Portland in their reviews.
We were in the process of parking our car. We had intentions of walking around to see some of the more interesting buildings in Old Town...then we saw several vagrants eyeballing us and thought better of it. We didn't feel the least bit safe getting out of our car or parking it and leaving it unattended.
Chinatown has also seen far better days. We wouldn't have eaten at any of those restaurants, regardless of their reviews.
We continued to drive around the city. We travel thousands of miles throughout the world every year. NEVER have we seen the number of vagabounds that we saw in Portland - not anywhere! These people actually spread their belongings and bodies across sidewalks making it impossible to walk by them, On top of that, many had actually pitched tents on public property and under bridges. They were all over the place! The graffiti was also a serious problem. After seeing all of this, we had a very poor image of Portland, despite the all the glitzy condos, expensive restaurants, and shops in other parts of downtown. As tourists, we lost all desire to visit their museums, attend events, or do anything else there.
Shame on the government of Portland and its citizens for allowing such deplorable conditions to exist. It's time for the people of Portland to grow up, stop priding themselves on their "weirdness", and do something to help those homeless individuals, especially if they are Veterans. Remember, taking care of your environment means taking care of the people, too.
We were in the process of parking our car. We had intentions of walking around to see some of the more interesting buildings in Old Town...then we saw several vagrants eyeballing us and thought better of it. We didn't feel the least bit safe getting out of our car or parking it and leaving it unattended.
Chinatown has also seen far better days. We wouldn't have eaten at any of those restaurants, regardless of their reviews.
We continued to drive around the city. We travel thousands of miles throughout the world every year. NEVER have we seen the number of vagabounds that we saw in Portland - not anywhere! These people actually spread their belongings and bodies across sidewalks making it impossible to walk by them, On top of that, many had actually pitched tents on public property and under bridges. They were all over the place! The graffiti was also a serious problem. After seeing all of this, we had a very poor image of Portland, despite the all the glitzy condos, expensive restaurants, and shops in other parts of downtown. As tourists, we lost all desire to visit their museums, attend events, or do anything else there.
Shame on the government of Portland and its citizens for allowing such deplorable conditions to exist. It's time for the people of Portland to grow up, stop priding themselves on their "weirdness", and do something to help those homeless individuals, especially if they are Veterans. Remember, taking care of your environment means taking care of the people, too.
Written August 28, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
NJRollHard
New York City, NY117 contributions
Sep 2017 • Couples
I didn't do my research on "Old Town" (which I think is also Chinatown?) prior to visiting Portland, and wandered there on a Saturday mid-day. There were homeless people everywhere, and my group of 2 were the only tourists on the street. Homeless doesn't bother me, but one man, who I assume had an illness, chased me down the street. He threw his banana at me, and began berating my partner and accused us of "not opening up the marijuana shop" (no idea where that idea came from.) Then he said he would beat us up, and nobody would be there to help us (which would have been true.) The man had a cut on his face, which makes me believe he fights a lot. But it wasn't just the yelling that bothered me, he followed us around for an entire city block, at times running to keep up with us, as we hastened our pace to a quick walk. My partner and I eventually decided to sprint across the street. The man kept following us, but eventually we ran into the Hilton a few blocks down and lost him. I've been in cities all throughout the world, and nothing similar has happened to me. I was spooked out, and after I calmed down, asked 3 residents of Portland if I had gone to a bad area. They all confirmed. So please, be safe if you have to even walk past this area (as the man started chasing us on Burnside.) I can't tell you what to do in Old Town, because I was too busy looking for a police officer or authority figure (I saw none) and trying not to let this man catch us. Ultimately, if this man does have an issue, I know it's not Old Town's (or his own) fault. But there is no reason to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation.
Written September 22, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ThatGrumbler
Toronto, Canada164 contributions
Sep 2015 • Solo
This place is not very good spot for tourist. It's deserted, full of homeless, junkies and weirdos. There are couple of things worth seeing there but during my walk I was just focused on not being mugged.
Creepy!
Creepy!
Written November 14, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Adam S
Scranton, PA10 contributions
Aug 2015 • Couples
We were very disappointed with the Old Town. Usually "old towns" are more vibrant areas of cities with lots of restaurant and attractions. There were a few restaurants or attractions for that matter. Furthermore there were large congregations of vagrants and beggars. I certainly would not go down in that area at night. Portland is a great city to visit but I recommend avoiding Old Town.
Written August 26, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andrew J
Hallett Cove, Australia317 contributions
Aug 2018 • Couples
We wandered into Old Town with the intention of seeing the Waterfront. After walking a few blocks we changed our mind. We have travelled to a lot of cities around the world, but this area did not feel safe at all. It wasn’t just the large amount of homeless people everywhere, but also the number of drug addicts walking around. We even saw two of them in the park smoking from a crack pipe in broad daylight. It was a shame we saw this area because our view of Portland had been so positive prior to this.
Written August 30, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Visit DrunkPhotography.com
New York City, NY2,290 contributions
Jul 2015 • Friends
I did a tour here and there was absolutely nothing of worth seeing there. I thought it was going to be a busy town and Chinese culture (dating back to 1800s) would be proudly displayed here but nope, everything looked dead and I didn't even really see people except for some homeless people here and there. The guide picked upon the expressions of people (confused as to why we were there) and explained that the last census reported that there are ZERO Chinese in this Chinatown/old town area (gentrification is to blame for that). I was bummed to hear that (excuse the pun) and kind of zoned out on this visit. Apparently, there had been many different efforts to revive and move Chinatown, which had been run down by crime and poverty in each place. Really sad.
Written July 18, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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