
Lars Larson: ‘When even the presence of police doesn’t deter criminal violence … you know it’s bad’
Lars Larson
The Northwest Nonsense
I guess you could say Portland and Seattle are doing a “bang up” job of making their downtowns safe … lots of bangs if you’re foolish enough to go there.

This past weekend, two people shot in Portland’s Old Town-Chinatown, a man and a woman. They’ll survive, we’re told.
In Seattle a few days earlier, a man in a wheelchair, shot in the chest. He’s on the mend too. That shooting happened on the shiny new waterfront development that Seattle just spent 800 million bucks on.
Prospects for the two cities seem dim lately.
The “Big Pink” bank tower in Portland fire-saled at a nearly 90 percent discount from its value just ten years ago. The new Ritz Carlton hotel and condos in bankruptcy. Big retailers fleeing and those who can’t afford to leave boarding up their storefronts against Antifa terrorists who have friends at City Hall.
Nordstrom hints it may not keep its signature store at Pioneer Courthouse Square much longer because of crime and filth.
Police have been defunded. And this seems telling to me…police were actually watching the crowd where that shooting happened over the weekend.
When even the presence of police doesn’t deter criminal violence … you know it’s bad.
Also read:
- Opinion: ‘A more responsible approach must be sought’Ken Vance argues a $10 billion funding gap makes the phased I-5 Bridge approach fiscally reckless, not responsible.
- POLL: Do patriotic displays like Yacolt’s road striping help strengthen community spirit?A Yacolt road striping project tied to America’s 250th anniversary is dividing opinion in Clark County.
- Opinion: The challenges of getting the Brockmann mental health facility openA $42 million, 48-bed mental health campus near WSU Vancouver was completed in 2025 but never opened due to lack of state funding.
- Opinion: Washington’s business exodus accelerates due to high taxes, regulations driving companies awayWashington’s business relocation rate has nearly tripled since winter 2025, per an AWB survey.
- Letter: Food service, public health, and the Men’s Share House questionPeter Bracchi asks why Share House’s 96,987 annual meals face less public-health scrutiny than a waterfront restaurant.







