By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation,
What Portland liberals did to the famous Lloyd Mall they will soon do to Oregon if voters they continue down the progressive path.
Lloyd Center Mall once made history.
It was the nation’s largest open-air shopping center.
It was famous for being the first year-round ice rink in a mall in America.
It was a hub of activity. Newberry’s had its largest store in America at the mall.
It was the center of attention with President Kennedy and Tonya Harding skating there, and also a Supreme Court case originated from the mall.
Under Portland’s progressive wave, the mall collapsed.
That fall was made complete with the recent decision to tear most of the mall down.
A few years ago, media reports on Lloyd Center’s decline focused on changing shopping patterns and online shopping. Tragic misdiagnosis.
Lloyd Center should have survived. It is in the heart of the city, surrounded by a huge customer base such as a high school, and some of Portland’s tallest condo buildings — all within a single block from the mall. The customers are right there across the street.
Lloyd Center Mall fell apart from death-by-liberalism.
A dozen tax increases in just over a decade on local businesses hurt these mall shops. They defunded police while unleashing hundreds of criminals upon the streets created a crime wave.
Decriminalizing drugs and handing out free drug supplies, flooded the zone with wandering daytime addicts. Lavishing the homeless with goods attracted the homeless from across the region.
Here is the list of free stuff the State of Oregon and various governments have been handing out.
Spiking labor costs (minimum wage and wage taxes) and spiking electricity costs (+50% in 5 years) made it impossible to compete with online shopping and other malls.
Then came the 5-year rioting in Portland.
Here are some photos of the vandalism in the Lloyd Center neighborhood during those riots.
Liberalism killed the Lloyd Center Mall.
