Hardly a day goes by that I don’t pat myself on the back for leaving the wreck of a country that is the United States, and specifically the Portland area.
I still read the Nextdoor posts associated with my old area. Recently, I discovered that electric bill are set to increase by 17% next year. Crime is still out of control – and I saw this first-hand during my most recent stay. It’s ridiculous.
Here’s a Nextdoor post I just saw today:
My sister and I reside in central Beaverton in a home we have owned for decades. She posted on here about things we have had to encounter on our property in the last couple months. Our house has been broken into and she had hot coffee thrown in her face by a man in our backyard. There have been many more things, but i will not go into them here because apparently nextdoor frowns on people sharing negative occurrences involving the “houseless”. Somehow this is disparaging our homeless community and further making them victims. If this is not a platform to inform eachother and caution eachother then what is it? They have suspended her account for this. She makes her living by reselling things on this platform. So not cool. We came home last night after dinner to find someone had attemped to kick in our back door, damaging the moulding, doorknob and lock. They were only a couple kicks away from getting in. Who knows what would have happened if we came home and interrupted a burglary. Now we have to come up with the finances for repairing the door and a full on surveillance system which won’t be easy as i live month to month on disability and she can no longer sell on this platform. I hope this post doesn’t go against nextdoor’s guidelines, but think this is a safety concern that people need to be made aware of. Thank you.
During my four-month stint in the Portland area, I was renting a room in what I thought was a nice area: Tigard. It looks fairly affluent, has lots of trees and parks, and there are plenty of shops nearby…
… but I soon discovered that loud cars race by at all hours of the night, even on the small residential street where I lived. Laws against loud vehicles are on the books, but there is no enforcement.
During the brief time I was there, my landlord’s car was broken into, which she caught on her ring camera. They appeared to be Mexicans. Not long after that, a neighbor’s car was stolen right off the parking lot. Also, somebody had pooped right outside our street window. Owning a car and parking there was dicey. It’s one reason I chose to sell my car, especially considering my model was a targeted type of vehicle both for auto theft and catalytic converter theft.
Things are good for me here in Dominican Republic. I have plenty of friends, politics (if any) are low-key. I don’t have to worry about Antifa confronting me as I go about my business. I feel safe, and I get to swim at a beautiful beach almost every day. Snorkeling is good too. Maybe I’ll include an underwater video some time. Things have gone up in price here, but it’s still much more affordable than in most of the US.
If shoplifting is a problem, it’s not a huge one. God help the shoplifter if he’s caught. Products aren’t locked up, and there’s no gang activity that I’ve noticed. We do have petty crime – mostly targeting drunk gringos in the wee hours on the street. We have pickpockets and those who will swipe your valuables if you’re too distracted. Luckily, it hasn’t happened to me.
They’ve got some interesting mannequins around here:

Im glad you left, too.
Thanks for ‘liking’ my posts.
XOXOXO
Sounds nice. Where in the DR do you live? BTW, we met at a AR confab years ago
Sorry it took a while to approve and respond; anyway, I’m in the Puerto Plata area.
Hey you jew,
Glad to see you writing again.
I envy your life by the ocean.
Thanks! Good to hear from you. I hope all is well with you.