Is Lake Oswego’s negative reputation deserved?

The trope that Lake Oswego is unwelcoming to BIPOC or “historically marginalized” people is FASLE!  

Perhaps the real problems are Envy, White Guilt, or a generally negative attitude, a victim complex, or a desire to find reasons to dislike something or someone.  

Obviously, everyone has their preferences about what where they want to live and why - humans are like that.  In a free country it’s called choice or self-determination.  I personally put a high premium on a suburban lifestyle.  While this is the lifestyle the majority of people desire, it has been demeaned for several decades by planners, politicians and elites.  OK for them, but multifamily density and urbanism for everyone else.  

Why is Lake Oswego popular?  The comments from a Reddit thread below reveal that safety is a huge concern.  Lack of crime and homelessness, physical beauty, quiet neighborhoods, good schools  and a friendly population are top draws.  And NO CRIDDERS!  Sounds logical to me.  The question to ask is why everyplace isn’t like Lake Oswego.  Why isn’t every city safe with good schools, and why don’t citizens demand it?  It’s all about priorities.  

From Best Neighborhoods:

Lake Oswego Diversity Score:  84

With a diversity score of 84 out of 100, Lake Oswego is much more diverse than other US cities.

Data Sources: U.S. Census, proprietary data mapping and analysis. Special thanks to the University of Virginia.

Nearby Cities

• Rivergrove, OR: more diverse
• Durham, OR: more diverse
• Oak Grove, OR: less diverse
• Tigard, OR: more diverse
• Tualatin, OR: more diverse
• West Linn, OR: less diverse
• Milwaukie, OR: less diverse
• King City, OR: more diverse
• Oatfield, OR: less diverse
• Gladstone, OR: more diverse

Cities with Similar Populations

• Brunswick, OH: less diverse
• Cutler Bay, FL: more diverse
• Palm Springs, CA: more diverse
• Thomasville, NC: less diverse
• Columbus, MS: less diverse
• Pickerington, OH: less diverse
• Northville, MI: less diverse
• Pittsfield, MA: less diverse
• Butler, PA: less diverse
• Seguin, TX: more diverse

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From Reddit.com 

Unpopular Opinion - Lake Oswego is a good place

My POC wife kind of wants to retire there if we can afford anything near Millennium Plaza since we could then walk to everything. She just mainly wants to feel safe when walking around.

At one time I thought it might be nice to settle in a condo somewhere DT Portland area. It used to be real expensive to do that. Not so much anymore, but no way she would agree to live there in the current condition.

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Lake Oswego is great if you can afford to live there, the only problem is there’s fuck all to do after like 7pm.

      Reply:        I think that’s kinda the idea. Some people prefer to live where there isn’t much of a nightlife so evenings feel a bit slower and quieter. I loved living off Hawthorne until I had kids and got old.

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I would live in LO tomorrow if I could stand the commute from LO to Gresham every day.

So, I take the LOW road, and live in the alternative: The Alberta Arts District.

It’s still kinda scummy Portland style, with the occasional 4 am gun battle, but it has the charm of being a “walkable” neighborhood.

Also, easy freeway access to get to said office in Gresham in 15 minutes if I time everything right., and no real criddler problems. Yeah.

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I dash for doordash there a lot in my spare time. Super nice area, everyone's friendly, restaurant staff are cheerful, and customers tip well. I really dig the sleepy forested areas. Would be a dream to live there, but wayyyyy out of my price point.

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We moved to LO recently mainly for the schools. Having been here for a few months we can see why the schools are rated so well. If private schools were an option for us we’d consider living in other parts of the metro but it was really a no brainer. Housing is expensive for a reason here, high demand and low supply. For what we paid in LO we could’ve gotten a much nicer house elsewhere but it is what it is. So far no complaints about living here, no cridlers, tents and worries about property crime. In general the people are nice, I think most people are salty about LO because it’s expensive to live here and wish they could but can’t afford it. For an “affluent” area it’s not that exclusive TBH, ask me about the 9 years I spent living in Boston and I’ll show you some real exclusive areas where the people are shitty.

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We have lived in Lake Oswego for 5 years, we are both black (technically mixed race but brown) and have 2 sweet brown babies. We LOVE it here and would never consider moving anywhere else. Amazing schools, safe, peaceful, friendly, clean. Yes, it’s expensive - I think that’s why some people hate on it. For some, if you can’t afford to be somewhere it’s easy to hate others for being there. When we moved here, we got a lot of “you want to live there? Why? There are no minorities there” (said less eloquently), or “it’s so expensive there, and people think they’re better than you, you want to be a part of that?”. We have found that not to be true. In my daughter’s kindergarten class of 18 kiddos, there were 4 black or mixed race kids (including her), 1 Hispanic child, and 2 Asian children. I’m not blind and clearly when we walk around town or are out to eat, we usually are the only POC around but oh well. We like where we live and have never had any issues, quite the opposite. I’ve never felt anyone feels “better” than anyone else, and everyone is chatty and kind. Well, there you have it - that’s been my experience as a POC living in LO.

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Portlanders love to talk smack about anyplace that is not Portland. I think it distracts them from noticing the absolute dumpster fire that their city is.

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I moved to LO in late summer of 2020. Was sick of all the high cost, bad schools and lawlessness of Portland. My daughter has thrived in the school system there. Being a single dad I have to say I miss the walk ability and things to do in my old neighborhood in Overlook. It’s not my forever place but it has been a great decision for my daughter.

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Lake Oswego is the civilization leftists dream of but can't realize.

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I live in sw Portland and drive to LO sometimes for brunch, pedicures, and the cosmoprof.
I've never had an issue. Seems that the guilty white liberals of Portland take issue with LO because it's 80% white compared to the 73% white in Portland.

Why are these Lake Oswego offices empty?

This question is top of mind for those who see what is happening to the Kruse Way Place office buildings.  The 3 buildings have been emptied of occupants for some time now with only a few tenants left.  The halls are devoid of workers, the parking lots are empty, and the offices vacant and dark. 

What is going on?  Are many businesses closing or downsizing?  Are more people working from home?  Why hasn’t the landlord lowered the rent and advertised more to fill the empty spaces?  None of this makes any business sense.  You don’t kill your revenue stream while paying increasing expenses just to pay taxes, utilities and insurance and keep the buildings viable.  So what’s the truth about Kruse Way Place?  

  

One thing that IS going on is that the land  owner has applied for a zone change from O-C/R-3 (Office Campus / High Density Residential) to R-O (the highest density residential possible).  Their application puts forward a conceptual plan for new apartments to take the place of the existing office buildings.  These plans are suggestions only and have nothing to do with what can or will be built on the property if the R-0 zoning is achieved.  One thing that is certain is that if the city approves the request for a “Comprehensive Plan Map Amendment”, the land will instantly be worth more than it is under current zoning.  This is called Zoning Arbitrage.  Is this the goal for the zone change request?  Re-value the property for more intense use for the profit of the current land owner?  

The problem for Lake Oswegans is that once done, an R-0 zone can never be rescinded, and with no plan for what will be built on the property, it could be a disaster for the city.  Imagine 3 - 5 Windward Apartments or Mercato Grove buildings on a single property along Kruse Way with 600-1,000 units.  Then imagine what the state, Metro and the LO planning department have in mind for the rest of Lake Grove and the city!!!  

Who gains and who loses in this deal?  

Who is watching out for the interests of Lake Oswego residents?  

Who do the LO bureaucrats and politicians work for? 

Whose city is this?

BTW:  NIMBY is not a bad word - it denotes a person who cares deeply about the place they live and defends it against bad influences, actions and policies.  Mothers and fathers are like that with their children.  People who call a place home are like that with their neighborhoods and towns.  

Here are 2 articles that explain the way Zoning Arbitrage works for real estate investors. Click on the links for the full text of each piece.   

https://deepblocks.com/blog/category/zoning/zoning-arbitrage-unlocking-hidden-value-in-real-estate-investments/

Zoning Arbitrage: Unlocking Hidden Value in 

Real Estate Investments

Olivia Ramos

November 11, 2024

Understanding Zoning Arbitrage

Zoning arbitrage refers to capitalizing on differences in zoning regulations to maximize the value or profitability of real estate investments. This strategy involves identifying properties where the current zoning laws either undervalue the property's potential or are likely to change in a way that increases the property's value.

https://hold.co/blog/zoning-arbitrage

Pros and Cons of Zoning Arbitrage in 

Real Estate Investing

If you spend any time around real‑estate investors, someone will eventually drop the phrase “zoning arbitrage” with a mischievous grin—usually right after they’ve run the numbers on a deal no one else noticed. The idea is simple enough: buy property that’s currently valued under one zoning designation, then unlock a more profitable use through a rezoning request, variance, or by leveraging pre‑existing loopholes.

Done correctly, that single change can make a sleepy parcel of dirt worth multiples of its purchase price. Sounds almost too good to be true, right? Yet zoning arbitrage is perfectly legal, remarkably lucrative, and—depending on whom you ask—absolutely loathed. City councils worry about neighborhood character, residents fear traffic and gentrification, and NIMBY forums ignite faster than a flare.

End Oregon’s Death Tax NOW

Oregon has the LOWEST estate tax exemption - or put another way - the HIGHEST estate tax - in the entire country.   Even without the terrible estate tax, Oregon rates as one of the worst states for taxes in the country.

In 2025, when the legislature rolled out their wish list of new bills, there was no recognition of funding problems from Democrat politicians, just a boatload of new, costly social justice programs.  It’s as if working Oregonians are only here for providing funding for the ideological agendas of the dominant political party.  Republicans fought back with sensible cost-cutting measures that never saw the light of day.  Ending the Death Tax was one of them, but anything that limits funding went nowhere.  It seems it will be up to the citizens to get done what the legislature can’t - ending Oregon’s estate tax.

Visit the End the Death Tax website below, and download the petition to sign.  Better yet…Send the link to as many people you can.  Also print copies along with the text of the measure and deliver it to neighbors and co-workers along with pre-addressed envelopes.  The online petition needs to be printed, signed and then mailed in - one signature per page.  (Oregon registered voters only.)  Print a lot of them and have them ready to hand out along with the website URL.  PASS IT ON!  

Central Oregon Daily   June 28, 2025

Oregon Legislature wraps for 2025 after 11th-hour strife, historic funding shortfall

Excerpts

Lawmakers introduced more than 3,400 bills — the highest number in at least two decades — during the session, prompting an ultimately unsuccessful effort led by Democrats to pass a law limiting the number of bills each legislator could introduce. 

The heightened tension among lawmakers Friday underscored the uphill battle they’ve faced this year in both chambers to pass ambitious policies, such as unemployment benefits for all striking workers, reforms of civil commitment laws and funding for more homeless shelters, all with limited resources and against the backdrop of rocky federal politics. 

After several years of higher-than-expected revenues and boosts from federal COVID-relief funds that have since expired, lawmakers had less money to spend this year. 

After strengthening the state’s sanctuary state laws and protections for abortion and gender-affirming care in recent years, there wasn’t much left to address.

It's getting to be that time of year --

--   when you can track winter rains and river flood levels!

I used to own property near the Willamette River in the Oregon City area in a 500-YR Flood Zone.  Every few years the river flooded the river parks nearby and I wondered if this would be the year my property would go under.  So far, even the worst flooding (46.04' on February 9, 1996) and all historical floods on record had not reached my property so I was confident that mine would be safe.  But whenever the river filled up and flooding was in the news, I still checked to see what current river gauges were being reported before I went to sleep.  

Willamette R below Falls at Oregon City - Maximum gage height, 46.04 feet Feb. 9, 1996

If you didn't live in Western Oregon in the winter of 1996, you missed the biggest weather-related disaster in Lake Oswego's history.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a boat house from a home along the canal floating down the middle of Oswego Lake.  The dam on the Tualatin River had been breached and the lake returned to its original course as an arm of the Tualatin River.  Water flowed into Lakewood Bay, over State street and down Foothills to the Willamette and turned the dam at Oswego Creek into a waterfall.  

A new dam supposedly removed the flood risk, so the Corps of Engineers re-mapped properties along the lake and canal so they are no longer designated as in a FEMA flood zone.  Are they right?  See the MetroMap for FEMA flood zones.

Read about the flood here:  National Weather Service

 For information on other significant flood events in the US, use this map.

And for local (and national) real-time river level gauges, see the River Level Tracker.  The map and chart below are from this link.  For most of Lake Oswego, select Willamette River below falls at Oregon City.  Others might like to track the Tualatin River, downtown Portland, or any place you are curious about.  

Surprise! Oregon is bad for business!

 Overly-taxed, overly-regulated, under-appreciated and seen as symbols of capitalist greed , Oregon’s political class has made the state a very difficult place to do business.  

In order to survive, all businesses, even non-profits, have to at least break even.  If businesses are to flourish and grow - hire more people, raise wages and benefits, purchase more equipment, etc., they need to make a profit.  If government at any level makes profitability difficult or impossible or creates an atmosphere of uncertainty, owners and investors will take their money elsewhere.  

The state of Oregon and certain left-leaning cities have plucked the commercial money tree bare, and can’t be trusted not to continue their grift for money from increased taxes and fees from so-called wealthy residents.  In 2023 the legislature floated a wealth tax in the form of a state property tax that included both real and “intangible” property with carveouts for certain lower income citizens TBD.  Interpretation:  Wealth taxes for the rich.  This is an idea that is so bad it will no doubt make a comeback in Oregon, so watch for it!  

After businesses and wealthy people leave the state, how will politicians, activists, Utopians, socialists and the economically-uneducated pay for all the things they want government to provide?  But why should you care - especially if you work for the government?

                                  NO ONE SHOULD THINK THAT THEIR BUSINESS,                                                PROPERTY OR NET WORTH IS SAFE IN OREGON

Taxing business is the way politicians pretend they aren’t raising taxes on the people who vote for them.  

Oregon is making news now on its awful tax competitiveness compared with other states.  Trouble is, WE have to live with it!  Or not…  there are also lists of states where one’s rights and property is protected.    

PORTLAND IS ON TOP!

Portland Oregon

It’s no secret that the Portland area has high taxes. The region is known for the world’s largest bookstore, its breweries, a vibrant art scene, and the old PDX airport carpet, but decidedly not for its commitment to tax competitiveness.

Portland residents face some of the highest taxes in the country. City, county, regional, and state taxes on individual and both net and gross business income combine to create a crushing tax wedge, yielding some of the highest marginal rates on wage income nationwide. And after factoring in the average net income effect of the Oregon Corporate Activity Tax (CAT), Portland easily has the nation’s highest marginal effective rates on both corporate and pass-through business income.

Because this tax burden is spread across so many taxes—the Supportive Housing Services Tax at the Metro level, for instance, combined with the Business Net Income Tax imposed by Multnomah County and the Business License Tax levied in Portland, all atop Oregon’s state individual income tax and gross receipts-based CAT—it can be difficult to appreciate the full burden. Unless you’re paying it.

Workers, business owners, and investors in Portland, Multnomah County, and the Metro region all experience these considerable burdens. Portland has the highest business taxes—on small and large businesses, and pass-throughs and corporations alike—and the second highest top marginal rate on wage income in the country.

https://taxfoundation.org/location/oregon/

Oregon Tax Rates, Collections, and Burdens

How does Oregon’s tax code compare? Oregon has a graduated state individual income tax, with rates ranging from 4.75 percent to 9.9 percent. There are also jurisdictions that collect local income taxes, with high taxes in the Portland Metro area. Oregon has a graduated corporate income tax, with rates ranging from 6.6 percent to 7.6 percent. The state levies a gross receipts tax in addition to the corporate income tax. Oregon does not have a state sales tax. Oregon has a 0.78 percent effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing value.

Oregon has an estate tax. Oregon has a 40 cents per gallon gas tax rate and a $3.33 cigarette excise tax rate (per pack of 20 cigarettes). The State of Oregon collects $6,920 in state and local tax collections per capita. Oregon has $10,066 in state and local debt per capita and an 81 percent funded ratio of public pension plans. Oregon’s tax system ranks 35th overall on the 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index.

Each state’s tax code is a multifaceted system with many moving parts, and Oregon is no exception. The first step toward understanding Oregon’s tax code is knowing the basics. How does Oregon collect tax revenue? Click the tabs below to learn more! You can also explore our state tax maps, which are compiled from our annual publication, Facts & Figures 2025: How Does Your State Compare?

Movers and Shakers in the 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index

November 3, 20256 min readBy: Janelle Fritts

The Tax Foundation’s State Tax Competitiveness Index enables policymakers, taxpayers, and business leaders to see how their states’ tax systems measure up across a wide range of tax measures. While there are many ways to show how much state governments collect in taxes, the Index evaluates how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.

The Tax Foundation has published this study, previously called the State Business Tax Climate Index, since 2003. Last year, we updated the methodology to more comprehensively address a range of emerging tax issues. As with any methodological changes, we apply them to prior years as well to allow for an apples-to-apples comparison across years. Currently, backcasting under the new methodology stretches back to fiscal year 2020 (July 1, 2019).

In the spirit of change and improvement, it’s worth looking back to see which states have truly embraced tax competitiveness since 2020, and which ones have lagged behind.

The five states that saw the largest improvements in their rank over the last six years are:

1. Tennessee, which ranked 38th in 2020, now ranks 8th.
2. Iowa, which ranked 43rd in 2020, now ranks 17th.
3. Georgia, which ranked 28th in 2020, now ranks 18th.
4. Louisiana, which ranked 40th in 2020, now ranks 31st.
5. Arkansas, which ranked 41st in 2020, now ranks 34th.

The five states that fell the furthest in the rankings in the last six years are:

1. Oregon, which ranked 8th in 2020, now ranks 35th.
2. Washington, which ranked 33rd in 2020, now ranks 45th.
3. Colorado, which ranked 22nd in 2020, now ranks 33rd.
4. New Mexico, which ranked 20th in 2020, now ranks 28th.
5. Massachusetts, which ranked 36th in 2020, now ranks 43rd.