Portland appeared to be living the liberal dream. Set beneath the snow-capped Mount Hood, beside the Columbia river, the thriving West Coast city was home to big business like Nike and Adidas, and famed for its art, food and youthful left-wing culture.
In the summer of 2020, when much of America rose up in protest against the killing of George Floyd, the city reacted with three big changes. The police force was defunded to the tune of $15 million. The top prosecutor adopted the prevailing philosophy of refusing to press charges for low-level crime. And in 2021, Oregon decriminalised most drug possession, becoming the first state in the US to do so.
