Selfish Portlanders telling us to stay away should stop

By all accounts, you shouldn’t want to live in Portland, Oregon.

It feels like the Portlanders belong to a cult, their homeless problem is shockingly out of control (and that’s from the perspective of someone who lives in Seattle), their food trucks are wholly overrated, there’s litter everywhere, and their soccer club is pathetic (Go Sounders!).

Yet, I find myself annoyed with a new movement and website called “Don’t Move to Portland, Oregon.”

It’s done partly in jest, but it’s an effort to stop people from moving to the city, lured in by a healthy economy, the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, and perhaps, in part, the fairy tale shows like “Portlandia.” With more people comes more traffic, longer wait times for city-provided resources, and higher housing costs. Portlanders don’t want that.

Related: Seattle activists are addicted to helping the poor stay poor

These are all fair concerns. But, they’re also incredibly selfish and short-sighted.

Growth is generally indicative of things going really well; when the city’s economic growth occurs, so does your personal economic growth. This kind of growth attracts global businesses, which bring with it higher paying jobs. With the new folks coming into the city, the culture evolves &#8212 people from different backgrounds and perspectives settle in the city, bringing with them cultural experiences and perspectives others may not have had exposure to. Housing getting expensive? Build more houses, which continues to feed the economic growth. Traffic is worse? Add more transit to your already strong infrastructure.

No major city can retain the same feel, aesthetic and people forever. City’s evolve. Start embracing the newcomers with open arms – it’s to your benefit.