Remember how a few months ago our downtown merchants were in a dither about the horrible panhandler problem? That worry seems to have faded, but now they’ve got a new one: young people creating a “disturbance.”
Chuck Arnold of the Downtown Bend Business Association and several downtown merchants and landlords spoke about this ominous menace at Wednesday night’s city council meeting.
It wasn’t exactly clear what they wanted the city to do. One idea was to leave a cop car (sans cop) parked downtown. Another was to move all the city’s street corner vendors into the Mirror Pond Plaza, which (I guess) supposedly would have the effect of driving those “disturbing” young people away from that area.
It wasn’t exactly clear, either, what the young people are doing that’s so disturbing – other than just existing. There weren’t any reports of criminal activities. Apparently nobody has been mugged or raped or stabbed. There wasn’t even any mention of vandalism or graffiti.
(This morning’s Bulletin, however, did make mention of Arnold walking through the downtown streets early in the morning checking for graffiti, picking up litter and setting “knocked-over flower pots right-side up.” Yep, sounds like a real crime wave we got goin’ here.)
Okay, some young people can be obnoxious. So can some middle-aged and old people, as far as that goes. But somehow it’s always the young folks who take the rap for causing the “disturbance.”
Why? Our guess is that old people simply find something … well, disturbing about young people. They dress different. They talk different. They have tattoos and rings through their noses. Their hair may be weird colors. Their personal grooming habits (in the eyes of their parents’ and grandparents’ generations) leave something to be desired.
And so when some old folks encounter young people, they can sometimes feel frightened. (I’ve been frightened by old folks sometimes myself, especially when they’re driving – but that’s another story.) The young people aren’t necessarily doing anything scary; they’re just … being young people.
So if the city wants to move the vendors into the Plaza, that’s cool – it can’t hurt, and it might be fun. But I hope this isn’t the beginning of a campaign to hassle young people and anybody else whose appearance, manner, or general presence might be deemed “disturbing” to the worthy burghers of Bend.
And for the kids, here’s a friendly word of advice from a sympathetic old fart: I don’t find the f-word particularly disturbing, but a lot of other people do – so if you don’t want to be harassed, try not harassing the other people downtown by saying “f—” or “f—ing” or “f—ed” or “f—er” five times in the course of every 10-word sentence.
This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2009.
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I think the only thing disturbing is to see underage kids smoking. They do ride their skateboards on the sidewalks and it’s noisy but there could be much worse things. Your right, some people just need to complain. Why can’t they just enjoy downtown Bend for what it is!
well said!
“You kids need to show some respect!” (My old man voice just doesn’t see to come through the keyboard)
When I was a teenager, the cops would run us out of the north Mcdonald’s parking lot. Come to think of it, that was the only McDonald’s then.
I also worked with an old guy who was born and raised here (he just recently retired), and he told me stories about getting run off by “ol’ man Awbrey” for fishing on the river across from his house.
I guess some things never change.
Ya know, kids are kids. Those of us who aren’t anymore, well, we were. Give them a little peace. As long as they aren’t causing any damage or being a nuisance, what’s the big deal. Someday, they will be the ones complaining about nothing important. It’s a viscious circle called life.
If this is all that downtown bend has to deal with I think were doing pretty good.
Riding bikes and skateboards on the sidewalk is my only complaint. It’s called a “sideWALK” for a reason and the way some people ride on it could get a pedestrian hurt.
This town is simply constructed for old people. There is nothing to do and really no where to go for young people. I think it’s rediculous that I can’t have a phone conversation in my back yard after 10pm without being shushed by nieghbors. Come on people, quit whining. You have it really good compared to a lot of small cities out there. Those kids have every right to be downtown just as much as any other person. Instead of treating them like “hoodlems” try help making opprotunities for them. Your a joke to them as much as they are to you.
A lot of the kids like to look vaguely menacing, the boys especially since they are wanting to impress the girls. Probably some alpha male title vying going on, too. A small percentage of the kids may be truly troublesome, but on the whole, they’re just random kids who can’t find anything they’d better like to do.
The cigarette smoking is unfortunate. It starts as posing — an accessory — but is a lot more difficult to abandon than a funny haircut
riding bikes and skateboards on sidewalks is legal as long as pedestrians aren’t on it. How many people get hit by cars here, lets let people be safe. Its not only kids I see drivin in the bike lane.
This is Bend, I’m young and moved here for the many recreational things to do. Either you got bad neighbors or theres more to the story.
I moved to Bend from a large East Coast city and this article is hysterical! The downtown Bend association guy needs to go to ATL, NYC, and other cities and check out those kids. They carry guns and knives, they are in gangs, they steel and cause real trouble for people. If smoking and bad hair are the issues facing Bend’s youth, I say we aren’t doing too bad.
My 17 yo son loves to go downtown with friends. They also spend their money on coffee, ice cream, and sandwiches, comics, and whatnot. I also walk downtown with them sometimes, sit, and have a coffee and a snack. These are young people on the cusp of becoming adults who spend their time and money in a place they are comfortable and should be welcome, THEIR HOME. They live here and have as much right to be in public places as do any of the older folks.
My 17 yo son loves to go downtown with friends. They also spend their money on coffee, ice cream, and sandwiches, comics, and whatnot. I also walk downtown with them sometimes, sit, and have a coffee and a snack. These are young people on the cusp of becoming adults who spend their time and money in a place they are comfortable and should be welcome, THEIR HOME. They live here and have as much right to be in public places as do any of the old folks.
1. No Car – hang out downtown
2. No cigs- beg off a few from passerbys
3. No Money, see if you can get some pity from tourists
4. No Love from Home(ie no money) See rule 1
5. No Foul Language – Good Luck, every 3rd word.
6. No respect – You can expect it from those that have none.
7. No Rebel – How cool can you be?
8. No Hood? Make your own cause you are about as far away from the real hood as ever you could be. You would be a tourist there.
9. Oh yeah, No Girl?, duh, who wants to hang out with a broke loser.
10. so this is the lot the Downtown Merchants get to put up with. Kids that cant but their products, bum off their customers and have no f**n place to go. Thanks, may as well move to a mall.
I don’t mind the kids hanging out—BUT they need to realize that cigarette butts are litter and dispose of them appropriately. Actually, I think most smokers need to be aware of this. Butts are litter, don’t leave them on the street for my dog to eat.
there really isn’t a “hang out” spot for young people to gather, with out having to pay an arm and a leg to get in. If we could create some sort of area for youngens to canoodle in, if you want them off the Down Town Bend sidewalks, then you need to give them a suitable alternative. You can’t just say “leave”…
I would agree though, as a shopper, having a group of people stand outside your shop and smoke…makes it hard for me to want to enter…I don’t want to half to walk through the smoke, it smells bad…ick! So I see downtown’s side in terms of the smoking, butts everywhere, etc…but they aren’t doing anything illegal. So unless you offer them an alternative, a cost effective alternative (keep in mind these are broke, car less high school and middle school students, who’s parents have most likely recently been laid off)…creat an alternative, be proactive, don’t just complain! Good luck downtown, it will be interesting to see what you can come up with!
Karen Letourneau, owner of Bend Bungalow, a downtown home decor shop, rips me a new one in the print edition of this week’s Source, accusing me of being “against downtown merchants.” Please let me assure her and everyone that I am not against downtown merchants, or downtown. I love downtown, I frequently go downtown, and I want to see it and all its businesspersons thrive. When my family and I moved here in 1985 downtown appeared about to dry up and blow away, and I sure don’t want to see those days return.
That said, what I’m seeing lately looks an awful lot like downtown merchants turning “undesirables” into scapegoats for their business problems. Funny thing, but I can’t remember all this grumbling about panhandlers and unruly kids back during the boom times of three or four years ago.
Businesses of all kinds, big and small, are hurting from this recession. The “undesirables” aren’t causing the hurt. They were there before the hard times came and they will be there when they are gone. In the meantime I would hate to see the city adopt a policy of hassling and harassing anyone who is perceived as (in Letourneau’s words) “negatively affect[ing] my business and the general atmosphere downtown.” That could cover an AWFUL lot of people.
I believe the point being made was that when the economy is bad, and you are a business owner, you don’t need it being made any worse by lack of civility and rudeness. I generally agree with the shop owner, although I’m at a loss about how to regulate respect and civility into people who cherish the lack of both as a lifestyle choice.
rb: It’s a problem, especially if the kids aren’t doing anything actually criminal. But I think there may be a law against use of obscene language in public places. If there isn’t maybe we should write one (not as part of a political event or artistic performance, of course, but just in casual conversation). And there certainly are laws against littering. We can and should enforce these laws. What we shouldn’t do is make it a “crime” for somebody whose appearance might “negatively affect the general atmosphere downtown.”
PS: If the economy was good I really doubt the presence of those weird-looking kids would have any effect on downtown sales. Conversely if all the weird kids disappeared and the economy stayed lousy, I doubt there’d be any noticeable uptick in sales. H
Have any of you ever stopped and talked with those so-called ‘disturbing kids’? All you see is tatoos, piercings, colored hair, smoking, bad language. You only look at the outer image. I know those kids, their some of the nicest people in this yuppie town. These teenagers have no where else to go, no one to take them in. So what do you expect them to do? Their not doing anything wrong, these business owners are just pissed that the economy sucks and no one can afford to buy their unnecessary crap, so in turn they blame these poor kids. Those kids are my friends, not these disturbing nuisances you seem to think they are. Next time you’re downtown why not try and go up to them, say ‘hey how’s it goin?’ They might surprise you.