Portland, Tennessee Blog

Diane,
For a town who,and I quote, "welcomes all citizens", it certainly has not came across that way, so first on my agenda, I want to personally welcome you to our town! :) And secondly, I would like to say how sorry I am that you are having difficulties making your way around town. Did you research what Portland had to offer before your move? If not, maybe that would be something you may want to do in the future, so you have more access to transportation, these little towns don't have too many "perks". Since I think that it would be a little odd (for me,anyway) to pick up and move into a extremely small,country town without pro and conning my options, I can only assume that maybe you move in with relatives who already lived here...in which there is nothing you could have really done in means of choosing a city that best fit your needs. Anyway,I know that many churches offer some transportation to and from some events near by,and it would be a great way to meet some new people from our town...as far as the Mayor goes, write him a letter about what issues you are facing, but try to remember that you have only been here a short time and have not been able to experience all the great things that do come from living here.

Portland Fan,
I agree with your comments about the city's transportation issue,but as far as the job situation, I must say that the reason people stay in these low-paying,no respect jobs is because they have to. They have a family, a home,responsibilities that they have to face just as we all do. My husband unexpectedly lost his job earlier this year, and with no college education,just a high school diploma and only 5 years of manufacturing background, it was very hard on us,since at the time, I was staying home with our son. He applied to many companies, all of which claimed to "be hiring" but were really "only taking applications at moment" and we waited and waited and he found nothing. After 2 weeks of job hunting, a small factory job through a temp. agency came available here in Portland paying only $10 an hour,this was an extreme pay cut from his previous job, but considering the circumstances, he took it. Although the pay was not much, it cut our gas usage down dramatically (his old job was in Madison and we were paying $150+ a week in gas for him to drive to work) So we took it as a blessing for the moment being and made do with what we had. It wasn't anywhere near ideal, and the company ended up firing all of their temps after only a few weeks because they hired a 3 full-times guy off the street..but luckily during that time, my husband had been actively looking for a better job and now he is in a great company and he is happy. The company that he worked for here in Portland was a sad excuse for a business, they treated their employees horribly and paid very little for the work they needed done. But, it brought a paycheck home and that is exactly why so many people have no choice but to put up with lousy jobs.

Surely you are joking.....right? I haven't seen where we are "actively recruiting" senior citizens (instead we welcome all citizens) nor can I locate the "false picture" you refer to. Where are the inaccurate statements made by the city? Those are the very kinds of comments that make us look bad to others. Similar to complaining about our jobs - if they are so bad, why do we stay in them?

I am not in disagreement with the comment that it is unfortunate that she didn't research the services of the community before moving here, especially since Portland does not have a lot to offer in the way of services for the elderly. And while I don't think it is the "responsibility" of the city to provide every service known to man, I do think it is completely irresponsible for a City to actively recruit senior citizens by painting a false picture of it being an ideal location to retire.

The issue of whether a service is publicly funded really doesn't seem to be the issue. The fact is that Portland does not have basic services (public or private) so I am at a loss as to who came up with the idea that it is ideal. If I were a senior, I'd sue for false advertising.

DeeAnna, if you will look at my post, you will see that it was directed to "Diane", not to "DeeAnna". My comment about the Mayor was in reference to her earlier question "what type of mayor do we have here". I never referenced your name or your post so please don't take offense to mine. My post never said you "suggested that it should be a service provided by the city or the mayor". I believe the mayor and council are always looking for ways to make the city better....they just know public transit for a city this size isn't realistic.

PortlandFan -- my point was that maybe this would be something that the Mayor could investigate to see if there was some organization or a program that offered such a service to small rural towns. I would think anything that could make a town better would be of interest to the Mayor. If I were mayor or on the Council, I would always be looking for ways the town could be made better for it's citizens. I never suggested that it should be a service provided by the city or the mayor......just something that might be of interest to check into, that's all.

Diane, it's unfortunate you didn't investigate those things before moving to portland if you depend on them for survival. You don't find many rural towns of 10,000 that have city bus service and cab service in town. Don't see what it has to do with the Mayor (of which we have an excellent one, I might add) because that shouldn't be provided by a municipality anyway. It should pay for itself with user fees or fares. Check out Nashville for that service.

Diane, I think that's a good question to pose to the Mayor....why isn't there some program started that could help people who need transportation. It should would be a great service if it could be done. That's one of the worst problems of living in a small town -- there are no adequate services like that for people who need them the most.

hello city of portland

i have only been in portand for 2 months. i love the city. but the transportion here is awful. i have seened smaller cities than portand have better transportation. there's no cabs. no city bus service. mid cumberland comes once a week. wow!!! i have seened 70 year old people walking to the stores. because there is no source of transportation. what type of mayor do we have here. when eldery people and disabled people have to walk to the stores. i think this town is piteful. i am disabled myself. and i depend on public transportation. i hope someone can help the people of portland with this.

sincerly
Diane
Nagel

Charlie,
I think that this post is GREAT!!!! if people would take the time to read it they might learn some stuff. WE all need to look around us and change our ways. Thanks for the moment for me to sit back and think how my life is. And how I can change it.