Owner pulls decades-old forging business out of Portland due to surrounding homeless camps
When will things get better?
Throughout the pandemic, we’ve heard Portland city leaders talk about how they’re tackling the city’s most significant issues, including homelessness and crime, but few are willing to set a timetable.
For one business owner in North Portland, it’s already too late. Tom Leaptrott owns a steel forging operation in Cathedral Park. He closed the shop ten months ago. The buoy swivels used by the Coast Guard and the decommissioned drill presses will be gone in 30 days, either scrapped or moved to his new location in Southwest Washington. It’s something the Portland-native says he never imagined would happen.