PORTLAND, Ore. — Buildings covered in graffiti are a common sight along Northeast Weidler Street in Portland. In places, you can see where it's been painted over and then tagged again.
The city of Portland's Office of Community and Civic life said the battle to stop it seems never-ending, and it got worse during the pandemic.
"Since COVID began, we did see an increase. At its height we saw work requests increase by more than 300%," said Daniel McArdle-Jaimes with the Office of Community & Civic Life. He's the officer that handles graffiti removal.
Willie Miller has lived in Northeast Portland for two decades and has recently seen the graffiti problem get worse.
"Oh, it's terrible. They clean it up and the next day it's back there. Where my brother lives, there's a café there, and they clean it up and the next couple of days it's back. I tell you man, it's terrible," said Miller.
The Office of Community & Civic Life uses its own staff and contractors to paint over graffiti. Businesses can contact the office to report graffiti.
Things have started to stabilize and they're getting a handle on the problem, the city said.
"We actually are back to our normal response rates, which are three to five business days," McArdle-Jaimes said. "Which is better than the year before, which was three weeks."
Miller knows the cleanup won't happen overnight, but he is hopeful.
"We can do it. We can be a clean city again like we used to be."