A day in Monmouth: Catch a trolley in this small Oregon town

Monmouth, in Polk County, is home to Western Oregon University, the state's oldest public four-year institution. KGW met the school's president and the town mayor.
Subscribe: / kgwnews8
Watch the latest KGW newscast: www.kgw.com/watch
Get the KGW app: kgw.com/appred...

[@johngaribay4954]

Thanks for visiting! I been here living downtown for almost 5 years now n I love it here! Thank u for the publicity!

[@TuesdayStringBand]

Thanks for having us!!!

[@mthelouvre]

Thank you for visiting!

[@pad9x]

if my mother moved there, i'd call her "Monmouth Ma" 🥁😬

[@truprice]

Forgot to mention -- The Trolley is completely free! Two trolleys, round trips from the college to Independence near the river, one passing by every 20 minutes. It will even take you to, or pick you up at, your home if its not too far from Main Street!

[@KatinaVulvodynia-vm1wn]

Next time get footage of the homeless population that's moving here from Portland and Salem!

[@muziklvr7776]

Uh-Oh, I hope they nip that in the bud or it'll ruin the town in short order.

[@rebeccan7276]

There's tons of misunderstanding and frankly misinformation about the causes of homelessness and the true situation of the unhoused community. E.g. they are not all addicts and criminals and most of them are not "choosing" this for themselves. Many are members of your own community and not "outsiders" who have become disabled or have been displaced by rising costs of living. Many people are very frustrated by the situation and by their own inability to do anything about it. Their frustration dominates their emotions and thinking. All the compassion and high-level understanding of the systems at play doesn't counteract people's anger at having homeless people camping in front of their house, let alone if they are behaving badly. However, I disagree that this is becoming an acute issue in Monmouth or Independence. What days, times and locations do you notice people in need of services? And of course some small number of people simply lack compassion in the first place.

[@truprice]

Too late! There was a gal living in a tent in the vacant lot behind the Ind. grocery, but somebody got her a place.