People who live near Northeast 82nd Avenue said they're fed up with the prostitution problem in their neighborhood and they shared ideas with the city on how to clear out the street corners.

A town hall meeting Monday night focussed on the issue. Workers at nearby Moto Pizza said the meeting could not come soon enough.

“I’ll get off work at night and some chick will walk by and say, want a date, and I’ll say, no thanks,” said Josh Peters. Another worker, Kevin Mondor, added, “We just show them the door, say you can’t do that here. We just show them the door and walk them out.”

For some time now, prostitution has been a problem along Northeast 82nd Avenue. One prostitute agreed to talk to KGW as long as her identity was kept secret.

“It’s hard to find a regular job. I’m 28-years-old, with no job or work history, and when I apply they’ll hire an 18-year-old before they hire men,” she said.

On Monday night, hundreds of neighbors packed a hot auditorium to learn more about the prostitution problem and to find out how police plan to clean up their neighborhood.

Commander Mike Crebs, from the Portland Police Bureau, said it starts with more patrol officers and a tougher court system for prostitutes.

“The district attorney will then assign probation. It would have conditions assigned to it. One would be you have to go to some sort of therapy or rehabilitation,” Crebs said.

But prostitutes do not think anything will work. “It’s not going to stop, period,” one stated.

That was a harsh reality for a neighborhood that has had enough.

“It’s gotten really bad over the years. It’s something that needs to be taken care of,” said Mondor.