PORTLAND, Ore. - Many Portland residents revel in the offbeat and unusual in their hometown. The city is known for zigging when other places zag.

Often, Portland's art scene, diverse eateries, bicycle culture and tolerant reputation land the Rose City on many Top 10 lists for best places to live in the United States.

But the city also attracts it fair share of undesirable elements, highlighted recently by the arrival of an admitted pedophile, Jack McClellan.

McClellan, 45, while not convicted of any crime, has a Web site where he chronicles his photographic pursuit of young girls in public places and has also detailed his drug use.

McClellan says he is choosing Portland as a place to live because it is a "haven for offbeat people." Reportedly, he is living out of his car and has no current residence after being literally chased out of Washington and California.

Additionally, members of a local Elks lodge discovered they had rented their facility to a racist skinhead organization, who were holding a regional meeting and concert.

Portland is still trying to shake its anti-immigrant reputation following the beating death of Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian student in the 1980s. City officials say they still get calls from people asking if Portland is a safe place for immigrants.

Dr. Randy Blazak has studied groups like the skinheads, who are trying to establish an Aryan state in the Northwest that can become independent of the U.S.

He says skinheads, anarchists, war protesters, assisted-suicide supporters, marijuana use advocates and other groups considered on the fringe, but who call Portland home, can hurt the city's reputation.

"The cost is much larger in terms of image for Portland, ever since the murder of [Ethiopian student] Seraw in '88, Portland has been known as 'skinhead city,'" Blazak said about the legacy of the racial crime nearly 20 years ago.

But many residents feel the openness of the city is a big positive and separates Portland from many other places.

"There's kind of a libertarian spirit, so we have a lot of folks on the fringe that feel comfortable," Dr. Randy Blazak said.

So while many Portlanders brag about the city's many bike commuters, funky nightspots, liberal attitudes and tolerance, there are perhaps just as many who wish the city were just a bit less… weird.