"We have learned how to survive, now we really need to learn how to live."
--Gil Penalosa at the Carfree Conference last Tuesday

I have finally gotten a chance to upload my audio recording of Gil Penalosa's keynote address to the Towards Carfree Cities Conference at Portland State University last Tuesday.

Penalosa's speech and presentation garnered a standing ovation from a room full of the best and brightest minds in the international livable cities movement. His words -- spoken in the context of a major shift in the transportation mindset of city leaders throughout the world -- were the perfect way to kick off the five-day conference.

Below are a few select quotes followed by audio of his speech:

"It's not one thing that creates a great city... it's thousands and thousands of little ones."

"70% of the public space in Los Angeles is dedicated to car mobility... 20% of public space in Paris is dedicated to car mobility. In which city would you rather live?"

"It's not about the money, it is not a technical issue, it is about priorities and political will."

"Politicians need to have guts. They've got to have clarity that the general interest must prevail over the particular one."

"We have to be engaged, we have to participate... pedestrians and cyclists seem to be transparent, invisible."

"You've got to have a shared vision. Where is it that you want to go? Where is it that you want the community to be 10, 20, or 30 years from now? This has to be a shared vision by many people of the community.

... if you have a fantastic shared vision, and you collectively work at it, you can transform Portland, and then Oregon, and then the U.S. and the rest of the world!"

Gil Penalosa's keynote speech at the 2008 Towards Carfree Cities Conference (1:11, I have snipped the first few minutes):
Download audio file (PenaloasCarfree.mp3)

"I seriously disagree with... taking an entire neighborhood and denying them the use of their cars, which I think is an evil thing to do to people, even if just for one Sunday."
--talk show host Lars Larson

On the opening day of the Towards Carfree Cities Conference, right-wing talk radio personality Lars Larson invited Meghan Sinnott, one of the event's organizers, onto his show.

In the interview (mp3 below) Ms. Sinnott provides a textbook example on how to handle someone with a pro-car mentality who is opposed to the ideas and concepts that define the livable streets and carfree movements.

In the interview, Larson asks Sinnott a series of questions about Portland's upcoming Sunday Parkways event (this Sunday!) in hopes of getting her to argue with him (a stance hosts like this thrive on).

Here are a few of his questions (listen to the interview below for her answers):

Lars Larson
(Photo: LarsLarson.com)

Why was the city willing to close down 6 square miles of streets that people have paid for and people are used to being able to drive on?

What about the people who can't get around on bicycles or for whom the weather is an impediment, what do you say to them?

95% of people commute in automobiles every day, how is it that cars are in the way?


Meghan Sinnott
(Photo: CarfreePortland)

So, the people stuck in rush hour traffic would be better if they were just walking up the freeway?

Since 95% of the people commute in cars, do you ever think we should make it easier for people to drive cars?

Why is it desirable to move in that direction [encouraging transit and biking], rather than allow people the individual freedom to go where they need to go, when they want to go there?

The final exchange is the best part of the entire interview. As if frustrated that Sinnott never gave him the opening to express his displeasure with Sunday Parkways, at the very end of the interview (after he already said goodbye to Sinnott), he encourages this final exchange:

Larson:

"By the way, the thing I seriously disagree with you in doing is taking an entire neighborhood and denying them the use of their cars, which I think is an evil thing to do to people, even if just for one Sunday."

Sinnott:

"I'm sorry if you think we're evil Lars. encourage you to join us on Sunday and see how not evil we are."

Larson:

"No, I won't be doing that, because when you take an entire neighborhood and you say, 'you are denied the use of your automobile', I think you're taking away somebody's ability to travel and I think that's the wrong thing to do. I think that's the wrong way to get your message across, but, it's pretty typical of people who've decided they know the right for people to live is just to force them to live that way."

Sinnott:

"That's the way a lot of people who bike and walk feel about car drivers."

Larson:

"But see, I don't deny anybody the use of a bicycle*, in fact I pay for the roads they ride on and they don't pay for the roads."

And of course, Larson gets the final word:

"That was Megan Sinnott, who is one of those people who believes that we'd all be better off if society was without automobiles."

Listen to the entire interview below (it's about 8 minutes long):
Download audio file (meghanandlars.mp3)

During a presentation at the Towards Carfree Cities conference, TriMet unveiled a new, interactive trip-planning map.

A demonstration of the new map -- available at maps.trimet.org -- was given by Bibiana McHugh, TriMet's IT Manager for GIS and Location Based Services, at a presentation titled, How Online Information Can Encourage and Improve Carfree Mobility. The session was moderated by Joe Hughes, a software engineer from Google (he announced that Google Transit has gone mobile).

McHugh says TriMet's map is a new user interface built on top of their existing trip planner and it's integrated with Google Maps and Microsoft's Virtual Earth. This means users can interact with their trip itinerary in ways not possible with TriMet's existing map.

For instance, you can click to see Google Streetviews of Transit Centers and Park and Rides (where available) and you can also interact with your itinerary as it's laid out on the map. You can also zoom in and get detailed information for each stop location, such as amenities available (like bike racks) and see real-time arrival information via integration with TriMet's TransitTracker service.

What's even more exciting is that McHugh plans to overlay Metro's popular Bike There! map any day now and she is also working with Wyatt Baldwin of ByCycle.org and a team of developers with hopes to integrate bike trip-planning into the map as well.

(The Bike There! map overlay would not be interactive, but it would be very helpful to see bike routes in planning multi-modal trips.)

Also on the bike-route planning front, McHugh shared her enthusiasm for a product created by one of her co-panelists, David Emory. Emory is a transportation planner and citizen activist from Atlanta who has devoted hours of work to create a very impressive, multi-modal trip-planning tool that includes bike-friendly routes.

McHugh told me that once Emory open-sources his software code, TriMet will take a serious look at integrating that into their map for a truly multi-modal trip planning service (versus just mashing various tools together like they're doing now).

Clearly excited about the direction of this project, McHugh says,

"I never thought we'd get to this point. We were the first transit agency to have an interactive map, and when it came out in 2003 it was cutting-edge... but that was five years ago and it is clunky, old technology now."

She's also proud to have created the map with help from the open source community. "It's been really great working with them, and it also means that the development can be done for a lot less money."

High gas prices and record ridership numbers are not lost on McHugh. "Right now is a really interesting time," she said, "we have a unique opportunity to change people's routines, and we hope this tool can help with that."

Currently, the map works best on Firefox browsers but McHugh says they'll have all the bugs worked out for Internet Explorer by the public launch date of August 8th.

Check out the map at maps.trimet.org.

With 840,000 motor vehicles entering into New York City's central business district each day, New York City has its share of challenges in creating livable, safe and people-friendly streets.

But thanks to a burgeoning collaborative effort between advocates and bureacrats, New York City is in the midst of a streets renaissance.

This morning, Carfree Conference attendees got a look inside this renaissance from several leaders of the "livable streets movement".

In a presentation titled "Street Fight: Lessons from the NYC Livable Streets Movement", the team behind Streetsblog and Streetfilms (now folded into the Livable Streets Network) shared the latest from the front lines of the battle over public spaces in a city that has been dominated by cars for nearly a century.

Editor of Streetsblog, Aaron Naparstek.

Aaron Naparstek, the editor of Streetsblog, said his transportation activism began by throwing eggs at cars. That led him to writing Honku (a collection of road rage haikus), and eventually turned into a career.

Naparstek is the driving force behind a blog that has had a major impact on transportation advocacy not just in New York City, but in many cities and towns worldwide that have been inspired by their work.

Some of what Streetsblog does is similar to BikePortland.org. But unlike this site, they have a team, a stable funding stream (Mark Gorton, who owns file-sharing site Limewire, manages a hedge fund, and founded the Open Planning Project, which Streetsblog is part of), and is much more advocacy-focused.

According to Naparstek they do "advocacy journalism" and they cover "the livable streets beat". He also laid out other ways Streetsblog (and Streetfilms) has made an impact: highlighting best practices, amplifying the voice of advocacy organizations, framing issues for the mainstream press, supporting political allies, going after the bad guys, making arcane policy more accessible, and mobilizing advocates and community.

Clarence Eckerson is one of the
team's filmmakers.

Along with sharing information about their work, their "Street Fight" presentation also laid out some interesting statistics.

For instance,
-- From 1924 to 1965, the number of car lanes into Manhattan has doubled. Over 1 million cars enter the city each day, yet the number of people entering the city is the same as in 1948!
-- There were 271 traffic fatalities in 2007 (23 were bike riders, 136 were pedestrians) and 15,000 pedestrian injuries.
-- 26% of the children in Harlem have asthma.

These stats are sobering, but tides are turning in the fight for livable streets. Thanks in no small part to Streetsblog, Streetfilm, and their partners in the Livable Streets Network, New York City's transportation policy and planning is heading in an exciting direction.

Separated bike lanes, re-visioned streetscapes, traffic safety murals, and streets-friendly Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan are all signs of their success.

What's next for the Livable Streets team?

Screenshot from Livable Streets site.

Project coordinator and technology guru Nick Grossman told us about the launch of Livable Streets Groups. The site allows visitors to join and create a profile, share expertise and experiences, and connect with activists around the world.

An online group for attendees of the Carfree Conference has been set up so they can stay in touch and continue to network and work together after the conference ends.

Livable Streets team member Lily Bernheimer said they've also launched a livable streets education program for public schools in New York City. They plan to put the curriculum and lesson plans online so other school districts can use them.

Bernheimer said, "We're trying to work livable streets into a mainstream environmental movement... Similar to how recycling used to be fringe, and is now known to everyone."

Their secret weapon for infiltrating the hearts and minds of school kids will be "Zozo," the livable streets mascot. "He'll be like Smokey the Bear was for forest fire," said Bernheimer.

Check out the Livable Streets Network at LivableStreets.com.

Visit the Carfree Conference page for more coverage or browse through the latest images in the Carfree Conference Photo Gallery.

During his inspiring keynote speech at the Carfree Conference yesterday, Gil Penalosa gave Portlanders a lot to think about.

Penalosa is the former Commissioner of Parks, Sport, and Recreation for the city of Bogota, Colombia. During his tenure, he transformed that city (population 7 million) by creating hundreds of acres of new parks, developing a connected network of greenways (linear parks) and bike paths, setting up an ambitious public transit system (utilizing Bus Rapid Transit) and establishing the "Ciclovia", a carfree streets program adored by millions of Bogota residents each week (and by urban planners around the world).

Now Penalosa -- whose brother (and former mayor of Bogota) Enrique I wrote about in 2006 -- has reinvented himself as executive director of Walk and Bike for Life, a non-profit dedicated to inspiring cities around the world to improve their quality of life by becoming more people-friendly.

During his presentation Tuesday, Penalosa was clearly excited that the term "carfree" is now making regular headlines across America. Just yesterday, New York City announced an ambitious "Summer Streets" program that will close nearly seven miles of streets in downtown Manhattan to cars during three days in August.

Penalosa gave part of the credit for New York City's carfree event to Portland:

"Portland has a lot to do with it. Because in New York they were thinking about it... they said, Portland is doing it, and Chicago's doing it, so New York said, we're going to do it ahead of them... but this is such a healthy competition."

But even with more and more cities taking a hard look at their transportation planning these days, Penalosa said, "There is no doubt that we are not doing enough." He laid out the challenge that lies ahead by saying that the U.S. will add 100 million more people in the next 35 years (equal to the combined population of our 24 largest cities).

He challenged the audience:

"We must not only improve existing cities, we must build great cities... This is a wonderful and historic challenge, but it's a fantastic opportunity because never before and never after are we going to build so many communities for so many people, in such a short period of time.

Unfortunately most of them are not being built like they should, so we've got to get moving."

He then asked, "What kind of cities are we going to build? How do we want to live?" and said, "a city is only a means to a way of life."

Throughout his presentation, Penalosa stressed that creating livable cities is about "economic survival":

"In an ever more globalized world, the best people can live anywhere in the world. So why would they live in Portland, and not in Seattle or New York or Copenhagen or Sao Paolo, or wherever?

The other day I met a university professor from Texas and he got an offer for another job at another university in a different state with 10% more salary and he didn't even think about it. Then he got another offer for 12% more salary and again he didn't think about it. Then he got an offer to work in Portland with the same salary, not one cent increase, and he was thinking about it.

That's the magic of having great cities."

Penalosa said how to attract and retain highly creative and educated people is "the challenge of any city," and that, "A good city is not just about engineering, it's much more akin to an art."

And although he praised Portland, he also warned against becoming too complacent.

"Sometimes it's really hard to go from good to great. Sometimes it's easier to go from bad to great because when you are bad you are willing to take more risks and you are willing to try different things. When you are good you become complacent."

One of many interesting slides
from Penalosa's presentation.

Then, he just came out and said it: "The reality is that Portland is far from being great, you have to realize that."

Referring to Portland's recent Platinum award, Penalosa said he wished the League of American Bicyclists had an award that "no one would ever get... like one of those rabbits in a dog race."

Building a great city, he said, "has to be a process of continuous improvement."

Where can Portland improve? Penalosa said we need to look at who's riding today.

He pointed out PDOT stats showing that two out of three cyclists are men and that, "in places where 20-30% of the people are riding, usually more than half are women."

Penalosa also pointed out that in Portland, 70% of cyclists are 25-50 years old and that no area in the city has over 10% bike usage.

Then he asked,

"Does Portland want to play with the heavyweights or the lightweights? Does Portland want to stay as champion of the little league of soccer across North America? Or, does Portland want to be champion of the World Cup?"

How can Portland (and other cities) begin to compete with in the World Cup of Great Cities? Here's a slide from Penalosa's presentation that lists how to, "Go from thinking and saying, to DOING:"

After his presentation, Penalosa (and League of American Bicyclists Director Andy Clarke, who also spoke yesterday) joined the media for a private press conference. I'll post some video and thoughts from that later today.

I also recorded the audio from Penalosa's presentation and, depending on quality and interest, I will post it here soon.

Visit the Carfree Conference page for more coverage or browse through the latest images in the Carfree Conference Photo Gallery.

The vibe here at City Hall is buzzing with bikes.

Welding together a tall bike
in a parking spot in front
of City Hall.

It's opening night of the Carfree Cities Postcard Art Show and to celebrate, conference organizers have turned City Hall into a buffet of bike and carfree culture I haven't seen since the Made in Portland Bike Show and Art Exhibition nearly two years ago.

In front of City Hall (off of SW Fourth Avenue) bike art and culture is everywhere you turn...

"Doc" and Cliff from North Freak (Portland's newest freak bike club) are welding together a tall bike, the Sprockettes are about to perform, famed stencil artist Tiago DeJerk is painting stencils on the ground, another artist (also in a car parking space) painting a bike-inspired scene on a huge canvas, and there's even a "tall-bike riding seamstress" who has set up shop with her sewing machine.

There are hundreds of bikes stacked thick on every pole.

Gazing at carfree-themed art.

And inside City Hall, it gets even better.

Carfree-themed postcards from all over the world and works by Andy Singer and other artists are engaging and inspiring visitors. There's free beer and live music -- a veritable cornucopia of bike love.

You should come down and join us if you can!

[And stay tuned for coverage of Gil Penalosa's very inspiring keynote speech...]

In his speech addressing an international crowd at the Carfree Cities Conference, League of American Bicyclists executive director Andy Clarke announced that his organization will launch a Bicycle Friendly Business program.

In his address, Clarke also said the League plans to release the initial rankings of their recently launched Bicycle Friendly States program in September.

To a packed room of carfree and transportation advocates, Clarke sang the praises of Portland. He said one of the reasons Portland is "so awesome" is that we've "had the courage to lead." He also laid out the many facets of our vibrant and diverse bike culture.

Now that Portland has been given the League's highest honor (Platinum), Clarke said we have to compete for bike-friendliness with European cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

The crowd.

In his closing remarks, Clarke said, "We have to make transportation about people and the places we live... That's something that the highway lobby does not have on their side."

After depaving a former parking lot in North Portland yesterday, the Towards Carfree Cities Conference marched on this morning at Portland State University.

The first half of the program dealt with two topics of major interest to urban planners (and anyone interested in healthy communities): families and freeways.

Kent Petersen, a bike advocate
from Issaquah, Washington.

A Dead Freeways ride left from the Park Blocks outside PSU to examine former freeways (Harbor Drive) and freeway ramps to nowhere (some were built for the Mt. Hood Freeway -- a project that was defeated before it ever broke ground.) Those who remained at the conference, were treated to a discussion of that infamous Mt. Hood Freeway as well as its modern day cousin (in some ways) -- the Columbia River Crossing project.

Coalition for a Livable Future director Mara Gross, Metro Councilor Robert Liberty, and transportation advocate and head of the Swan Island Transportation Management Association led a lively discussion of the CRC. Faces in the crowd included former Portland city council candidate Chris Smith, Congressman Earl Blumenauer staffer Meeky Blizzard, and council hopeful Amanda Fritz, who's in a run-off campaign against Charles Lewis (she was taking notes).

Swan Island TMA director Lenny Anderson (L)
and Metro Councilor Robert Liberty

During the Q&A session, Chris Smith asked Robert Liberty to explain why his colleague, Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder, has been supportive of the CRC project (a question many of you have wondered as well). Watch and listen to Liberty's answer below:

Blumenauer staffer Meeky Blizzard was asked why her boss hasn't chimed in on the CRC project. Blizzard said,

"This is a regional decision. As a member of Congress, he is representing the region's wishes on this project. He has some large concerns about it, but it's not his decision to make... The region needs to come together on these things and if people have concerns about the CRC... they need to make those concerns known to their elected officials to help shape the process... so, take that to heart."

The crowd at the carfree family panel.

Downstairs from the CRC discussion, the topic was carfree families. The expert panel included BikePortland.org columnist Marion Rice, Urbanmamas co-founder Olivia Rebanal, director of the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition Lynn Lindgren-Schreuder, Paul Adkins from Bike Friday, and Angela Koch from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.

One woman asked the panel, "Would it be safe, or would I be irresponsible to take my child in a trailer from North Portland to PSU?". The answer was a resounding no, and several people (in addition to the panelists) spoke up to say, "We do it!".

Olivia Rebanal (L) and Marion Rice.

There's definitely a buzz in the air. That's probably due to the fact that not too long ago, "carfree" seemed like a fringe, radical concept for most people. But today, with a perfect storm of factors making much of America rethink their transportation choices, carfree is much more mainstream.

In a few minutes, the keynote speeches will begin. Scheduled to appear are the executive director of the League of American Bicyclists Andy Clarke and carfree city advocate Gil Penalosa.

More coverage to come. For now, check out more photos from the Carfree Conference Photo Gallery.

With car use in decline across the country, millions of urban acreage currently devoted to parking them will soon go fallow.

What to do with all those parking lots? Depave them!

The International Towards Carfree Cities conference kicked off this morning with a depaving event in North Portland.

Scores of volunteers from Portland-based Depave pounded, cracked-up, and then carried away tons of pavement from the parking lot at the SE corner of N. Fargo and Williams.

Soon to be put in its place will be expanded bike parking for nearby businesses and an urban forest and community space.

I spoke to the owner of the parking lot, Angela Goldsmith. She said she offered up her lot -- instead of building a triplex -- because, "this is more inspiring". Goldsmith made today's event a family affair with her children and her mom all taking part.

The right tool for the job.

Getting there will take hard work.

Paul Tay, who's visiting from Tulsa Oklahoma to take part in Pedalpalooza and the Carfree Conference, said today's event is symbolic. "Machines put this lot together, now we're using human power to reclaim the space. There's a lot of symbolism here."

The Carfree Cities Conference runs from today through Friday (6/20). Tomorrow is the free public day and opening of the Carfree Art Show at City Hall. For more information on the steller program of events and panels visit CarfreePortland.org.

Check out the latest photos from Depaving Day and all the Carfree Conference events.

The eighth annual Towards Carfree Cities Conference is coming to Portland in less than a month (June 16-20) and organizers have lined up an impressive list of speakers, events, and workshops.

The latest addition to the program is a keynote presentation by head honcho of the League of American Bicyclists, Andy Clarke. According to conference organizer Elly Blue, Clarke -- the man who broke the news about Portland's Platinum designation -- will speak during the event's free Public Day on Tuesday June 17th.

Public Day is free and open to everyone (pre-registration is required). It runs from 9:00am to 8:00pm and is full of workshops, speeches, panel discussions, and interactive events. Highlights include panel discussions on the Columbia River Crossing project and the Mt. Hood Freeway, both moderated by Amy Ruiz of the Portland Mercury.

Transportation Solutions for Families in a Car-Oriented World is another panel discussion on Public Day that you won't want to miss.

Other Public Day highlights include a keynote by Gil Penalosa, the executive director of Walk and Bike For Life and an ardent supporter of carfree events like Colombia's Ciclovia and Portland's upcoming Sunday Parkways (June 22).

After a full day of inspiration and networking, the Carfree Cities International Art Show will have its opening reception at Portland's City Hall. The show will feature artists Laura Garzon, Andy Singer, and Ken and Roberta Avidor.

Beyond Public Day, conference attendees will be treated to presentations and discussions on a myriad of livable streets and sustainable transportation topics.

This event looks to be shaping up into an amazing week of education, networking, and inspiration!

Stay tuned for more coverage, learn more at CarfreePortland.org and don't forget pre-registration is required (even for Tuesday's free Public Day!).