America, working in SE Portland
this morning.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Even though recent local and national headlines have portrayed an image of uneasiness and tension between bikes and cars on Portland’s roadways, our bike scene is also getting plenty of positive attention.
I just spent a few hours with Suli Yu, a video journalist with the Chinese bureau Voice of America. Founded in 1942, the VOA is a U.S. taxpayer-funded news service that broadcasts to a worldwide audience of 134 million people.
Mr. Yu was in Portland to produce a feature on our bike culture for Cultural Odyssey, a weekly news magazine program. Yu said the show will be translated into 44 languages and shown via satellite in cities around the world (in addition to being piped into every major hotel in China).
Yu interviewed Commissioner (and Mayor-elect) Sam Adams earlier today and I chatted with him about all sorts of topics. I look forward to seeing the story.
Portland’s leadership in creating a bike-able city have also landed major national publicity from CBS News Sunday Morning, National Public Radio and others.
With Pedal Power, CBS focused on the trend toward two-wheels in several U.S. cities and said,
“The one that’s farthest down the road in making itself bike friendly is Portland, Oregon. Mayor-elect Sam Adams is Portland’s transportation commissioner. He’ll soon preside over the country’s biggest bicycling success story.”
And the NPR show All Thing’s Considered featured a story last week titled, Portland, Ore., Rides Bikes Around High Gas Prices. Here’s the lead-in paragraph:
“Americans want alternatives to traffic jams and high gas prices. Portland, Oregon, thinks it has found one: convincing residents to commute by bike. Cycling has doubled since 2001. And the city hopes this is just the beginning.”
On a smaller scale, Oregon’s NPR affiliate (OPB) made bikes the subject of their one-hour Destination DIY show. The piece focused on how several Portlanders have turned their love of bikes into a career.
These stories are just some of the recent attention on Portland’s bike-friendly status, and with gas prices in the news now more than ever, we can expect the trend to continue.