Comment of the Week: The political potential of the ‘passoire’ plan

Welcome to the Comment of the Week, where we highlight good comments in order to inspire more of them. You can help us choose our next one by replying with “comment of the week” to any comment you think deserves recognition. Please note: These selections are not endorsements.

I can’t get enough of Stone Doggett, and it’s more than just his name.

Stone was the author of last week’s guest essay, A plan for a ‘passoire’-filled Portland, which described his idea for a multi-block neighborhood sieve which would strain out cut-through automobile traffic. In response, the comment section lit up. Read it, it’s BikePortland at its best.

I noticed that several of those great comments were coming from Stone himself. Without getting too navel-gazey, let me just say that it takes some practice as an author to productively engage with commenters. Stone seems to be a natural. So in another BikePortland first, I’ve selected one of his author comments for this week’s COTW.

(Stay with me … we only got two “comment of the week” nominations this week,” and one of them was for Jonathan Maus!)

Stone’s comment points a way to launch his passoire idea. Here’s what he wrote in response to a commenter:

I hear you. I also think that politics is a huge factor. So many great PBOT plans have been left on the shelf because of attempts to manage public pressure, real or imagined. It really is the common factor that would explain the Frankenstein’s monster that is our current active transportation network.

This is a critical point. Politically speaking, a big transformative idea isn’t one hundred little ideas crammed together. Another bike lane, another greenway, another flashy light, as much as I love to see them, isn’t going to boost the political/ career aspirations of a council member or PBOT director.

But…. If Mingus Mapps and the new PBOT director implement this plan, they pretty much have a straight path to becoming the US Secretary of Transportation. If that is not their bag, then they would at least have a lifetime of international speaking engagements talking about how, against all odds, they transformed a major US city into one of the worlds most sustainable verdant places to live. Someone needs to have the heart to ask them “Do you really want to spend your life bickering over incremental changes for an unremarkable career in local or state politics, Or do you want to be on the world stage where you belong!?”

Thank you Stone Doggett! Read Stone’s comments and the rest of the engaging conversation under the original post.