In the world of sales and marketing, there’s a thing known as a unique selling proposition, or USP. Put simply, it’s the one thing that differentiates your product or brand from competitors.
What if Portland’s leaders once again acted as through our city’s USP was a safe, efficient, earth-friendly transportation system? I say “once again”, because in many ways that’s what set us apart from other American cities starting in the 1970s. That’s when activists came together to turn a massive highway, Harbor Drive, into Waterfront Park. Then Portlanders defeated the Mt. Hood Freeway in the 1980s (and built light rail instead), laid down innovative bike lanes in the 1990s, then went on to become the coolest cycling city in the world from 2000 to 2015.
Now that some of the shine as come off our transportation reputation and everyone’s looking for a way to “revitalize” Portland, one bike advocate thinks we should consider finishing what we started in the 90s.
Local nonprofit BikeLoud PDX encourages members to testify each week at the open public comment period prior to City Council meetings. These three-minute slots are open to everyone and they’re an excellent opportunity to speak directly to Mayor Ted Wheeler and the four other commissioners and get your ideas on the record.
One person who volunteered for this last Wednesday was Melissa Kostelecky (you might have met her and/or her family at Bike Happy Hour). I thought Melissa’s testimony was very effective, so I made a video of it and have shared the transcript below.
The “toothbrushing enthusiast” line at the beginning is brilliant!
Below is her testimony (scroll down to watch it in video form with captions):
“Commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Melissa Kostelecky, and I’d like to start off by noting that I don’t identify as a cyclist in the cultural sense of the word, any more than I would consider myself a toothbrushing enthusiast, simply because it’s something I do a couple times a day as a need.
I’m passionate about biking because it’s potential for mitigating carbon emissions, but it just so happens to also be a more affordable form of transportation. One with vast health benefits, and let’s face it, much more enjoyable than sitting in traffic and searching for parking. I initially wanted to speak to you today about recent removals of bike lanes, both proposed and implemented, but I’m sure you’ve heard an earful already, so I’m going to pivot away from safety concerns and instead point out what we stand to gain by hardening and significantly expanding our bike network.
Last week, you heard a presentation from Travel Portland about how to bring tourists back and the need to reverse our tarnished reputation as an unsafe city. Mayor Wheeler noted that cities with good tourism have some unique aspect cruise ships in Seattle, sports venues in Las Vegas. I’d like to challenge the City Council to define our unique selling point and at the same time, improve safety by expanding on a mission we started roughly 20 years ago, but never really completed.
To make Portland the city where people move on foot, bike, and public transit and interact on the street. As [Travel Portland Chief Strategy Officer] Megan Conway noted, people want to come here and experience Portland like the locals do. The problem is that too many of the locals are now hidden away in metal and glass, hurrying by at 40 miles an hour.
We’ve suffered a vicious cycle lately. As the pandemic pushed people indoors and emptied out the streets, crime and unsafe driving filled the void, further disincentivizing people from experiencing the city outside their own cars. A few recent studies indicate that biking has a wider impact on cities as tourism destinations by transforming places and slowing down urban routes, i.e., influencing the dynamics of cities as lived space — and I’m happy to provide those studies on request. Other cities are racing ahead of us on building out their bike networks. And we’ve already lost our place as America’s bike and transit city. Turning this around would help Portland attract conventions aimed at companies and industries looking to tout their green efforts by making our city synonymous with sustainability.
You may wonder what that looks like. Portland continues to improve its, its bike facilities. And for that, I’m grateful, but the roads still feel unsafe and the data backs me up. This problem gets in our way of standing out as a unique American city worth visiting. So I encourage you to think bigger.
Recently, a team of planners, including a former BPS employee, drafted a plan for an urban trail network. I highly encourage you to take a look for yourselves; but to sum it up, the network entails a system of fully protected bike lanes that would link our outer trails and greenways with key downtown and neighborhood destinations within the city.
This safer, more attractive infrastructure would get Portlanders out in the open air, interacting with one another, looking out for one another, and create a safe, welcoming space for visitors to interact with locals. Thank you again for your time.”
I think Melissa did a great job finding a new argument for cycling and framing it in a way that connects with elected leaders. Watch the full video with captions below:
