Year: 2024

The new year is a time for reflection and vision, and several commenters this week described the Portland they would like to see. They could all envision, or remember, a city which felt vibrant, appealing, alive with possibility, a little collection of poignant letters about a city a lot of people love.

One commenter always gets points for punchy writing and passion, here’s what SD would like to see, and what it would take to get there:

Real transportation reform that could provide safe, affordable, efficient transportation for the Portland region will require a leap forward championed by a coalition of state and local leaders rather than incremental prodding and piecemeal projects; a clear coordinated message where the political heat is absorbed across multiple agencies. They should go big to get people excited and bring out the strong grass roots support for a livable vibrant city. Nobody should die on Portland streets, but more importantly every Portlander should feel alive on Portland streets.

The current transportation ecosystem in many ways is like a garden where PBOT has been trying to create conditions for beneficial plants to grow that provide beauty and sustenance. However, they are too timid to remove the toxic invasive weeds that will never let the desirable plants thrive. All of the water, compost and flexi-posts in the universe are not going to shift the equilibrium to create a Portland where someone can walk a couple miles and feel energized by being in a city rather than threatened by noise, pollution and the selfishness of drivers. There needs to be a city-wide vision that is clearly communicated to the public.

PBOT can’t make a transformative change on their own. They need a full-throated, coordinated campaign from all public agencies as if they are starting from square one. They need to get leaders of the business community that don’t suck to endorse the plan. They need to put ODOT’s 100 million dollar PR budget toward something useful and life affirming. All the pieces are here, Portland just needs leaders that want Portland to lead the US into a rational future. Portland doesn’t need second-career discards that want Portland to be an incubator for mediocre politicians.

The line about a “coordinated campaign from all public agencies” is particularly relevant to me today. Later, I’m meeting a friend at Goose Hollow. I have to drive because my bus doesn’t run past 8:00 AM. Even if I could walk the mile or so, various city bureaus have made it more difficult for me to do so. The city allowed a couple of property owners along the route to close right-of-way cut-throughs between streets, which adds about 15 minutes to the travel time. (One homeowner actually jackhammered a public staircase to bits — with no repercussion).

In fact, I can think of several examples near me where, either through an oversight or no sight at all, the city has made it more difficult to travel by foot. It’s been a drip-drip-drip over the years, and protecting the ROW requires a lot of vigilance on the part of the neighborhood. But really, the whole city, not just the Planning section of PBOT, should value and protect pedestrian and cyclist passage.

So thank you SD. You can read SD’s comment in context under our Five Dead in Three Days: A Grim Holiday of Predictable Traffic Violence in Portland post — in a thread that ran wild over the holiday weekend. Thank you to everyone who posted!