People are driving cars in Portland Parks, upsetting the traditional calm and carfree respite many seek when visiting them. Two recent incidents stand out as just the latest examples of an erosion of norms around safe driving.
On the night of Monday, July 8th a man was relaxing in Creston Park in southeast Portland when the driver of a blue SUV hit him and then fled the scene. The mom of the victim posted to Nextdoor in hopes of finding the suspect. Here’s an except from the post:
“He was lying on the grass and hit by a car ‘presumably joyriding’ through the park. He sustained multiple injuries and is healing. Although he was unable to clearly identify the make and model of the car, the car is blue – the car sustained a smashed windshield and dented hood due to the impact. His glasses, keys and headphones were strewn over 30 feet behind him, he was hit hard and head on. If you have any information or witness a car that may have sustained these damages in the last 24 hours, please reach out to the Portland PD. Thank you for keeping your eyes out for me.”
The victim gave an interview to KOIN TV that aired Friday. “I was just trying to relax a bit before bed,” the man said. “I’m laying down and headlights come in my peripheral, so I immediately stand up and I turn around, and the car is like directly in front of me.” The driver of the SUV was reportedly going “full speed” through the park prior to the collision. The impact left the victim with serious lacerations on his leg and face.
“If I wasn’t aware, I’d be dead,” the victim said.
Another person interviewed said they’ve seen people “doing donuts and other things with their cars” in the park.
And this past weekend, Sellwood resident Johnmark Larson reached out to share their concerns about people parking and driving in Sellwood Riverfront Park. Crowds have flocked to the park to cool off during summer, leaving no more room to legally park. “I first noticed the issue while riding down the Springwater on Sunday afternoon.” Larson shared. “I thought maybe there was a permitted event, but then I saw it all again last night and it’s clear this is the next step in anything-goes overuse of the park.”
Larson contacted the Portland Parks ranger hotline to file a complaint and says the staffer on the line had also seen people driving and parking on park grounds. Portland city code prohibits parking cars on parks properties without a permit.
This is just the latest example of how some drivers are so entitled and selfish they feel like laws don’t apply to them. Whether it’s speed racing on our streets, not having a license plate or current registration, driving on carfree paths, or destroying the calm and safety of our parks — it’s clear the lack of action by Portland city leaders to defend public space from miscreant car users has led to widespread normalization of extremely dangerous behaviors.
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Get a statement from Parks on what their plan is to deal with what’s going on at Sellwood Park.
I’ve asked and am waiting for a reply.
Can’t a tow truck just be called in to impound the vehicle? Seems like getting a car towed is an effective deterrent given the city probably doesn’t have the resources to ticket these cars
Cars parked on the grass was a persistent problem at the grassy lot across from Dawson Park. The city erected fences, and the problem seems to have been rectified. But I still see cars parked in Dawson Park from time to time.
FWIW there was someone parked in Sellwood Riverfront Park yesterday evening (7pm ish). Big truck, handicap placard, completely blocking the walkway/paths on the far side of the park from the parking lot at the off leash area. It was packed there yesterday evening too — so friggin dangerous
Ugh. I’ve also noticed this at Lents Park during events and Pickles games, dozens of cars parked on the turf and on top of tree roots.
Seriously! Walk, bike, take transit, or just, you know, park further away. Maybe the Pickles could partner with Trimet to make their tickets transit passes like the Timbers and Thorns do.
My first routine encounter with this was a good 15 years ago when I was living on Peninsular and working in little downtown Kenton and walking through Kenton Park almost daily. It was super common for folks that were having big BBQ hangs to drive to the table they wanted to chill at. I now live in outer SE and this happens in Lents Park oftenish and sometimes in smaller spots like Bloomington Park, Raymond City Park and Gates Park. Add this to the Springwater drivers and dudes on dirt bikes at Powell Butte and it’s all so very common. I sorta hate Portland these days! So many things seem broken and I don’t see how we fix it all. I moved a couple time in my younger days to other cities and would hype Portland so much. And it was warranted. But if some friends from those other cities were up for a visit now I’d honestly be pretty embarrassed to show anyone around.
My only answer is happening in 60 days…. Selling and moving. It’s been a wild and extremely odd 11 years. Who knew I’d ever want to live in a tiny house in the forest after living in my 3bd/1bath in felony flats, but here we are.
Well, that’s probably easier to do if you haven’t lived here nearly your entire life and pretty much all your family and friends are here. I hope it works out, Doug!
This is a direct result of policies that the citizens including the bureaucrats, judges, most of the bar association have supported. Not conducting routine police stops, checking license and registration, eliminating immediate punishment to deter wrongdoing, a culture of self-medication, narcissistic self-involved entitlement which blames unseen oppressive forces instead of looking within.
There is no one to blame.
There were two dudes on mini dirtbikes at Powell Butte last night! Amazing. They were so goddamn loud, too. Really neat to go to PB and enjoy the relative calm and quiet and then have some dumb assholes come ripping around on stinky, loud two stroke mini bikes. Super awesome.
we rode down to Sellwood Park on 4th of July and I was shocked to see that a quarter of the park was taken over for car parking? I had never seen that before. I couldn’t believe so many people fragrantly violated the law and that no cops were to be seen. I assumed it was just a holiday thing, I am saddened to hear it is a normal occurrence. I hadn’t heard about the poor person at Creston Park, that is horrifying. I live by another big park that I walk through 2-3 times a day and last summer, there was a huge problem of kids riding their motorcycles through it but I think the culprit was a nearby house selling/making meth, they’ve since been evicted and I haven’t seen this same lawlessness in the park since.
what the hell is going on in so many people’s brains to just ignore all common sense and laws? I am speaking on a larger level, as well as a local level.
I think it just takes one or two people to do it before others just think “forget it, I’ll park here” en masse.
I spent my 4th of July in a small town that closes their whole downtown area to cars, about 3-4 square miles. Locals all walk and bike in for the festivities, and people driving to town park their cars in a big empty gravel lot outside town. They run shuttle buses (they are actually just towns’ school buses lol) to the parking zone and around town about every 10 minutes, and have police/fire/emts cruising around in golf carts and side-by-sides. The local retirement home volunteers their wheelchair accessible van for transporting people who use mobility devices.
The closure runs from about 8am – midnight. Business owners or vendors who need to drive in will bring their vehicles/stuff the night before or really early morning. Talking to people, it sounds like they’re really on board with it. They do great sales numbers every year on July 4th!
It was really cool to experience, and I’d love to see Portland take the initiative to close entire zones/districts to cars on special occasions like July 4th.
You are right that at the waterfront park it is now a normal thing. The last three times I’ve gone, it was between 10-30 cars parked in the grass of the actual park. A park ranger was there with their truck once, but didn’t seem to be concerned with it since they were not doing anything about it (from my viewpoint anyways).
From what I have seen, the city seems to have totally given up on the concept of walking, biking and transit. Ever since vision zero and covid, I don’t know a single person in the city who does anything but drive. It’s “too scary.”
It seems the city tries to limit police at public events. I didn’t see one at the last Sunday Parkways I attended. Seems shortsighted and just another poorly thought out virtue signal from a city in decline.
Ugh. Tried to go to Sellwood Riverfront Park on Fourth of July (not sure what I was expecting), and there were cars parked all through the park on the grass, cars driving down the walking paths, and a huge procession of cars still coming in to park. Add in the motor vehicle nonsense around Oaks Park, and it was absolutely absurd.
Really need to have a parking enforcement officer down here most days in the summer. I’m also surprised that parking is free here. I’d think even the neighbors would want a timed-use parking fee to help keep spots open.
It is absolutely car infested on summer days. And right next to the best car-free (mostly) path in the city.
There needs to be time-limited parking and some kind of signage when full to direct park-goers elsewhere to park.
Sure, put up signs, but I think most drivers would ignore the sinage. Its already pretty apparent that you’re not supposed to drive on the path and park on the grass, but people still feel entitled to do so. Have someone physically there to tell they can’t park there, and redirect them to other places to park.
It’s sad to hear people are doing this, but after years of seeing campers’ cars parked everywhere on bike paths, in parks, in the woods, and on roads they’ve made through the paths and woods, I think people just don’t give a damn. I would love to see parks “get real” about enforcement, but I’m sure they’re up against some kind of budget, staffing, “insert standard-excuse” type of thing. Looks like we need more boulders and bollards and heavy things that stop cars.
Boulders sunk 2/3 in the ground to beach, or gut, motor vehicles operating illegally. They’ll write their own tickets. For everyone else it’s landscaping.
As a dog owner/lover and person who enjoys walking nowadays more than biking as I often stroll through the parks on my way to the stores in my neighborhood, this very f’d up, tragic & dangerous incident was just a matter of time.
Over the last few years, here’s what I’ve noticed:
Powell Park – Cars 8 SUVs illegally parked in the park.
Kenilworth Park – Tire tracks all over the middle gully area and on the hills. *Not where park ranger vehicles go.
*A few weeks ago, a drive in an SUV crashed through a motorized iron gate of house across the street from Kenilworth Park.
Creston Park – Tire tracks in the central dog park area and on multiple occasions teenagers/young adults racing all over the park, including the playground, picnic area & dog park areas on electric motocross bikes.
People on e-bikes & other elec. micro-mobility vehicles going way too fast on the paved trails in all of the parks including the SWC.
I wish I had taken photos, videos, but I just called the police non-emergency ph# & the Park Rangers ph#.
And as a car-free, bike commuter and bike fun supporter & advocate, I’ve even seen a-holes on MTBs riding on the playground features in Creston Park when there was a PPZ event. Not cool! Not for you! Stay the f! out!
Not too mention all the gas-holes driving around w. illegal tint, no plates, expired tags, crazy eff’ing loud exhaust, giant-a$$ trucks & SUVs & all the wannabe internet famous street racers.
Sometimes, I feel like I’m living in the infield of an eff’n Nascar race track.
Anyway, this entitled, anything goes, nothing is enforced free-for-all car culture has for me made Portland unlivable & is strongly compelling me to move out of Portland after 16 years of calling Portland home. I’m literally too eff’n old for this shit & I hate living here.
I’m tired of the noise & air pollution, I’m tired of car alarms randomly going off all day & night, I’m tired of the dangerous & careless driving, I’m tired of public streets littered w. personal vehicles, I’m tired of looking at them, I’m tired of always having to be on the lookout for them and I’m tired of walking by RVs & cars with people living in them.
I’m just done w. all this shit! It’s way past time to get the F! outta Portland!
I agree. But it’s an America problem, not a Portland problem. You’ll see lawless car culture taking over anywhere you go in this country.
Some of the Deep South cities are still pretty draconian dealing with such drivers, at least here in mediocre Greensboro NC. We get the speeding, but not people driving in parks, and the homeless are kept in line here by our overpaid well-staffed Gestapo police department. If you are white, Greensboro is a very safe city, but not if you are BIPOC, unfortunately. Columbia SC has an even nastier reputation in dealing with anyone breaking the law.
I saw some very nice parks that weren’t illegal grass parking lots while recently spending time visiting family in a couple of red states. Indianapolis and Cincinnati seemed far cleaner and more orderly than Portland. Do their police departments enforce local laws? Do their respective District Attorneys prosecute lower-level offenders? Perhaps Midwesterners have more pride, class, and a real sense of community? BTW, both cities featured some very nice long distance cycling trails that make the Springwater look terrible.
I don’t know but, I felt a little sad and sick as I drove through the Eastside on my way home from the airport. We are supposed to be the cleanest, greenest, and clearly the best place in America, right?
When did PDX every have a rep for being clean and orderly? There are problems no doubt, but I love this city.
Late 1980s and during the 1990s, Portland had an almost theme park quality about it. It was very clean and vibrant. The arts, music, and brewing scene were nothing short of amazing. Walking around downtown buzzed at 2:30 AM didn’t feel dangerous at all. Midnight hikes in Washington Park were magical. People thought bike riders were cool, not impediments to their car commute.
It was quirky and there was also some ugly racial stuff that happened but, the overall vibe was wonderful. That all seems lost now. I want to love this city again, but it seems like it’s time to cash out and move on.
It was that fertile environment that led to the rapid growth in the popularity of urban cycling that we’ve seen reverting in the past 7-8 years.
I would consider which has changed more: you or the city? I first moved to the metro area in ’92 and to downtown in ’94. Shocking experiences that I remember from the 1990s: sketchy open-air drug market in front of the greyhound station; addicts laying in their own vomit in doorways in Chinatown; the stench of the public bathrooms under the W end of the Hawthorne bridge; a trimet driver trying to ‘educate’ me about Ruby Ridge; having my car stolen TWICE from on street parking downtown; desperately looking for an apartment to rent because the one I had was horribly infested by cockroaches. North Portland seemed like a war zone to me. There were bullet holes in bus shelters, and that really freaked me out. Yes, you had to look harder to find urban campers or public hard drug use than today. But you didn’t have to look that hard. Weed was illegal, but people smoked it openly all over the place. I thought Portland was a great city despite those issues. Today’s problems differ mostly in degree, not category from those days. It’s fetty now instead of meth, but addiction is addiction. A house costs $600k instead of $150k. If you remember a theme park BITD, you remember a different city that I do.
Anyway, I’m sorry you are not digging PDX anymore.
I often wonder if being a city of transplants is a negative for some things. Ignore red/blue stuff. We are a city full of people that largely aren’t from here and if push came to shove, they can bounce back to where they moved from. So the sense of civic pride or whatever you want to call it, a lot of new Portlanders may just not feel it, not give a shit. If you just moved here at the end of Covid, how invested in this place can you really be? Also, Portland just does not in any way attract the same type of people it used to. It’s not a green/weirdo/crunchy/hippie/outsider kook/artsy mecca like it was. Old Portland vs New Portland is real.
This is “Comment of the Week” material as far as I’m concerned! Portland has become the city of transplants and the lack of multi generational ties to the city shows itself in the lack of civic pride for maintaining any public spaces built by previous generations. I’m one of those multi generational families with ties back to the 1960’s. Most of us who graduated from large Portland high schools in the 1980’s have uprooted our multi generational families and left the city because we couldn’t take it anymore. That includes our parents we care for, married kids, and grandchildren. When you see public spaces trashed and no one caring anymore except for the political posturing to gain another City Council or County commissioner vote it’s time to pull the plug.
Portland, and Oregon in general, has been about 50% transplants for the last 100 years
Pretty much every street in NW Portland was named after a “transplant”–Burnside, Couch, Davis…
Portland was nearly 100% transplants for years.
I agree with you and Will. Yeah, transplants aplenty, right? Then how about the type of transplants have changed. That’s more agreeable, yeah? I think many of the folks who moved to Portland quite a few years back, it’s like they found home. I’m not sure that is the case these days.
That could be. I thought your original comment was a valid observation also. I was responding to the next commenter, who took the “transplant” aspect to a whole new level, with the mass exodus of long-time residents who just can’t take it anymore, etc. I didn’t get that feeling at all with your comments. I’m guessing that’s why Will also responded to that comment rather than yours.
I travel a lot and don’t see things like this in other cities to the same degree as Portland. The “it’s like this everywhere”
excuse is getting old.
Skeptical. “Taking over” “anywhere in this country”? More likely you’ll see “lawless car culture lite” compared to what’s reported in these comments.
I’ll add motorbike use through Washington Park including through places like the Secret Garden. I’m so tired of all of this.
I’ve called about the parking situation at Sellwood for years. Not action from the city just makes the matter worse and worse each year.
I appreciate the sense of outrage and indignation in this post. It’s long past time to do something about this.
Maybe we should be calling in all vehicles driving in parks as “homicidal individual wielding a deadly weapon in public park.” Because that is what they are.
I agree, let’s not say “joyriding” and instead say “tried deliberately to run over and kill a person”. The whitewashed of priviledge in this town is a rot
Instead of “drivers” we should say “armed and dangerous potential murderers”.
And if you’re not willing to charge people with a crime based on that and put the guilty one’s in prison, then who cares?
I’ve seen the evidence of “joy” riders going thru & doing donuts the park next to my place. Deep rutted tire tracks across what should be base/softball outfields/soccer/football fields.
And the endless number of people with their dogs off leash in the same area… right next to the official off-leash area.
ugh.
A lot of outrage here; when it comes time to vote, will you pick folks who are more inclined to ticket miscreants? Or will you vote for candidates who think enforcement is inherently unfair, then complain here about the lack of ticketing?
I’m not pushing an agenda — I haven’t given much thought yet to how I’ll vote, who I’ll support, or even which issues to prioritize.
Unfortunately, the law and order types tend to be anti bicycle, anti spending on other progressive causes. If there was a hard core urbanist that also wanted to crack down on lawless behavior, I’d not only vote for them, I’d campaign for them, too.
You mean like Gonzales, the bike commuter? Or Rubio, the SUV driver and anti-bike room crusader?
I don’t see much evidence that a fondness for bicycling tracks with political outlook. Logically, the things that cyclists complain about, mostly interactions with dangerous drivers, illegal parking, blocked trails, and basic maintenance such as street sweeping and basic maintenance, seem to be better addressed by law-and-order candidates than by live-and-let-live enforcement-is-unfair ones.
The way you vote may reveal (if only to yourself) how much you really value a better bike riding environment.
I’ve seen no indication that Gonzales is a champion of bike infrastructure or safe streets. Yes, he has commuted by bike and transit, but he also comes off as a puppet of business associations. Is he the guy that’s going to push back when Metro chamber demands the removal of a new protected bike lane?
What indication have you seen that he isn’t? The fact that he has skin in the game suggests you should at least give him the benefit of the doubt.
I’m also curious why you think Gonzales is “a puppet of business associations” as opposed to, say, Rubio, who made a special deal with Zenith to allow them to do more bad stuff? Has Gonzales done anything similar?
I’m much more interested in specific, fact-based examples, rather than “vibes”. It’s almost as if, once you’ve been assigned to a “team”, what you actually do doesn’t matter.
I’m no fan of Rubio and don’t plan to vote for her, but her hands were pretty much tied. The land use board of appeals said that Portland didn’t have grounds to not issue a land use permit to zenith.
Watts, are you seriously arguing that you think Gonzales would have put up a fight to get the Zenith operation shut down if he were in the correct box in the byzantine CoP org chart? I have not seen any such position reported, and I would be surprised if I did. If I saw flexibility in his positions I might consider him. As is, his asinine braying about crime and the dangers of max and his petulant anger at criticism of the local peace are plenty to telegraph to any morally sentient voter that they should look elsewhere come November.
I am not. He didn’t run as an environmentalist, but I have no idea what he would have done.
I haven’t started thinking about who I’m voting for in November, but I will make my decision based not insults and “team affiliation”, but, to the extent possible, on record and facts. If you have any specifics you think I should consider, please post them here.
Unfortunately, if cops won’t arrest and present charges accompanied by evidence to prosecutors, then the latter can’t do their own jobs, no matter how willing they may be. And when cops hold an official press conference and announce, “hey everybody, please don’t break any laws, because we have only one available traffic cop on duty for the entire city!”, then you gotta kinda wonder what their agenda is, cause it sure doesn’t sound like an honest and cooperative effort at law enforcement..
Well there is a left of center bike cop by the name of Eli Arnold running for Portland City Council. He’s pro-bike and for enforcement of our laws and consequences for not following our social contract.
https://www.eliforportland.com/
Thanks for the tip!
“Vote Cthulu – when you’re tired of the *lesser* of two evils”
Yeah the problem is those types of candidates come with so much other baggage. Sure, they want to enforce things like parking rules or speeding. Great, I agree. They also want to just write a blank check to the police to do whatever they want.
I want stuff like this enforced. I want physical barriers where practical, and tow trucks removing vehicles and parking enforcement issuing tickets and booting cars all over. I want speed and red light cameras all over the place, and every tag-less vehicle ticketed. This stuff doesn’t impact regular poor, just trying to get by people who otherwise get swept up by the law and order types.
Pardon my expression, but tow that shit.
The other night a went for a walk that included a stroll around Lone Fir Cemetery, and while I was there a yuppie couple drove their Prius into the cemetery and parked it halfway on the path. They were got out in their best athleisure and proceeded to just jog loops in the cemetery.
Deeply corny behavior. I thought about saying something but, what’s the point? It’s like talking to people who park in bike lanes. They’ve already made up their mind about what kind of driving behavior is ok, I’m not going to change their mind yelling at them about the bike lane at 5pm on a Tuesday.
Smh, toxic priviledge and anarchy reign in Portland parks. This is defacto bc the police were unresponsive for years, half of the citizens of Portland believe they have total impunity to do anything they want to. If this city’s government ever did ONE thing to make our communities safer, my mind would be blown.
The idiot taking photos of his motorcycle on the Eastbank Esplanade last Saturday night was incredulous when I chastised him. He didn’t see anything wrong with his behavior.
What if an electric motor built into the place of its traditional drivetrain so that its an “e-bike” and a rotation sensing pedals installed so it must be turned before motor would activate?
The boundary between a gutless electric motorcycle vs power “assisted” pedacycle is blurring.
It is not. In fact, the boundary is more consistent in law than it ever has been, especially with HB4103 slated to become law in 2025. What do you suggest needs to be clarified?
ORS 801.258
“Electric assisted bicycle” means a vehicle that:
(1)Is designed to be operated on the ground on wheels;
(2)Has a seat or saddle for use of the rider;
(3)Is designed to travel with not more than three wheels in contact with the ground;
(4)Has both fully operative pedals for human propulsion and an electric motor; and
(5)Is equipped with an electric motor that:
(a)Has a power output of not more than 1,000 watts; and
(b)Is incapable of propelling the vehicle at a speed of greater than 20 miles per hour on level ground. [1997 c.400 §2; 1999 c.59 §233]
This is what a more powerful motor bike looks like:
https://www.magicyclebike.com/products/magicycle-ct-1-commuter-torque-sensor-electric-bike
That is, not much different than many sub-1000W bikes. The law may be clear, but it’s impossible to distinguish by looking.
Technically, there is a boundary, but beyond that it gets pretty squishy, and any enforcement or even awareness based on that legal distinction is pretty much impossible except for (possibly) post-crash investigation.
No enforcement of laws = anarchy. That’s what we got. Yet unfortunately many people that complain about cars in parks and other misbehavior in Portland are only too happy to vote for people that are not supportive of enforcing our laws. That’s why we’re in this situation.
You know the city I lived in before Portland, the city council there was 120% about enforcement. They did events with the police & showered them with praise and ample budget, bragged about being “the safest city in the US”.
And none of that translated into enforcement of car-related laws. We heard street racers tearing around every night, people flaunted speed limits and crashes were common, tons of cars had illegal noise mods. People even drove recklessly inside the fancy high-end shopping centers, and one store had a car crash through it on two separate occasions. Bike lanes were of course blocked constantly.
After a while it becomes pretty clear that “law enforcement” in its current form picks and chooses which laws to enforce and which to be lax on. So yes I’d like more to be done to stop reckless and selfish driving behavior, but I have zero confidence that giving the police more money will make a difference. That somehow “this time” the check we write will be the one that’s big enough to turn the tide.
At this point all I want for Christmas is some well-placed permanent steel bollards and concrete planters, sprinkled generously wherever they might help discourage reckless driving.
It is unfortunate that the people we entrust to enforce our laws have proven wholly unworthy of that trust. That we can’t trust that a simple traffic stop won’t end in the unnecessary death of an innocent person, that we can’t trust that someone won’t get arrested and have their life turned over for giving an officer a look that the officer didn’t like, that we can’t trust that police won’t use chemical weapons of war on peaceful protestors and leave the detritus on school grounds, that we can’t trust the police to follow the laws and rules we set out for them in exchange for giving them so much power and discretion to use it.
Many people voting for police reform would prefer consistent and fair enforcement that they know will be done professionally and in accordance with the law. They just aren’t willing to pay the price of the protection racket that the police impose: “Let us do whatever we want without accountability or we won’t lift a finger.” The police have specifically admitted that they stopped doing traffic enforcement to affect city policy. It is the police’s anarchy that leads to these breakdowns, not the people voting for reform.
Yes; they did so at the direction of the mayor, and announced it at a press conference, so it wasn’t like it was a sneaky thing that they had to “specifically admit to”.
Meanwhile, directly across the river at Willamette Park, Parks has (at least until recently) had a parking patrol person come every morning, all year round, citing people who don’t pay to park. I’d see him regularly when there were only a few cars in the park. He’d even come back a few minutes later, apparently to ticket people when he’d seen they had just a few minutes left on their stub.
He was so gung-ho I even saw him starting to ticket a kayaker’ vehicle a year ago when a van rolled underwater at the boat launch, and the kayaker was at the dock with the fire fighters who’d just arrived, in the middle of trying to rescue the woman trapped underwater. The kayaker had to convince him not to ticket him, as he was literally trying to save someone’s life. Then the parking patrol guy drove out right through the area where the fire fighters were running back and forth between their trucks and the victim.
This article just confirms that Parks should have used that staff time elsewhere where it’s needed, instead of harassing people who were parked correctly but didn’t quite get back to their vehicles in time. Ironically, he often sped and ran the stop signs.
Too much enforcement is bad, as is too little.
What we want is something in the middle, preferably targeted at people who do other things that annoy us (like drive big vehicles), and that won’t touch us.
Went kayaking at WP recently, parking for non-trailer cars was full so we parked at the very end of the trailer parking which was empty. Came back to a $110 ticket!
Yikes! I walk through that lot every day. The trailer parking fills up a few days per year. The non-trailer spaces fill up every day for hours in summer. It’s common to see the standard spaces full, while there are only a half dozen of the dozens of trailer spaces used.
Also, the trailer spaces cost much less, given that each one can fit two standard vehicles. You can also get season passes for the trailer spaces, as I recall, but not the others. To top it off, 99% of trailer spaces are used to bring motorized boats to the launch, whereas the non-trailer spaces are used for human-powered kayaks and standup paddleboards (who need to park near the water at least as much as power boat users).
Even worse, the parking patrol does drive-by checks, and they’re in a standard car, so they can’t see whether there’s a pay stub missing on the dashboards of the trucks in the trailer spaces, but they see clearly if someone in a car in a non-trailer space hasn’t paid, so those people are more likely to be ticketed.
I won’t even mention the nearby businesses like OPB that illegally use the park parking for construction parking and staging of huge construction equipment, making it harder for legitimate park users like you to park or use the park safely.
There is a seasonal pass for boaters but it is only for February through May. And it appears that there is only so many of those passes available. And it can only be used by a vehicle with a trailer and you must be parked in spot marked “Trailers Only”. Outside of those dates parking is on a daily basis. And trailer parking is not cheaper than non towing vehicles. 5 dollars per hour vs 1 dollar per hour. Also motor boats pay a registration fee to the Oregon State Marine Board. Some of the money from boat registration goes into building boat ramps throughout the state including the one at WP.
Yes, those are the passes I’d mentioned that are available only for vehicles with trailers.
Wrong. It’s not $5/hr. for vehicles with trailers, it’s $5/DAY. And you get TWO standard vehicle spaces for that. That space occupied by one vehicle with trailer for $5/day could generate up to $16/day if vehicles without trailers were allowed to park there. Given that they’re taking up two standard spaces, any vehicle-with-trailer parking for more than 2.5 hours (lots of boaters are out at least that long) is paying less per hour than vehicles without trailers.
But the point isn’t to pit boaters against other park users. It’s to highlight the craziness of people like Steve above getting fined by zealous Parks parking enforcement $110 for PAYING to park in a PARKING SPACE that would otherwise go unused, while the same Parks Bureau allows people to park dangerously and illegally all over the park directly across the river.
I apologize I mis-read the fee on the website. My guess is that since there is a fee to park at Willamette Park and it’s free at Selwood explains why there is an enforcement officer. Maybe charging for parking at all Portland Parks is the answer. Then at least there would be some sort of enforcement (maybe). Sort of like State Parks that have a day use fee attached to them. Then they could offer a yearly pass just like the state does.
My take on what to be expected for violating the rules at parks:
There is this branch of a Seattle, Washington based non-profit that sets up a table and distributes drug paraphernalia inside the actual South Park Blocks.
Now, anyone wishing to table and distribute anything for any cause in Portland must obtain a permit from Parks and Recreation.
PP&R is completely aware of this unpermitted vending activity that has been going on for years, but refuses to kick them out. Vehicles too are allowed inside parks. With proper permit. I think there’s a political reason for not forcing vehicles out at Sellwood Riverfront Park. Just like their refusal to kick out the drug paraphernalia purveyor. . .
Has anyone had any help from the Park Rangers on these type of issues? Two weeks ago I called and emailed the Park Rangers about a violent individual frequently seen in a park near me. They only have a voicemail—don’t even answer the phone. They never even responded. It seems like the entire program is just a waste of $ to me. Another failed attempt at a police alternative as far as I’m concerned. I’d prefer to end the program and hire more police that would concentrate on safety in our parks.
I’ve had really good interactions with rangers in the past. I have a hunch this is their peak season and they are likely overwhelmed with calls and requests for service. I’d like to see Parks upgrade the ranger program so they can handle all the park-related issues.
Yesterday evening around 7:15 pm, I rode home from swimming at the Duckworth Dock (thanks, Human Access Project). Going south on the Eastbank Esplanade, I passed a pack of a half-dozen motorcyclists going north. I wonder how they got through the crowd at the Dock….
From the context, I’m guessing you mean gasoline powered motorized cycles rather than the electric ones commonly seen on the esplanade?
Probably yes, they mean the disruptively loud and much larger and heavier freeway capable motorcycles that are designed to be used at high speeds, emit toxic fumes in the immediate area, and have enough power to easily kill someone in their path with an errant throttle twist. Not the nearly silent and far less dangerous electric assist bicycles with no emissions that have functional pedals, are a fraction of the weight, and can only go 20mph with a throttle, or 28mph at most and only when pedaling. The former is illegal on MUPs and very dangerous, the latter is not.
Your comments always seem to have the most pessimistic take on every issue that usually include some willful ignorance or half truth. It’s exhausting.
I have no objection to low-powered Class I pedal assist motorized bicycles being used on the esplanade.
I consider the higher powered cycles with throttles to be akin to low powered electric motorcycles/mopeds. (Feel free to disagree with me, but I’ve been very consistent about that in my comments.) You accuse me of conflating low-powered motorcycles with high-powered electric bikes, even as you seem to conflate low-powered electric bikes with their higher powered legally distinct kin that are illegal on sidewalks in Oregon, if not MUPs.
There is a lot of ambiguity in terminology and capability; we need a better taxonomy and vocabulary for the much blurrier landscape we’re now inhabiting.
PS: This vehicle is described by the manufacturer alternatively as a “motorcycle”, a “motorcycle bike”, a “motorbike”, and an “electric bike” (and in the comments someone referred to it as a “moped”). I’m not the only one who is a bit fluid with the lingo. https://movcan-bike.com/product/movcan-v50-sport-ebike-black
If only there was some form of enforcement team that is empowered to deal with those breaking violating our communities laws….
Although I’ve heard arresting folks and sending wrong doers to court for fines/jails is mean, racist, and disproportionately impacts “marginalized” communities
It does seem to impact POC more because, well, that’s who our biased police target.
I find it remarkably interesting how in all the conversations about our police force, no one talks about training them to be less biased. I know, that is just so out there and a hugely radical idea.
Maybe then they’d just stop people for breaking the law, not because a group of POC dare drive down the street at midnight.
Your insertion of race into this topic has no relevance.
Further your subjective claims of PPB “bias” are questionable and just your opinion bro.
No one in Portland is getting pulled over at midnight for being a “POC”. If anything they are likely giving extra lenience to those with certain “intersectionalities” due to the oversensitivity on this topic. Realistically too most crimes are still being committed by white people. Most rarely have consequences.
I’m even more interest in a conversation about why they’re biased (and to what extent they actually are). Is it learned from other cops, or from numerous interactions with members of the public?
There was a lived-in SUV parked on the grass of the park near me for nearly two months. The trash was getting so bad. Ironically, there are always open parking spaces just 10 feet away, but no, they wanted to park on the grass. When that vehicle finally left and the grass was completely dead, a camper moved in with a make shift tent structure. Stayed there for another month.
For a bike website call drivers “entitled and selfish, and feel the laws don’t apply to them” lacks so much self awareness I genuinely think you’ve suffered a head injury.
Look at those plates, they’re not even from here. Tags probably expired too. Tow the car back to CA. You expected anything less from Californians?
It’s a simple solution folks, just rename them.
Sellwood Don’t Park
Lents Don’t Park
Khunamokwst Don’t Park
Portland Don’t Parks and Do Rec
Sellwood Riverfront was full of cars on July 9th. I rode my bike down for an evening swim and was shocked to see the grass area next to the parking lot was full of cars! I called the Portland Parks Ranger line. The operator said she understood and promised they would respond. When I came back out after my swim, I was shocked to see situation was worse. No park ranger. No tow truck. And somebody illegally parked their car on the road right in front of the asphalt path — blocking the exit for cars that were already in the park and wanted to leave. Drivers started to panic and drive around crazy trying to find a new exit. I called it in again — the operator was kind and thanked me. But no rangers ever showed up. One of the car drivers yelled at me as he was getting into his car, “Just get the #### out of the way bro! You need to get the ### out of our way before you get hurt bro!”
The problem at Sellwood Riverfront has gotten exponentially worse this year. It’s always been a simmering problem, but usually only on a couple of really big days (like 4th of July when presumably law enforcement is busy putting out fires and shootings). The difference this year is Oak’s Amusement Park started charging a fee for parking. There’s a bunch of people who used to park for free at Oaks Amusement Park’s big field and just waltz down to the river. Now those same people don’t want to have to pay Oak’s for the privilege of parking near the river, and they won’t walk more than a block — and they think any area with-out green grass must be an abandoned field designated for parking. The solution is really quite easy: They need a gate/fence at the asphalt path entry/exit and there should be a sign that says something like, “Park is for Human Recreation NOT for vehicle storage. Vehicles in the Park will be towed and subject to forfeiture.”
The other part of the problem is that there is basically zero enforcement. Rangers don’t seem to show up. Police only come maybe after a serious crime is reported.