I hope you can come out to Rainbow Road Plaza on Wednesday for Bike Happy Hour. During open mic at 5:30 we’ll talk about parks and have special guests from the Intertwine Alliance and the Portland Parks Foundation. Why? Because parks and paths are the backbone of Portland’s cycling community — and there just happens to be a renewal of the City of Portland Parks Levy on the ballot next month.
The Intertwine is a nonprofit coalition with over 100 partner organizations (including BikeLoud PDX, DePave, Friends of Gateway Green, NW Trail Alliance, Salmonberry Trail Foundation, and many more!) from Oregon and Washington who are committed to building a world-class system of parks and trails. They reached out to me a few months ago to see if they could host one of their “Intertwine Connect” quarterly get togethers at Bike Happy Hour and it seemed like a natural fit.
I recall back in 2009 when the Intertwine launched with great fanfare and was spearheaded by former Metro President David Bragdon. Coming off a very inspiring Policymakers Ride where we learned about new parks and trails in east Multnomah County, I’m eager to hear the latest on the Intertwine’s efforts and learn more from Portland Parks about how bicycling figures into their vision.
I think parks need to be more responsive to community needs and we need to think outside the box by considering building linear parks, building more carfree trails and paths that connect parks to one another, and that every park must come with ample, year-round public restrooms! Parks matter more now than ever as places where we can gather with our communities, experience nature in the city, stretch out and be active — all with no price of admission.
What do you think?
If you care about parks and want to hear more about exciting new trail and path projects, don’t miss Bike Happy Hour this week. And if you’d like to do some homework, learn more about Measure 26-260 at PortlandersForParks.org.
As per usual, I’ll show up at 3:00 for more chill conversations (or heated ones, if the topic warrants it); then I’ll order some appetizers (probably mostly french fries) at 4:00, then we’ll hop on the mics at 5:30 for announcements and the chat about parks.
I can’t wait to see you there and hear what’s on your mind.
Thanks for reading.
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Whose turn is it to bring the megaphone?
Yours
I propose an annual “Holly Brown” award be given for the most obnoxious and destructive behavior at BHH.
I nominate Jakob Bernardson for holding on to a petty grudge that makes all BHHers look bad.
“Parks matter more now than ever as places where we can gather with our communities, experience nature in the city, stretch out and be active — all with no price of admission.“
The “price of admission” is, of course, the reason the parks levy is on the ballot next month, and the reason we as a community need to have these discussions.
It has never been true that the civic services we enjoy – schools, bike infrastructure, public libraries, parks & paths – come without a price tag. The questions are: Is the price is worth what’s delivered? Can I as a taxpayer afford to pay for it? And will voting no on (fill in the blank) levy result in a community that’s no longer worth living in.
I’ve always thought that leasing a small area within some city parks to an entrepreneur for use as a cafe or beer garden could raise revenue that benefits the park and provide unique social opportunities for the public to enjoy time in a green outdoor environment.
Agreed those are the questions but I would frame it another way: “We have already been subjected to an unprecedented increase in taxation during the last decade, rather than continue to raise taxes even more, perhaps we need to take a look at how the money is being spent and reapportion where necessary”
I’m just reading a book on chinese history, in that book during the Zhou dynasty the peasants were expected to farm a plot owned by the emperor that consisted of 1/9th of the total land.
40,50 percent is high historically.
In Europe, the benefits of the taxation are readily apparent; university costs in the thousands, not hundred thousands, medical care is largely free at point of service, public transportation clean and safe, unemployment benefits last 2 years.
What do we get for taxation levels that approach theirs? Obviously defense, litigation, admin and medical admin/salaries take up a disproportionate chunk but I think 40 percent should be the upper limit of what the government takes from the average person and we are already there.
Is your city tax burden really 40% of your income? (More charitably we can compare the total tax burden to 40% of income — I’m skeptical many people are paying this much. I haven’t calculated this for my joint filing household, but I don’t think we are anywhere close to 40%.)
I agree that the city should be careful with the budget, especially if there will not be high growth of the tax base in the short and medium term. (Get rid of the snowplows!) However, I think your description of the tax situation is hyperbolic. Parks are great and are definitely worth paying for.
You’d have to make approximately $500K per year in income to exceed 40%.
Boooo hooo:
I’m not talking about city tax–don’t you think one has to look at the whole picture to see how much one is left for ones own expenses? Amongst all the levels of governent?
To hear some people talk in Portland there’s just an unlimited pot of money to tax. One thing many Portlandia progressives don’t realize is that the share of your tax burden actually goes up the less you make. I know, how could this be in Progressive utopia?? Because Oregon’s income tax is essentially a flat tax. Self employed people/gig workers/etc. have to pay Self-employment tax, a flat tax.
Property tax is essentially regressive as you gotta suck it up unless you want to sell and move–and where?
I paid 5k in property tax, 2k to Oregon, 9k to Fed. So 16k in direct tax, I made 55k self employed.
In addition much of my utilities/phone/internet were also taxes, I dont know how much but its probably a quarter of the 6000 or so I paid–2k. Further gas tax, and vehicle registration is another 500. My mom was very sick so I paid probably $200 in airline excise taxes travelling to see her.
18700 in tax out of 55k income
34 percent. hyerbole no,
exxageration, slight.
Self employed folks get the joy of filing form SE, which shows you how much tax your employer pays on your behalf (not taxes you see deducted, but another layer of effective income tax paid entirely by your employer that you never see). If you are self employed, you get to pay them yourself. As I recall it’s an additional 15% or so.
In other words, your actual income tax is higher than the rate you see when you file.
There is no greater pleasure in life than giving the fruits of your labor to the central committee to dedicate to the common weal.
https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-schedule-se-form-1040
as an essential worker who works on top of a giant hill – PLEASE do not get rid of the snowplows!!!!!!! i understand we don’t need them often but when we do we REALLY do
One thing I’ve noticed since becoming a parent is that most playgrounds in Portland parks have no bike racks adjacent to them. This seems like a weird oversight and an easy thing to fix. Plenty of them do have bike racks but from what I’ve seen (and I have visited dozens of playgrounds) even more of them don’t.
If anyone has taken the time to dig into the Parks budget, and don’t mind sharing a few details, or a link to this information, it would be nice to see where the funds are going? I am certainly not opposed to public parks and the taxes which fund them, just have no idea where the funds are direct. I spend a lot of time in WA Park and Forest Park, and what I see in Forest Park are volunteers on WW Trail, and the bridge on Maple Trail has been out of commission for 2 years now. Parks has barricaded this section of Maple Trail the entire time, and this is one of the best trails in the park to hike and run. It’s frustrating to see the state of some of our Parks, and then be asked to vote yes on another Parks Levy. I second the comment about lack of bike parking in the Parks as well.
One of the few opposition entries in the Voting Guide talks a little bit about this question.