Welcome to the week.
Below are the most notable stories that came across my inbox in the past seven days…
It’s spreading: The urge by lawmakers to paint with a far too broad of a brush when it comes to young people and electric-assisted bicycles and e-motorcycles has spread to Australia, where families say harsh new laws will make school trips harder and advocates say their input was not heeded. (Australian Broadcasting Company)
The real war on cars: I am in love with the framing of this piece that explains how the infamously anti-bike, pro-car policies of Ontario Premier Doug Ford have made life so much worse for people who rely on cars. (TVO Today)
Seattle’s big weekend: I learned with envy about the opening of a major new light rail line in Seattle over the weekend. If you want to understand the policy and politics behind how they were able to make it happen, read this. (Seattle Times)
Novick and the Blazers: Councilor Steve Novick is taking a very strong stand against using taxpayer dollars to fund the business of the billionaire who owns the Portland Trail Blazers, and he’s making it clear that Clean Energy Fund dollars would be much better spent on bicycling than basketball. (Willamette Week)
Speaking of the Blazers: Maybe I was the last to know, but new Blazers owner Tom Dundon not only made his billions by pushing sketchy car loans on people who couldn’t afford them, but he was actually sued by the State of Oregon for doing it! (ProPublica)
Third spaces rule: This article argues that excellent public spaces, sometimes called “third spaces” because they give people a place to connect that isn’t home or work, are an effective way to combat extremism. (Guardian)
Choosing the carfree life: This powerful and inspirational essay comes from a woman who has learned to fully embrace her life without driving, not because of what it has made her give up, but because of how it has added richness and beauty to her everday existence. (Irish Times)
Who’s the real criminal? A man who painted stop signs and crosswalks near a park in his neighborhood in southern Los Angeles was arrested for taking traffic planning into his own hands. (LA Times)
Made in the USA: A company making children’s bike in a factory in Indiana has found success, but to do even better they want the Trump Administration to enact tougher tariffs on companies that import bikes from overseas. (NPR)
Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week. The Monday Roundup is a community effort, so please feel free to send us any great stories you come across.
Thanks for reading.
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VOTE NOVICK!!
“It’s spreading: The urge by lawmakers to paint with a far too broad of a brush…” with respect to e-bike use may or may not be justified. I’m neither a legislator in Queensland nor a constituent, and maybe 15 kph is an appropriate speed for bike travel on their shared paths. That’s a good quick pace for a runner after all, one that few people can maintain for an hour.
In the face of such laws, my first question would be, do they have the same regard for pedestrians when legislating for motor vehicle operators, and do speed limits, etc, put the same burden of care on those people?
I too would be curious about what the speed limit for cars driving on footpaths are in Queensland. My guess is that cars are banned completely in that environment, so probably no, not treated the same.
PS: The limit reported in the magazine article is 10 kph, which is pretty dang slow.
Yet another bad-faith argument. It’s getting tiresome.
You’re often the swing vote between Peacock and the centrists. Do you have a sense of the temperature in the building on this one?
I really don’t know. I’ve only talked to a couple of people because public meetings law prevents talking to very many people. But I will say this: I rather suspect that the Peacocks would be embarrassed at the prospect of being to the right of Steve Novick on anything. So I think that if I have any influence, that’s the influence that I have.
The city owns the Moda Center. If the city did not want to be on the hook for renovating it, they shoudn’t not have bought it. It was obvious that the Allen estate wanted to goose the value of the Blazers by detaching ownership of the arena from the team completely. This would make the team more attractive to an out-of-state buyer who would be buying automatic leverage with the city and a clean option to just move the Blazers after the lease expired. The Blazers are THE anchor tenet of the Moda Center. It is in the city’s interest to keep its anchor tenet. If the Blazers leave, the city will own two out-dated arenas it will either need to renovate anyways just to keep major music tours coming to town or tear at least one of them down, lest they become anchors on the city’s finances, reputation and ability to redevelop Lower Albina.
Novick can get all holier than thou about how PCEF money should be spent, but PCEF was much better at generating revenue than expected, despite being tied to a nebulous special-interest policy priority at a time when the city’s core services all face a financial cliff. The form the PCEF tax comes in is similar to a VAT tax, but it is assinine to tie the the city’s hands for how the funds can be spent. Have the voter’s consider repurposing the tax so it can be tapped to fund parks, PBOT, the Moda Center, whatever other core services are in need. Councilors should work to move away from bespoke taxes and merge all taxes, fees, fines, etc that the city collects so they all go into the general fund. This would allow the councilors we elect to have full leeway to maneuver those funds to meet the priorities of the city without playing games about what public goods should get this or that pot of money.
If the city decides buying the Moda Center was a bad idea, they can try to sell it to a private entity, who will then be on the hook for spending private money to renovate it in order to keep its anchor tenet. Who might be interested? Live Nation, Ticketmaster. *gasp* Such a private owner would likely then want a say in how public infrastructure dollars are spent redevloping the Rose Quarter and could butt heads with the Blazers, making Dundon seek a more amicable spot to move the team. The NBA has proven time and again they are not loyal to cities, they are loyal to their owners. The city put itself in this position and does not have much leverage, despite what Novick may think. He is probably right that he can get the Peacock clowns to follow his lead.