(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Part of NW Portland Week.
Here’s what cycling — and the people who do it — look like in northwest Portland.
A lost scrap of NW Portland history: How a fortune cookie helped save Thurman Street
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Part of NW Portland Week.
Thurman Street is the last neighborhood north where you can find the sort of stuff that, for a lot of people, make Portland Portland.
One block north of the Food Front Cooperative Grocery and the gluten-free bakery Dessert Labs, you hit the Holiday Inn Express. Then come the railroad tracks, warehouses, gravel distributors, floodplains and eventually just trees to the end of the earth, or at least to Scappoose.
Walking down Thurman Street itself is so rewarding that one of Portland’s most famous residents wrote a whole book about it. They keep a copy behind the reference desk at the branch library on NW 23rd and Thurman: Blue Moon over Thurman Street, published in 1993 by the novelist Ursula K. Le Guin and the photographer Roger Dorband.
Exploring biking’s potential in the Northwest Industrial District
Can you see the potential in this decommissioned railroad right-of-way on NW Front?
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Part of NW Portland Week.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it: riding a bike in the Northwest Industrial District is not for the faint of heart. I enjoy it only in an Escape-from-New-York-get-my-adrenaline-pumping-urban-assault kind of way. But if you stop and look and allow yourself to dream you can see vast potential.
The Flanders Crossing could be the city’s best bridge project in many years
As part of a new neighborhood greenway, a small biking-walking bridge here would be expected to carry five times as many people a day as Tilikum Crossing’s average weekday bike count.
(Photos: M. Andersen/BikePortland)
(Photos: M. Andersen/BikePortland)
Part of NW Portland Week.
Someday, quite possibly two months from tomorrow, northwest Portland will finally land the biggest bike infrastructure investment in its modern history.
The Flanders Crossing bridge across Interstate 405 came close to reality eight years ago, then died amid shifting details and election politics. But it’s too good an idea to stay dead — and events of the last few weeks suggest that it may be on the edge of a breakthrough.
The lower Northwest District is Portland’s invisible capital of bike commuting
Hidden in this street is an important lesson about bike transportation in the United States.
(Photos: M.Andersen/BikePortland)
(Photos: M.Andersen/BikePortland)
Part of NW Portland Week.
Almost every map or chart you will ever see of “where people commute by bike” is incomplete.
Nineteen times out of 20, it’s based on only half of the picture: the locations people commute from. In the United States, we make almost no effort to calculate where people are bike-commuting to.
Little-known fact: according to the best data available, almost nowhere in Portland brings in a larger percentage of its commuters by bicycle than the lower section of Northwest 21st and 23rd, between Marshall and Burnside.
Wednesday Video Roundup: SF, Chicago, racing, and PBOT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqUKWnk_ug0
Welcome to this week’s roundup! I had over 80 videos in my queue to watch and share this week. There aren’t 80 videos below, but it’s certainly a bumper crop for the Wednesday Video Roundup. Here’s a short snippet of rider/messenger Chas Christiansen riding a proper fixie on the streets. I’m not sure what is scarier- climbing the hills or leg-braking down them.
After protest, Metro Council set for public hearing on Tualatin Mountains plan
Protestors in front of Metro headquarters last Friday.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
In over 10 years covering bike issues in Portland I had never been to a protest outside Metro headquarters. That changed last week when about two dozen people marched and held up signs in opposition to Metro’s plans to build new trails on two parcels in the hills north of Forest Park.
Now the debate will head into Metro Council Chambers where a public hearing will be held tomorrow (4/14) on the North Tualatin Mountains Access Master Plan.
Troubled past, hopeful future for neighborhood greenways in northwest Portland
NW Raleigh was set-aside as a bike street by the City of Portland in 1999. Today it’s a neighborhood greenway in name only that has exceedingly high auto volumes and none of the safety features common in other parts of the city.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Part of NW Portland Week.
When you browse over to the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s neighborhood greenways website and follow the links to the list of current projects you’ll see that northwest is the only one of the five quadrants that has this sad note next to it: “PBOT currently does not have any new neighborhood greenway projects in Northwest.”
St. Honore: Baking French bike culture into the crust of northwest
Seanna Sample and Tommy Wilson of St. Honore
Boulangerie.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)
Boulangerie.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)
Part of NW Portland Week.
Every July for 10 years now, northwest Portlanders who love the Tour de France have gathered at 6 in the morning for a slice of international cycling, available for free … at a local bakery.
Why a bakery? Because the annual bike race makes its 40-something owner, Dominique Geulin, feel at home.
“He grew up with the Tour going through his town,” said Seanna Sample, Geulin’s niece and a supervisor at St. Honore Boulangerie at NW 23rd and Thurman. “When it’s on TV he sees his family and friends standing by the road.”
Join us this Friday (4/15) for a NW Portland Get Together
Yes. It’s a cafe. Inside a bike shop. Be here on Friday from 5-7:00 pm to talk about biking in NW Portland.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
I hope you’re enjoying our special coverage of northwest Portland. We’re having a great time getting to know the places and people that make this part of our city so great.
Job: Tour Guide – Everybody’s Bike Rentals & Tours
Job Title *
Tour Guide
Company/Organization *
Everybody’s Bike Rentals & Tours
Job Description *
Are you an outgoing cyclist looking for a fun side-job 1-3 days a week?
Everybody’s Bike Rentals & Tours is looking for some great tour guides to join our team! Spring has arrived and we’re gearing up for another busy season.
We’re looking for a few people who:
– Love bicycles and can do basic repairs
– Are very familiar with NE & N Portland
– Are charming, friendly, and confident
– Have a flexible schedule, weekdays especially.
As a tour guide, you would lead groups of 2 – 10 people on a tour of NE Portland, stopping at breweries, coffee shops, parks, etc, following routes we’ve developed, all at a fairly casual pace. There are currently 2 tours that we lead and you can read a bit about them at http://www.pdxbikerentals.com/portland-bike-tours/
Schedule will vary based on your availability and how many tours get booked. Tours are often booked just a day or two in advance, so having a flexible schedule is a must.
A little about us:
Everybody’s Bike Rentals & Tours is located in NE Portland and maintain a fleet of over 80 refurbished commuter and road bikes from the 1980’s and 90’s. Our bikes are fun, functional and all a little different. The tours we lead take visitors off the beaten path to some of our favorite spots on the east side of the river – great local businesses, gorgeous parks and “only-in-Portland” oddities.
How to Apply *
Sound like a good fit? Send a message and CV to pdxbikerentals@gmail.com to introduce yourself and we’ll go from there.
Thanks and Happy Spring!
Job: Associate Attorney – Forum Law Group LLC
Job Title *
Associate Attorney
Company/Organization *
Forum Law Group LLC
Job Description *
Seeking highly-credentialed, goal-oriented attorney with 0 to 3 years experience to join established plaintiff’s personal injury law practice including pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle injury cases, as well as child abuse, products liability and general personal injury matters. Performance-based compensation.
How to Apply *
Send resume and letter describing your interest to Lisa Butler at lisa@forumlawgroup.com