BikePortland

City of Portland orders removal of ‘America’s bike capital’ mural from downtown wall

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Pedal Bike Tours owner Todd Roll and two tourists with the mural his company created in 2012. The lettering is due to be taken down Thursday due to a city code enforcement decision.
(Photo by M.Andersen/BikePortland)

A city whose sign code is intended to prevent advertising eyesores and a local shop owner who’s developed “mixed feelings” about his project have settled on the removal, this Thursday, of one of downtown Portland’s newest icons.

That’s when workers are scheduled to remove the two-year-old, 45-foot-tall declaration that the city is “America’s bicycle capital.” Pedal Bike Tours, the local rental and tour company that painted the mural in 2012 based on one of their T-shirt designs, hired them after conceding a compromise in a long negotiation with the city’s code enforcement office.

“Photograph it while you can,” Pedal Bike Tours owner Todd Roll said in an interview Tuesday. “It’s out of here.”

Year: 2001
Brand: Cannondale
Model: R1000
Color:White/silver
Photo: http://i.imgur.com/fBCosY0.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97213
Stolen:2014-05-6
Stolen From: NE 53rd and glisan. From my car right outside my apartment complex in the rose city neighborhood.
Neighborhood: Rose city park neighborhood.
Owner: Casey Cleary
OwnerEmail: Clcleary11(A T)gmail.com
Reward: BEER AND MONEY!!
Description: White and silver cannondale r1000. Around 2000/2001 model. Black saddle, black handlebar tape, computer and faded grey tool bag. Shitty steel pedals on it.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 1436730
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

BLUE/GRAY SCWHINN LE TOUR 2007

Year: 2007
Brand: SCWHINN
Model: LE TOUR
Color:BLUE/GRAY
Size:REGULAR
Serial:SNIDT70401954
Stolen in Portland, OR 97206
Stolen:2013-04-29
Stolen From: 5619 SE Raymond ST
Neighborhood: SE WOODTOCK
Owner: RYAN HEISE
OwnerEmail: rfksongs@comcast.net
Reward: $200
Description: 5619 SE Raymond ST
Police record with: PORTLAND PD
Police reference#: 14-153456
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

silver Trek 7.1 FX

Brand: Trek
Model: 7.1 FX
Color:silver
Size:15″
Serial: WTU089C7906H
Stolen in Portland, OR 97204
Stolen:2014-05-5
Stolen From: in front of Pacwest Center on SW 6th and Madison
Neighborhood: downtown
Owner: Rebecca Pollard
OwnerEmail: becca42982( atsign )gmail.com
Reward: $50
Description: black fenders, saddle leash, Bike Gallery sticker
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: T14004629
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Talking past the opposition: Ben Ross’s advice to advocates for city life

Maryland-based author, transit advocate and urbanist Ben Ross.
(Photos by M.Andersen/BikePortland)

People who speak out against investments in density, biking and public transit may claim to be motivated by things like traffic, parking or crime, Ben Ross said Monday at Powell’s Books.

But though they might not realize it themselves, they aren’t. And that means that addressing their concerns won’t silence their worries.

That’s Ross’s claim, at least. A successful volunteer transit advocate from the inner suburbs of Washington DC, Ross is on tour for his book Dead End: Suburban Sprawl and the Rebirth of American Urbanism, in which he tries to explain the causes of the developed world’s urban revitalization and offer advice for navigating its politics.

Year: 1979
Brand: Chris Kvale
Model: custom road
Color:dark blue
Size:57cm
Serial:CKC 7908
Photo: http://imgur.com/3zfFdni
Stolen in Portland, OR 97217-2164
Stolen:2013-05-02
Stolen From: N. Vancouver and Highland
Neighborhood: Piedmont Neighborhood – North/Northeast Portland
Owner: David Rose
OwnerEmail: daverosebooking@gmail.com
Reward: $200
Description: – 1979 (57cm) Chris Kvale road frame with weathered dark blue paint
– Brooks saddle/Ritchey seatpost
– swept-back commuter flat handlebars
– Salsa touring 700c rims/Shimano 105 Hubs [note: different than in pictures below]
– Single front chainring with cyclocross-styled chainguides
– Cinelli stem
– SRAM derailleur and cranks [note: different than cranks in pictures]
– Black plastic fenders and mudflap
– Wald front basket
– Serial # (under bottom bracket) CKC 7908
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: T14004625
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Orange Trek MT TRACK 220 2013

Year: 2013
Brand: Trek
Model: MT TRACK 220
Color:Orange
Size:24 in
Serial: SWTU356C6118G
Stolen in Gladstone, OR 97027
Stolen:2014-05-4
Stolen From: Home
Neighborhood: Clackamas Blvd.
Owner: Cathy Quattrocchi
OwnerEmail: iamcathyq(AT)yahoo.com
Description: Boys bike, 24 in 7 speed, LED reflectors on both wheels.
Police record with: Gladstone PD
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

bright blue raleigh m 80

Brand: raleigh
Model: m 80
Color:bright blue
Size:large
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2012-05-05
Stolen From: Safeway at se hawthorne and 27th. Front bike rack. I had a tall grey hair and beard homeless guy watch my bike for compensation. When I came out both were gone.
Neighborhood: hawthorne
Owner: David Kmetovic
OwnerEmail: portlandtaffy@gmail.com
Reward: yes
Description: Mountain bike, "bike n hike" sticker low on the downtube. I used black electrical tape to cover letters in raleigh to say ale, in four places. Cowhorn climber bars. Road slicks. Headlight on bars. Rip on seat back edge.
Police record with: pdx police
Police reference#: t14004613
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

After 28th Ave businesses hear from customers, a few backpedal from bike-lane opposition

NE 28th Avenue and Davis commercial district

Some 28th Avenue businesses and
customers see things differently.
(Photo by M. Andersen/BikePortland)

Different businesses react differently to hearing from upset customers.

A week after we posted a petition, circulated by opponents of a buffered bike lane on 28th Avenue near Burnside and signed by 60 nearby businesses, many readers have contacted those businesses to let them know they disagree with the decision.

Some of those businesses have responded by saying that a planned neighborhood greenway, two blocks away from the commercial strip on 30th, is a good compromise that would preserve about 100 auto parking spaces in the neighborhood while obliging north-south bikers to zigzag only a few blocks out of the way. Others have said they didn’t intend to sign the petition, and others have asked to be removed from it.

Brand: univega
Model: road bike
Color:white/blue
Size:56 cm?
Stolen in Portland, OR 97201
Stolen:2014-05-3
Stolen From: 5th and hoyt just outside harveys comedy club
Neighborhood: old town / china town
Owner: matt chavis
OwnerEmail: mattchavis1(replace with at sign)gmail.com
Reward: $50
Description: i had a whit univega mens road bike stolen it has bell lights and white seat if seen please text me at 541-720-5711
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

‘America’s Bicycle Capital’? A visitor is unimpressed – and worried for us

Truth or dare?
(Photo: Matt Haughey/Flickr)

It was a strong claim and a proud one — though, at the time, it hardly even seemed controversial.

But two years later, the Pedal Bike Tours mural that welcomes Portland visitors to “America’s Bicycle Capital” strikes one visitor as a sign of something else: the paralyzing complacency of a city that has ridden its bike-friendly reputation to nationwide fame, wave after wave of highly educated young people and, within a few years, surging central-city job growth.

The problem, as Vancouver BC-based writer Chris Bruntlett describes it in a piece published this afternoon, isn’t that Portland doesn’t like bikes any more. It’s that the city doesn’t seem to feel that being bike-friendly requires any “difficult decisions.”

Year: 2012
Brand: Giant
Model: Escape City
Color:Charcoal/silver
Size:Medium
Serial:C81A2659
Stolen in Portland, OR 97209
Stolen:2012-05-05
Stolen From: PSU bike garage at SW 5th and SW Harrison
Neighborhood: SW/PSU/Downtown
Owner: Nicholas Garner
OwnerEmail: nicholas.garner@gmail.com
Reward: 200
Description: Hybrid with rack and fenders. Broken bell lever. Two bottle cages. Portland Design Works pump attached to frame. Also bulldog/pitbull u-lock attached to frame. Under seat bag. Seat worn on front. PDW light attached to seat bag, headlight on handlebars. Also gray and black Bell metro helmet. There are PSU Bike Parking and Timbers Army bike parking stickers on the frame by the gears/pedals.
Police record with: PSU Campus Safety
Police reference#: 14-000-592
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

City of Portland orders removal of ‘America’s bike capital’ mural from downtown wall

White/silver Cannondale R1000 2001

BLUE/GRAY SCWHINN LE TOUR 2007

silver Trek 7.1 FX

Talking past the opposition: Ben Ross’s advice to advocates for city life

dark blue Chris Kvale custom road 1979

Orange Trek MT TRACK 220 2013

bright blue raleigh m 80

After 28th Ave businesses hear from customers, a few backpedal from bike-lane opposition

white/blue univega road bike

‘America’s Bicycle Capital’? A visitor is unimpressed – and worried for us

Charcoal/silver Giant Escape City 2012

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