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A new wayfinding system has recently begun to be installed in downtown Portland. I participated in the PDC open houses on this project several years ago (pre-Portland Transport) and am happy to see these hit the streets.
OPB had some coverage last week.
Some of the key features of the system include:
- One map to locate you within the central city, and identify districts
- Another map to place you within the district you’re in
- Directions to transit
- Directions to local attractions
Walk on!
10 responses to “Finding your Way Now a Little Bit Easier”
ah…. now my question no your flickr page is answered. Thanks for the post!
I saw these popping up and thought, “wow, that’s really cool!”. I always find things like this interesting.
I ponder how the returns will work out. Will people be able to identify where they are being directed? Will they actually help out? I am interested in seeing someone actually using them, as of yet I’ve not seen this.
I might just have to toss in a blurb about these if I actually see someone using them.
They’ve had very similar signs in the Center City and University City districts of Philadelphia for at least five years now (in fact, the maps in particular are so similar that I wouldn’t be surprised if the same graphics design firm produced them both). They are quite useful. As a person who was new to the city, I found them quite useful when I first moved there, and, yes, you do see people using them.
A big difference between the two installations, however, is that in Philadelphia the signs are mounted higher up (out of arm’s reach) on city lampposts–low enough to read easily but high enough to escape vandalism.
The Portland signs do appear to provide more information; let’s just hope they aren’t viewed by the young’uns as “fresh canvas”.
The wayfinders are pretty cool, but I was shocked to see that, despite appearing _after_ buses moved to 3rd and 4th for the next _three_ years, the wayfinders still point people looking for “Transit Mall” to 5th and 6th Avenues.
Was pretty disappointed to see that.
Where is the map that will get me to my car?
Is it just me or has anyone even questioned how much has been spent on these signs?
I noticed two mistakes the other day on these signs. At 11th & Couch (I think) near the Streetcar stop the arrow to the Library was pointing toward Old Town, not south as it should.
Also, at 4th & Everett (again, I think), the arrow to MAX pointed south toward pioneer square instead of over to 1st Avenue which is just a few block away. I think PDC or whoever needs to have some local experts go over these with a fine tooth comb. No directions are way better than incorrect directions.
Also, at 4th & Everett (again, I think), the arrow to MAX pointed south toward pioneer square instead of over to 1st Avenue which is just a few block away.
Yep. And if you go a block towards the MAX, another sign points the correct way. And I, too, am worried about how they’ll hold up to vandals and other conditions. As for the “Transit Mall” pointers, the mall hasn’t moved (unless dumping a bunch of bus service on a street and adding “pathetic little bus shelter”s makes a mall) and the signs were probably planned before the mall closure/for after it re-opens.
Also, note the bus stop guide sign visible in the first photo.
The signs are a great idea, but as i read the comments from Jason and Lenny, I wonder, did anybody pay attention to the directions when they made the signs?
The sign on SW Park and Morrison says the Pearl District is WEST on Morrison (towards the west hills) and that Chinatown is EAST on Morrison (towards the waterfront). The way the sign was oriented it should have simply put an arrow pointing up Park to get to the Pearl. I can only imagine how many people are gonna get lost!!
On a pleasant side note, a nice Portland citizen stopped and asked us if we were looking for anything in particular and we said no, we were just laughing at the signs silly directions. She looked and laughed too, and we all went on our way.
Dan –
I haven’t had much time to take a really good look at all of these signs, but I suspect some of the confusion about their directions and implementation comes from that fact that these signs identify routes rather than compass headings.
From SW Park and Morrison, for example, a good route to the Pearl District is indeed to head West, up to 10th, and then either hop a streetcar or walk to Powell’s.
The question is whether there is a corresponding sign up Morrison which will then direct the person north.
– Bob R.