From the City Club bulletin:
In Portland, bicycling is more than a way to get around – it’s a way of life. According to the League of American Bicyclists, Portland is America’s number-one major city for biking. A significant economic force, Portland’s bicycle industry generated nearly $90 million and sustained approximately 1,000 jobs last year. Bicycling eases traffic congestion, improves air quality and enhances public health in the metro area. And by leveraging one of the community’s most valuable public assets – the right-of-way space long allocated to cars – Portland is emerging as a model for sustainable urban living in the 21st century.
On May 1, City Club welcomes Jay Graves, owner of the Bike Gallery, Mia Birk, principal at Alta Planning & Design, and Jonathan Nicholas, a founder of Cycle Oregon, who will discuss bicycles and bicycling as an economic influence, an urban planning opportunity and a lifestyle.
City Club is also pleased to announce its first-ever bicycle exposition, in which eighteen local bike builders will be showcasing their one-of-a-kind, hand-made bicycles. Come early to enjoy the bikes and to speak with these artisans about their creations. Find a full list of attending bike builders here.
Tickets are going fast! Lunch is $16 for members; $20 for nonmembers. Registration closes April 29 at 2:00 p.m. unless tickets sell out sooner.To register for lunch, click here. To reserve a table, please call 503-228-7231 x100. Coffee/tea and general admission tickets are $5 and are available at the door.
10 responses to “All Bikes at City Club This Week”
Me and my bicycle;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgNg7dsw0WE
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Bicycling can never be sustainable until bicyclists are weaned off from expecting other taxpayers to pay their way and are directly taxed to fund bicycle infrastructure themselves – period!
[Comment removed for personally directed remarks and potential impersonation of another commenter.]
Terry Parker:Bicycling can never be sustainable until bicyclists are weaned off from expecting other taxpayers to pay their way and are directly taxed to fund bicycle infrastructure themselves – period!
ws:I agree as I think bicycle fees will only strengthen it. I also think that all modes of transportation should be working together and be paying their actual costs. However, automobiles are one of the most subsidized forms of transportation there is.
if i were a big time biker i would love to pay a tax/fee for the roads because then i’d have absolutely every right to the roads and use of full lanes just as a motorist does. plus there would be a constant stream of money to spend on bike infrastructure and making streets into bikeways.
the beauty of the gas tax was that the money collected was used to take over and make the public streets shared by pedestrians, bikes, streetcars, motorists, horses, carriages in the 1920s into thouroughfares designed entirely for motorists needs, namely fast through-traffic.
re:
April 27, 2009 4:23 PM James A. Karlock Says:
[Comment removed for personally directed remarks and potential impersonation of another commenter.]
Thanks for the deletion. That was indeed a phony.
Chris Smith wrote: In Portland, bicycling is more than a way to get around – it’s a way of life.
What is the mode percentage of bicycling as total trips? Wasn’t it…less than 10% of total trips?
Portland’s bicycle industry generated nearly $90 million and sustained approximately 1,000 jobs last year.
And what impact does the automobile industry have here in Portland? A typical bike shop might have 10 employees…there’s a few larger businesses…1,000 gets reached quite quickly.
Throw in all the gas stations, car washes, auto parts stores (including stores that sell auto parts as a part of their total sales mix, so even Freddy’s gets credit for that), auto repair shops, auto dealerships, parts manufacturers, Daimler Trucks…
85% of trips taken in our region are by the automobile and the auto industry, yet small in Portland compared with other cities (OK, we aren’t Detroit) is still counted in billions of dollars in impact.
“Bicycling is a way of life”…but that statement clearly can’t be attributed to even a small majority of Portlanders…even if you look at only residents of the City of Portland (and exclude the rest of the metro region). Portland still moves to the automobile.
We aren’t Europe. We aren’t North Korea. We have more bicyclists than…oh…Fargo, North Dakota, or Enid, Oklahoma. Woohoo.
Maybe not a “small majority”, Erik, but such a significant (and growing) minority that in some Portland neighborhoods, it is a “way of life” whether you ride or not, because you’ll be encountering many cyclists as you go about your daily routine.
The last City Auditor’s survey showed, for example, a combined “primary” and “secondary” commute-to-work mode share for bikes in inner NE and SE Portland of 29% and 26% of residents, respectively.
http://bikeportland.org/2008/12/09/city-auditors-survey-less-cars-more-bikes-and-safer-streets/
Bicyclists should be paid an annual fee. We don’t pollute air or water, we are not…for the most part…in the motor vehicle travel lanes, we don’t contribute to greenhouse gases. I could go on and on, and we do it a considerable personal risk to live and limb. Not to mention than most of us have motor vehicles, pay registration for same as well as fuel taxes, etc.
Its about time…and credit the City Club…for bicyclists to be honored, not harassed, by Portland Police, folks on this blog and others and the media.
The whole bicycle thing is such a public relations coup its simply amazing.
ADVERTISING;
Say something enough times people believe it, it doesn’t have to be true.
You want bicycles, go to asia or europe.
The fact is they hardly exist in America, and that includes Portland, the city that don’t work,