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The Rise and Fall of the Suburbs
I’m in the middle of reading Benjamin Ross’, “Dead End: Suburban Sprawl and the Rebirth of American Urbanism” Did you know that the evolutionary path of suburbs went from the Streetcar suburb (which became inner-ring neighborhoods in many cities, including Portland) to the Railroad suburb, very separate from its city, which in turn became the template…
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In Support of a Street Improvement Fee
On Thursday, I’ll be joining what I hope will be a large group of transportation enthusiasts and activists in attending PBOT’s Our Streets Town Hall. Motivated by a series of missed opportunities that have made our 2030 bicycle plan look more like a naïve aspiration than a realistic, achievable goal, and appalled by a recent…
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Peering a Little Further into Our Driverless Future
Two interesting pieces from Atlantic Cities about driverless cars: A ride-along in a Google car in an urban environment (good news – it takes corners slowly!) A suggestion that the question of who is liable when a driverless car crashes is addressed reasonably well within the current state of product liability law (sadly they call…
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How Well Do Protected Bike Lanes Work?
PSU Transportation Seminar: Speaker: Professor’s Chris Monsere and Jennifer Dill, Portland State University Topics: Highlights from the Green Lane: A Comprehensive Evaluation of Protected Cycling Facilities When: Friday, May 2, 2014, 12-1 p.m. Where: PSU Urban Center Building, SW 6th and Mill, Room 204 Summary: Cycling is on the rise across the U.S. and its popularity has grown beyond the usual…
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Realizing a Dream, if Only for a Day
I’ve been a member of City Club for years (more than two decades actually) and a few years ago I mounted a small campaign to get them to put pressure on the Sentinel Hotel, where they meet for their Friday Forums (then known as the Governor Hotel), to add some quality bicycle parking (there are…