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A Report from our Japan Correspondent
Background: As part of my ongoing, seemingly single handed crusade to look at multitasking of sidewalk spaces for multimodal use I was awarded a grant from the Architectural Foundation of Oregon (AFO) to study the ped/bike zone of urban streetscapes in Japan. So… I am writing from my hotel room in Kobe looking out at…
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Write Happiness into the Transportation Plan
Yeah, Portland is a national leader in transportation and land use planning. Early visionaries set the pace: Governor Tom McCall, Neil Goldschmidt, Ernie Bonner, followed by recent stars: Charlie Hales, Elsa Coleman, Mia Birk, and my favorite Rex Burkholder just to name a few. (Extra)ordinary citizens also shaped the vision of a lively, 24-hour downtown…
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Bookshelf: The Long Emergency
Link to book at Amazon.com Link to book at Powell’s Link to book at Multnomah County Library List Price: With all the discussion of Peak Oil this week, it seems very appropriate to add this to the bookshelf this week. Kunstler convincingly makes the case for our proximity to peak production, then goes on the…
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Sting!
This hit my inbox today: 2005 Pedestrian Crosswalk Enforcement Action The Enforcement Action was very successful in raising awareness about the ‘Stop and Stay Stopped’ Oregon Crosswalk Law that requires motorists to stop for pedestrians when they are in the motorist’s lane, the lane right before the motorist’s lane, or the lane immediately after the…
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Time for More Diverse Vehicles
Biking to work this morning I passed a golf-cart like vehicle that was chugging down the street. I was reminded about how uncreative we are with our choices of vehicles. Most households have a couple of cars — and those cars are overbuilt for what they’re actually used for 95% of the time. They’re set…