Mayor Sam Adams

Wednesday, November 04, 2009 was the first day of the Center for New Urbanism's (CNU) three day Transportation Reform Summit. Wednesday morning’s session included presentations by four metro councilors David Bragdon, Robert Liberty, Rex Burkholder and Carlotta Collette, as well as one Senior City of Portland Transportation Planner.

Metro President, David Bragdon opened up the morning’s presentations by framing the conference as an opportunity to think about transportation in a different way; to think about transportation as a tool for community development. Mr. Bragdon stated the current economic climate can be used as a real chance to think about transportation, real estate development, engineering, planning design, economic development, finance and community development as interdisciplinary.

Metro Councilor Robert Liberty followed up on Mr. Bragdon’s opening remarks by placing Portland’s achievements into historical context. He shared what he saw growing up in Portland: increasing pollution, racial tensions, growing sprawl and how Portland was well on its way to become a place that the CNU Summit would not want to visit. Mr. Liberty talked about Governor Tom McCall signing Senate Bill 100 which mapped out goals for how the state should develop. According to Mr. Liberty this Senate Bill set the stage for how Oregon and specifically, the Portland Metro region, plans for growth.

Councilor Rex Burkholder took the floor next sharing Metro’s Update on the Regional Transportation Plan. Mr. Burkholder shared that Metro’s process of crafting the Regional Transportation Plan was shaped by the question “Is the transportation system serving the regions’ needs?” This question allowed Metro to proceed by viewing transportation as an investment strategy to achieve desired goals. The goals had been set through a series of facilitated group discussions with the community.

Metro Commissioner Carlotta Collette co-presented with Thomas Brennan of Nelson\Nygaard as they discussed the high capacity transit plan for the region. Ms. Collette shared the historical context. She told the audience that the grid of proposed freeways in the 1980s spurred the neighborhood associations into looking into alternatives since communities felt that Portland could not build its way out of congestion problems. Light rail emerged out of those discussions. Mr. Brennan then shared the most recent process which was undertaken to plan for future rail in the Metro region.

Stuart Gwin with the Bureau of Transportation concluded the morning with what he called, a dose of reality, by looking at a set of neighborhoods in Portland which are designated as Regional Centers but are not achieving the 20 minute neighborhood concept.

Click here to learn more about Congress for the New Urbanism and the three day summit currently hosted in Portland.

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THE CITY OF PORTLAND
AND THE EMBASSY OF DENMARK, WASHINGTON DC
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO A RECEPTION FOR

Dreams on Wheels
Danish Cycling Culture for Urban Sustainability
  
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29TH  6:30 PM TO 10:00 PM
Copenhagen saves $1 for every 2.5 miles its citizens bike. What can biking do for Portland? Join Portland Mayor Sam Adams and Denmark’s leading Bicycle Ambassador, Mikael-Colville Andersen, for a highly provocative conversation as they discuss whether Portland should aspire to be more like Copenhagen. Jeff Mapes, author of Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists are Changing American Cities, is our evening’s Master of Ceremonies.
 
Complimentary Hopworks ale and an “hors d’oeuvre-athon” from some of the Pearl’s tastiest restaurants, including Gilt Club, Metrovino, Wilfs Restaurant and Bar, Taco Del Mar, Ten 01, Candy Ultra Lounge and Bistro, and Cupcake Jones will be served. A no-host bar will be provided by Company Tonight Catering.
 
OREGON MANIFEST BIKE UNION : 539 NW 10TH AT HOYT
Tickets: $10. Advanced tickets can be purchased through
http://oregonmanifest.eventbrite.com/ <http://oregonmanifest.eventbrite.com/%20> or onsite at the Oregon Manifest Bike Union

THE U.S. DEBUT OF DREAMS ON WHEELS MADE POSSIBLE BY:
The City of Portland   :   Scan Design Foundation   :   Cycle Oregon

Last Thursday, Federal Transit Administration head Peter Rogoff announced the award of a Small Starts grant for $75 million to the Portland Streetcar Eastside Loop Project. This was, of course, exciting news for Portland’s growing streetcar system. But it also made national history as the first-ever FTA Small Starts grant for streetcars in the U.S. We hope and expect that this award marks the beginning of a new era for modern streetcars in the United States.

Portland’s newest streetcar line will cross the Broadway Bridge, connecting the existing route in the Pearl District to the Lloyd District and OMSI on the east side of the Willamette River. When completed in 2012, the route will be a 3.3-mile extension with 28 stop locations.

Mayor Adams has advocated for this project at every step of the way, providing leadership and determination to bring the streetcar to the eastside.

Watch a clip from Portland City Council on Wednesday, October 28:

“The eastside streetcar loop is an important connection for Portland’s transportation system. It will mean real economic development and jobs for Portlanders,” said Adams. 

Those jobs are both short-term – as construction shifts into high gear over the next two years – and long-term, as development opportunities along the alignment are realized.

A long list of federal legislators were instrumental in getting the Eastside Loop funded, with particular leadership from Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Peter DeFazio. Representative David Wu and Senator Ron Wyden also supported the project. Former State Senator (now U.S. Representative) Kurt Schrader and then-Speaker of the House (now U.S. Senator) Jeff Merkley helped secure lottery bond support from the Oregon legislature to buy six new American-made streetcars from local business Oregon Iron Works, located in Clackamas.

Visit the Portland Streetcar website for more information: www.portlandstreetcar.org.

Hi, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I’m Katja, the newest member of Mayor Sam Adams’ staff, as well as the newest member of his Transportation Team filling the position of Transportation Policy Advisor. I’m joining Catherine Ciarlo, Transportation Director, and Ginny Peckinpaugh Transportation Public Advocate.

We all know that Portland has cool stuff to do but the conversations shaping how we get to those events and places are just as happening.

Within the last several months the new Green line on the Max opened, the Cycle Track and Buffered Boulevards have gone in and construction on the Eastside Streetcar loop has started. Currently the Bicycle Plan is open for comments and I invite you to take part in that discussion. Also as we look ahead and shape our cities future, I look forward to hearing from you.

In the meantime, stay tuned: @katjatweets

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance's Bike Commute Challenge awards presentation was held in City Hall on Thursday, October 8.. Evidencing a great partnership between the BTA, the cycling community and local government, the Portland City Council hosted the awards ceremony in City Hall. The event was well attended - as the Mayor joked in his introductory remarks, free beer and pizza are always a draw. This year's event had a record number of participants: 11,118 people logged miles, 1,240 workplaces participated and the Challenge also encouraged 2,683 new riders to give bike commuting a try.

Expressing disappointment that his office took second place in its category, the Mayor did make one thing clear: "Next year, next year."

Get a sense of the energy by watching a clip from the event.

Help Build The Next Generation of Cyclists: Volunteer!

Many of you who know me know that bike commuting and cycling has only been in my blood for about three years. Around the time I participated in my first bike to work challenge I also learned about the Community Cycling Center, an organization started in 1994 to broaden access to bicycling and its benefits. One of the amazing ways that it does this is by hosting the Holiday Bike Drive. With this one event, the Center donates 500 bikes to kids from the Portland metro area.

Many times the kids are receiving their first bike, and often they are overwhelmed with the excitement of getting to pick out their bike, learn to ride and take it home just in time for the winter holidays. This is the second year I volunteered with the Community Cycling Center detailing tent at Cycle Oregon. Cycle Oregon was an early supporter of the Community Cycling Center and provided a grant that helped get the organization off the ground. Volunteering was a great opportunity to share the story of the good work they do to teach kids the love of bicycling and how to safely ride the city streets. But the key is the access to bikes. Without the Community Cycling Center thousands of kids would not have a bike, and we would be slower in building the next generation of bike commuters or cycling enthusiasts.

So I got dirty and grimy, cleaning chain rings and chains. I flossed cassettes and polished frames. All for the Holiday Bike Drive. We raised $17,000, which translates to about 340 bikes for kids. Back at the shop you can see pink princess bikes of all kinds, Hulk and monster bikes, and radio flyers all getting spruced up for the big event.

They need your help! So volunteer. If you have an extra ride, you can take it to the Community Cycling Center shop at 17th and Alberta. All proceeds from the shop's resale and repairs fund the organization's mission.

Take a look at TriMet's video of the MAX Green Line Grand Opening. The Green Line connects Clackamas Town Center to downtown Portland and serves the new transit mall. This important expansion of the MAX transit service is appropriately named because by providing affordable transportation options, TriMet and the City can greatly inefficient vehicle trips. 

Yesterday Mayor Adams dedicated the City of Portland’s 23rd Bike Corral at Widmer Brothers Brewing. The Mayor and Rob Widmer led a ride of cyclists participating in the BTA’s Bike to Work Challenge to the Brews and Bikes celebration of the new corral. PDC was a partner in the Russell Streetscape project that included the 14 parking spaces for bikes. Businesses throughout the city have been asking the City for more on-street bike parking, recognizing how important it can be for their bottom line. The corrals can accommodate 10 bikes where one vehicle would usually park.

Mayor Adams, the Bureau of Maintenance and the Bureau of Transportation have installed 500 secure on-street bike parking spots since this time last year, as part of Sam’s commitment to advancing cycling in the city. A map of the corrals is available by following this link. More information about the corral program is available at http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?a=250076&c=34813.

Photo via Flickr

Originally created by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design collective, PARK(ing) Day is an annual, one-day, global event where artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks. Park(ing) Day is an original concept of Rebar. www.rebargroup.org

Anyone can participate in PARK(ing) Day, though it is strictly a non-commercial project, intended to promote creativity, civic engagement, critical thinking, unscripted social interactions, generosity and play.

The Rebar collective had an inspiration to create temporary public park in an area of town that was underserved by public open space.

Now PARK(ing) Day is an annual worldwide phenomenon where parking spaces are transformed into parks and areas of playful inspiration by artists, social activist, mult-media mavens and the lot.

If you want to participate in Park(ing) Day please follow theses rule outlined by Rebar. www.rebargroup.org

This year PARK(ing) day is September 18. Instructions on reserving a parking spot are available.

See (PARK)ing Day Portland's website

Lots of new changes are coming to a historic part of town as a full range of streetscape improvements begins on Denver Ave., the main street of the Kenton neighborhood. Also happening on Denver is the start of construction on a new branch of the public library, the opening of several new businesses and the sprucing up of the iconic Paul Bunyan statue which stands at the north end of the business district.

Streetscape construction will begin in early September to renovate the four-and-a-half block stretch of Denver, from Interstate Ave. south to Watts Street.  By the beginning of next year, visitors to the historic commercial district will see:

• wider, patterned sidewalks:
• new “business-friendly” street trees;
• pedestrian lighting;
• a street resurfaced with concrete; 
• stormwater planters lining the blocks,
• a granite public art sculpture, carved by third-generation stone carver Mauricio Saldaña, to be sited at the corner of Denver and Kilpatrick;
• seven stone benches, featuring carvings by Mr. Saldaña, which will be placed on corners in the business district.

The $2.85 million N. Denver Ave. Streetscape Improvement Project, funded by the Portland Development Commission (PDC) in coordination with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), exemplifies the vision of a 20-minute neighborhood, which is called out as a key element of the city’s new economic development strategy. The city has been working with local businesses, community representatives, and technical experts since 2006 to plan the right mix of attractive, functional improvements to help revitalize the Kenton business district.

When the project is complete, this area will be accessible for residents and visitors alike, which will help promote the vitality of local businesses.  And while construction is going on, Kenton is Open for Business and we encourage people to patronize the shops, service providers, and restaurants.

PDC began the Downtown Kenton Redevelopment Project in 2005. The goal is to revitalize this historic district, through a series of grants and loans to businesses, as well as significant investment in street and sidewalk improvements. The improvements will bring better visibility for local businesses and new options for expanded sidewalk dining in a more pedestrian-friendly environment along N. Denver Ave., part of the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area. 

PDC and PDOT have worked to minimize negative impacts of construction on Denver Ave. businesses. They have canvassed local businesses and property owners on how to best retain shopping and delivery access during construction. Sidewalks will remain open, and only short sections of the four-block project area will be closed at any one time during street resurfacing. Signage will also be utilized to assist pedestrians and drivers. They have hired business/community liaison Jim Gladson to be available to quickly respond to construction related issues and concerns.  

Denver Ave is a Historic Commercial District which began life as a company town for Swift Meatpacking in the early 1900s. Many of the original stone buildings still remain on the street along with a mix of well-established and new businesses and some vacant storefronts.  Some new arrivals include Posies Café, which opened in May on N. Denver, and Homebrew Exchange, set to open in September on N. Kilpatrick Street just off N. Denver. Both businesses received financial assistance through PDC loan and grant programs. 

In addition, Multnomah County has begun remodeling the building at 8226 N. Denver for a new North Portland library branch, slated to open in early 2010.  Paul Bunyan, the giant statue which stands at the intersection of N. Denver and Interstate Avenues, is getting a new spruce up and paint job due to the advocacy of the Kenton Neighborhood Association, which obtained a PDC Community Livability Grant.

For more information about the project, visit the PDC web site at http://www.pdc.us/ura/interstate/kenton.asp