A Portland Treasure

This is an interesting article on a plan to reinvent and preserve the Ross Islands. Members want to make it into a wildlife refuge: "one that hybridizes active industry and dynamic wildlife habitat. One that honors its cultural history and is structured by its pre-existing patterns and materials. One that invites people to participate in its processes, and highlights the exchanges that have long defined its character. One that even goes so far as to heal its altered landscape without erasing the trace of what altered it. If designed thoughtfully, with bold gestures and fresh ideas, Ross Island can truly be a contemporary, urban ecological park that weaves truth,
healing, and discovery into a fertile and meaningful place." Here is a look at the plans for the team envisioning Ross Islands future. This team believes its faith and persistance will motivate Portlanders in the right direction to preserve this natural habitat which played a major part in Portland's history.
Article Link:
http://www.urbangreenspaces.org/green_design.htm

Commercial Green

Portland leads the way in sustainability and has recently made another small step to save energy in our commercial sector buildings. "The 2010 Oregon Energy Efficiency Specialty Code for commercial buildings, effective July 1, will achieve a 15 percent reduction in energy use in new commercial construction." 

The three main areas affected are"

-Requiring increased insulation and higher performing windows
-Adding automatic lighting controls
-Requiring more efficient mechanical systems such as higher efficiency furnaces

They will also be adding another section of details that are not mandatory but can be considered for companies desiring to get ahead by reducing their energy costs.
Article Link:
Oregon Adopts Tough New 'Green' Building Codes

Bike trail markings are a bad idea for Oregon

Washington DOT tried to persuade Oregon DOT (ODOT) to put in bike trail markings on the I-5 bridge to direct bike traffic to go a certain route. This would have merely suggested to bikers to travel with the flow of traffic. A study done concluded that most bikers travel in the opposite direction of traffic.The markings they are trying to put in place will create to much liability because they are not approved by state or federal authorities so ODOT denied their request based on these reasons and I am happy they did because I like seeing traffic coming at me in certain places so I can better avoid being hit.

Article Link:
ODOT says no to new markings on I-5 bridge path

Portland is the transportation mecca!

Tri-met has been a historic company in Portland. They take people where they want to go and stretch into the suburbs and through downtown. I found this video explaining how this company strives to keep Portland clean while being active on the roadways. Tri-met has been up keeping this most vital community connection and really set the standard in the US transportation infrastructure. Enjoy!

Video:

Transportation issues lead to major debt

A major issue facing the US now and more seriously in 2025 is the rising demand for transportation and the costly upkeep of roadway infrastructure and expansion. In Oregon alone many places have congested or out of date roadways limiting businesses and people from transporting to those jobs. "Without increased spending on transportation projects, congestion and related problems will cost the local economy $844 million a year by 2025, including lost worker productivity, higher transportation costs and lost business earnings." Where as fixing the problem each year will only cost $433 million in 36 Oregon counties, $325 million alone will be the cost to fix Portland's backlog.
Article Link:
Traffic poses threat to jobs

Modular Housing

Modular housing is a new concept and is being applied for the first time in Portland on the 96th block on Holgate. This house structure will look the same as a regular home but takes less time to put together as the parts are created in a factory and assembled together at the site. The modular home is being built by the cities housing bureau and will require renters to pay only 30% of their income each month to live there.

Article Link:
Modular housing project a first for Portland

Portland adds urban forestry to the list of master plans!

This plan is essential to Portland's go green theme. In this plan the city will be able to spend money on monitoring and tending the plant and tree life. Having inventories of the trees around the city, removed trees, past trees, and so forth will give the city better insight to planting new trees that rebuild the soil. With these new found knowledges the city could improve its gardening into a forest garden of natural growth. Trees and plants play a major role in Portland and a list of the benefits and costs can be found here in the tree plan.















Article Link:
The Portland Plan: Urban forestry chapter

High speed trains in the suburbs

Portland is devising a plan to install a high speed train running from Portland down to Eugene. The train moves at a speed of 110 mph and would make about 12 trips per day to each city. The ongoing issue with installing this train is the route to be taken runs through the heart of Lake Oswego's downtown. It would divide the city in half and remove the small quaint atmosphere the cities downtown thrives on. The train would also go through Milwaukie, another suburb of Portland.

I hope a high speed train is made between the two cities as the traveling between Eugene and Portland is hectic much of the time, especially since Salem lies in between the two cities. This would reduce congestion very much and make the trip much faster, especially for those driving from Salem or Eugene to Portland for work.

Article Link:
High speed trains through Portland suburbs

Video:
Community Concern

Cob in the Portland Community

I attended a workshop on cob this week and learned a lot about insulation and new methods to save energy and resources from using traditional insulation which runs through machines and is sent out to warehouses which eventually is used by construction and other companies to insulate homes and buildings. This article addresses cob structures that have been developed in the Portland area and suggests alternative places that cob structures would be useful such as restrooms in parks or outdoor sheds. The cob is a very unique infrastructure, using straw bales which are wasted or usually burned. Instead these bales can be used to make a comfortable insulation in any building. It is relatively cheap requiring straw bales, soil, and sand. The cob is layed over the bales and makes them suck together and solid against disaster and other outside threats. Cob is very sufficient and easy to maintain. It can be made by any individual and there are workshops around the Portland area which train any person how to make these structures.

Article Link:
Neighborhood Places Gathering Spaces Tour

Zoning Farmland for Urban Development

Decades ago a bill was passed the HB2229, which was a measure involving the zoning of rural areas and accommodating urban sprawl. In Oregon's past the county did not rezone properly and some counties are reluctant to rock the boat even though it may mean better tax incentives and a list of others. The team wants the counties to act and rezone rural and urban areas accordingly and correct officials mistakes to ensure each county is legally zoned.

As it stands now the bill is one sided and does not adhere to the many different climates throughout the Oregon area. There is a team working together on the project trying to reach a general consensus on what Oregon's believe should be included in the zoning of rural and urban areas. The team is in charge or looking and organizing all of the legislation so it better provides for all different climates in Oregon and cities which are rural under different conditions whether it be forest or desert. The Big Look is the team responsible for organizing and updating these land use policies.

Article Link:
Counties Need To Act On House Bill 2229

Problems with Public Spaces

Public spaces have much potential to succeed or fail at organizing and bringing the community together. Common reasons why many public spaces have failed to really energize and connect community members are these following reasons:
    *Lack of places to sit
    *Lack of gathering points
    *Poor entrances and visually inaccessible spaces
    *Dysfunctional features
    *Paths that don't go where people want them to go
    *Domination of a space by vehicles
    *Blank walls or dead zones around the edges of a place
    *Inconveniently located transit stops

Convenience and accessibility serve the needs of the community and are vital to success of public space.

Article Link:
Why public spaces fail

Community or Common public?

Sellwood bridge is an undergoing project because of the bridges instability against disaster and time. It is deteriorating and is recognized as unsafe in the near future. The bridge is a major regional transportation route and without it being active would cause major congestion and increased travel time for many drivers especially those between downtown, Milwaukie, and Lake Oswego.

Currently the community wants to preserve its image and does not want a major roadway accessing their residential neighborhoods. The bridge is not accessible for freight trucks or transit lines causing a major issue with routes and public access. The common public needs this bridge to be more accessible to community services such as the bus transit lines and bicycles. It is old fashioned with one slim sidewalk and tight roadways. It is an ongoing project and has surveys and comment sections available to the community to hear what the public thinks about the cities project of opening the bridge to serve a larger traffic crowd and reduce congestion in this region.

I drove over this bridge for the past two summers and due to its two way lanes and connecting roadways from downtown, Sellwood, Milwaukie, and Lake Oswego most notably, creates a major pile-up at this bridge during rush hours, leaving a minimum of 30 minute wait to get over the bridge. This bridge is in such a regional spot it should be open to more lanes and provide better and safer transportation for those on bikes and foot. I hope the final decision is a second bridge supporting one way while the Sellwood bridge supports the other way. The new bridge could have a single sidewalk and there would be much less confrontation from bikers going opposite directions.

Article Link:
Sellwood bridge comments

The Future of Portland Bicycling

Portland is classified around the country as the safest place to ride a bicycle. The odd thing about this is that only 5% of the town has bike lanes and bike parking available in the central downtown area and less than 2% in the more rural areas outside the Portland Metro area. With the increased popularity of cycling, it is critical for Portland to improve its bike paths and parking. 


The key elements of the plan include:

1) policies and objectives that form part of Portland's Comprehensive Plan Transportation Element;

2) developing a recommended bikeway network;

3) providing end-of-trip facilities;

4) improving the bicycle-transit link; and

5) promoting bicycling through education and encouragement.

A new policy enacted is 6.12 stating:

Make the bicycle an integral part of daily life in Portland, particularly for trips of less than five miles, by implementing a bikeway network, providing end-of-trip facilities, improving bicycle/transit integration, encouraging bicycle use, and making bicycling safer.

The success of this plan is reliant on the community for which it is evolving. Members need to participate and support and promote the idea of riding bicycles to school and work especially. Bicycles save the environment and create much less noise, congestion, and pollution which would help preserve our natural environment and keep Oregon green. 

Article Link:
PDX Bicycle Master Plan

Portland Repair Group

I ran across this in my search of Portland and what it is doing with its community socialization and spaces. This is a volunteer group helping rebuild neighborhoods, communication, and involvement of its community members by coming together under an organized organization and planting seeds. They take projects underway and revitalize spirits of those communities most in need.

Organization Link:
Portland City Repair

Portland metro plan to building a sustainable community

This slide show talks about Portland's plan to building a sustainable community and has a major emphasis on transportation, both mass transit and convenient foot walking. The show is informational and gives people an understanding of what Portland metro is planning and the areas of interest the city is most focused on. Development of a sustainable community is dependent on numerous factors including pollution control, community interaction, family residence, schools, transportation, and building restructuring. Managing our main roadways is going to be an ongoing challenge as the population continues to boom in the city. Working on 99W is a major project for the city as well as restructuring the bridges in the community to meet legal standards of safety. Very informative slide show regarding city plans and future desires for the city.

Article Link:
Building Sustainable Communities Slide Show

"Portland's Living Room"

This is an interesting article linking the center of city life with the transportation system in the Portland metro area. Tri-met is the reason Pioneer Courthouse Square exists today, once just a parking lot in the center of the city, now a hub to every section of the city and suburbs. The lightrails and bus system stop on all crossroads surrounding the square and make the square financially possible having a tri-met station in the middle of the square along with food vendors and artists utilizing the space for many different community engagements. It has been through the financial devotion and active public engagement this square has been revitalized and has been a profound impact on city life in the center of downtown.

Article Link:
Pioneer Courthouse Square

Portland is an elite city

Portland is leading the way in the future and is a city at the forefront of the worlds environmental struggle. The city has delved its roots deep in its culture. "The environment is also the main theme of public policy." The city is forward-looking and a visionary of community development to accommodate our future population growth. A good article explaining the problem of reproduction is called the Tragedy of the Commons. 

The city's nature has been a major attraction for single individuals and the city's "Keep Portland WEIRD" bumper stickers promote creative individualism or is a nice welcoming to all. This seems weird, how can a bumper sticker promote community? Well, It brings the community together under one saying, which is promoted even on banners and is said in local newspapers and is in every other part of the city's meaning and culture.

Portland is a trendy, hip place, with a city design that reduces urban sprawl and promotes community in each person's living area. It keeps clutter minimized in the urban areas and has a record of innovation among American cities. It is setting a new standard to guide other cities constantly developing and growing.

 

Article Link:
The New Model: Is Oregon's metropolis a leader among American cities or just strange?

Golf course or regional park?

Colwood wants to rezone 140-acres into a golf course. The course would be in NE Portland Cully neighborhood, They say it will bring jobs to this struggling area. The neighborhood claims there is no possible way to support a golf course in the area and instead the government should own the land and make it into a regional park. The golfing company offered to donate a section of the land to make into a park.

Currently:

Rezone plan:

  

Article Link:
Green Space Versus Greenbacks in Cully

Is the automobile Portland's major carbon emission issue?

Portland is sinking a lot of money into its bike plan, but the major issue of carbon emissions does not stem from our automobiles nearly as the impact from our wastes. Major carbon emissions come from our everyday disposal of trash, moving trash, and creating landfills for the trash to be placed. Statistics prove that nearly 50% of our wastes are from the trash we dispose of daily.

Article Link
Most Oregon greenhouse gas not what you might think

Portland Oregon's Bicycling in the Fast Lanes

Portland Oregon has developed a plan to unify the cities bicyclists and auto drivers paths for future safety measures on the roadways. This plan will not only reduce accidents but will also provide people quicker paths of transportation to encourage bicycling as a more standard means of transportation. That will hopefully reduce the amount of automobiles on the roadways and reduce our pollution in the city. The city has made efforts in marking paths downtown and hopefully this will continue with expansions of paths off the roadways as well. Click on Portland Oregon's Bicycling in the Fast Lane title to view a map of the future bike routes.

Article Link:
Portland Bicycling Plan for 2030