What do people know about Portland around here? I got somebody that is considering moving there and is interested in moving into some nice neighborhood, possibly some art community of some kind? Rainfall? General weather? Gist of the town? I've only been there sporadically, and haven't taken a hell of a lot in of the town, any help to spur further interest?
sekai
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:35 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 1466Location: on the lake
call jason, misia use to live there.
Aaron
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:52 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 4645
I moved here from there in 1988
Portland has changed quite a bit since then.
The artsy areas are still Hawthorne BLVD in SE and Northwest Portland. I think they call it the Rose Quarter now. It is getting kind of gentrified now. Used to be an old warehouse and light industrial district. My first bike shop job was there and I lived there in '87
lantius
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 9:52 am
1337Joined: 22 Jul 2005Posts: 6705Location: right over
i have some friends who live in the belmont district (aka se hawthorne) and it is about the coolest place in portland. huge bicycle crowd there too, tons of awesome bikes parked on the street and overall a chill neighborhood. plus there are tons of great bars
if i were to ever move to pdx that's where i would live. i should know the city better, considering where i grew up for 18 years, but alas i don't. i can barely even find powell's books when i get down there.
langston
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:07 am
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 5547Location: Columbia City
I have a close friend who lives in NW Portland, and that is a really nice neighborhood. I agree that it is gentrifying, it has much of the same feel as Queen Anne, with a bit of the 1st Ave nightlife.
The biggest problem I see with Portland is the lack of employment if you are not going to be working at Intel or other big businesses.
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futurenorth
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:07 am
Bed BleederJoined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 839Location: Ballard
Mike, ask Misia when you get back. She knows everything.
Lee is right about Hawthorne. When I move there eventually, that's where you'll find me.
_________________ We have met the enemy, and he is us.
Aaron
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 11:34 am
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 4645
I have heard that employment is tough in Portland. But not in the bike biz. It is booming there. Get a job in a bike shop! Portland has so many bike shops and new little ones poping up all the time. It could be because there are so many bikers there, I think! When I am there, I am amazed at how many people on bikes I see. You see bikes on the street constantly. And there are always bikes locked up at the bike racks on the sidewalk.
Here in Seattle I see empty bike racks when I ride to a business. It is always easy to find a place to lock up in Seattle. You have to look around in PDX. When I ride my bike to work here in West Seattle I almost never see another cyclist, yet I know people are going places because I see hundreds of cars.
Try this game. Count cars (moving) until you see a bicycle (moving) Don't count parked cars or bikes. In Seattle you can get over 100. In Portland the number is 25.
One difference I notice in Seattle is that we have a lot of commuters but then when people get home they jump in their car to do errands or go to the gym. On the weekends they only ride for recreation. In PDX people ride everywhere, to work, the store, etc.
I am glad I am a part of .83 where we ride to drink!
joeball
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 11:44 am
Joined: 24 Jul 2005Posts: 6037Location: Ether
Aaron wrote:
One difference I notice in Seattle is that we have a lot of commuters but then when people get home they jump in their car to do errands or go to the gym. On the weekends they only ride for recreation. In PDX people ride everywhere, to work, the store, etc.
I had to take a transportation engineering course and at one point they had a chapter on calculating the number of car trips a person makes on average using an equation with different variables such as age, sex, job... one of the variables was "Commutes by Bike," when that value was true the number of car trips actually was higher. The reasoning was that bike commuters led more active lives in general and so overall they had more activities and more trips. Obviously there are exceptions but it makes sense.
Aaron
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:02 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 4645
They did not think of the people that only have a bike.
Now those are active people. But I suppose the planners might be onto something.
Many of the other "bike" clubs in the Seattle area are really "driving" clubs that just happen to ride bikes. The Seattle International Randoneers comes to mind. And how many SUVs do you see parked along the waterfront for Chilly Hilly. And don't even get me started about the STP start with its sea of cars parking lot. Triathlons are another thing. Cars, cars, cars. That is why I love youz cats, you really walk the walk or bike the bike so to speak. (It is OK, Scotty)
futurenorth
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:03 pm
Bed BleederJoined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 839Location: Ballard
I have plans to move to Portland in a few years. I always look forward to rolling around pdx knowing that I will be seen and accepted for my mode of transport.
We keep hearing about Mayor Nickels' plans to make Seattle a great cycling city, but I just don't see that happening.
I wonder what active part we can take to make that happen. Anyone have ideas?
_________________ We have met the enemy, and he is us.
lantius
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:06 pm
1337Joined: 22 Jul 2005Posts: 6705Location: right over
Aaron wrote:
That is why I love youz cats, you really walk the walk or bike the bike so to speak. (It is OK, Scotty)
if they had a bike lane on 520 scotty probably wouldn't drive, either.
iro1751
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:16 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 723
alright, i like the way this discussion is going, we do bike the bike as it were, and this needs to be continued in further conversations, but. . . I really would like my sister to move out west, and she's seriously considering Portland. So . . .
Aaron
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:19 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 4645
futurenorth wrote:
I have plans to move to Portland in a few years. I always look forward to rolling around pdx knowing that I will be seen and accepted for my mode of transport.
We keep hearing about Mayor Nickels' plans to make Seattle a great cycling city, but I just don't see that happening.
I wonder what active part we can take to make that happen. Anyone have ideas?
We are doing our part, just by living the bike lifestyle and riding.
Critical Mass helps too.
I think making cycling fun is what is really needed. People need to know that it is easy and fun and really cool people will be your friends!
When I was on the board of directors for the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, I was very bored. Those people really do not know how to have fun (Like Cascade <c a s c a d e>) They just seem to be interested in getting money to fund programs and more bike trails. Trails like the Burke are cool but we could do so much more with the money, like stripping the main arterials with bike lanes (like Dexter is). They also fund things like the share the road license plate program. The money raised is supposed to go to education. They also lobby to get laws passed that punish car drivers more. But since this state does not re-test drivers when their license is renewed, how are people going to find out about the new laws? And the Police don't even know or need another law to enforce.
The latest law: It is illegal for a car to pass you on a bike without moving way over. They cannot just squeeze by. And they have to use their turn signals just like when they pass another car. Also the law says that oncoming traffic cannot pass if there is a cyclist coming the other way. But nobody knows this. Cars pass me like that all the time. But it is now illegal. In my view the effort to get the law passed was a waste of time and done out of revenge. A woman was killed by an agressive driver that passed a car and ran into a bunch of recreational cyclists. Now if it happens again, there is this law that will punish the driver more. How does that make it safer for cyclists? That is what the BAW says the law does.
In my view, the money should have been spend education teen age drivers (the next generation) about the requirement to share the road and be extra nice and carefull around bicycles. And they should lobby to make taking the driving test (written and on-road) mandatory everytime you get your drivers license renewed. There are so many bad drivers out there! They need to be re-educated!
I told the BAW so, but it is more politically correct to pass laws.
So there you go, .83 is doing good things for the cycling community just by riding our bikes.
Oh, and whomever did that Ghostcycle thing did quite a bit of good to raise awareness for seeing bicycles.
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1337
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