Some Facts About Portland

Portland has become a PR machine for the light rail & streetcar industries. This site tells visiting delegations the other side.  We have made every effort to have all of our conclusions trackable back to the original sources - look for the links - Questions: email our webmaster  New/changed items in red

 Complete Columbia River Crossing Project 836 page DEIS & Appendix in one pdf file (95 meg) ;   Technical Reports: 125 files in 406 MEG zip (5000 pages)
 Complete Milwaukie Light Rail Project 402 page SDEIS in one pdf file (45meg) ;   196 page Appendix in one pdf file (16meg)

Transportation

Planning

Light Rail - Costs Too Much

WestSide MAX: Not On schedule and Not On Budget
EastSide MAX: Not On schedule and Not On Budget
I205 MAX: PR example
Cost of Vancouver Light Rail
Wilsonville Commuter rail - $25 per ride
Milwaukie MAX
Electrical Power Generation Stats
TriMet cannot ... increase bus service...because of commitments to help fund new rail lines...

Light Rail - Does Too Little

Costs Too Much, Does Too Little
Rail carries too few people to relieve congestion
Light Rail does not cause development, Subsidies Do
(Portland Gives Millions in Development Subsidies)
List of Developer Subsidies
Light Rail KILLS people at 250% the rate of Cars
Portlanders Rate Congestion relief higher than education

Who Needs It?

Who Really Wants Light Rail?
Rail Tranist, a Land Developer Scheme?  (Local Copy)
MAX causes crime
How to ride MAX without being mugged
the project ... is little more than a subsidy for developers.
Like sailing ships and the horse and carriage, public transport will not come back to regain market share

Don't believe us about light rail?
Would you believe the Orange County Grand Jury?

Videos & Printables

Houston Light Rail Video
Video: Light Rail is for Development (3rd person is former City Commissioner Charlie Hales-Portland OR)
Sam Adams Video: Make Portland like 1920
Sam Adams Video: Vigerous Development at Transit Stops
Sam Adams Video: Put 300,000 people at transit stops
How Japan Makes Rail Work
Rail in Mumbain India kills 12 people/day (4000/yr.)
Rail won’t save energy or reduce greenhouse gas

Things to print

Tram

 Not on Schedule and Not On Budget
Oregonian Tram Archive
Oregonian: Tram

The Streetcar is about density NOT transit

Development Oriented Transit  (Local Copy)
Portland's Streetcar Plan

Transit

Transit and Pollution
Bus Pollution - Union of Concerned Scientists
Coal fired Power Plants Spew Radiation, Mercury
Transit and Energy     Printable
Transit Costs Three Times More than Driving  Printable
Transit & Automobile Externalities
THE PUBLIC COST OF URBAN TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES.
Roads are Highly Subsidized?
Transit Facts & More
GM didn't destroy streetcars   GM and the Red Cars
TriMet Service cut, ridership down
Europeans are Abandoning Transit Too   Printable
Wendell Cox: Mass transit does not reduce congestion
The Columbian: Light rail carries big cost, little benefit
A Comparative Analysis of Light Rail Systems in Six West Coast Cities

Congestion

High Density Causes Congestion   TriMet's Study
You Can Build Your Way Out Of Congestion
Cost Of Portland's Congestion Report
POLLS: Portlanders Rate Congestion Relief More Important than Education; want roads, not bikes and transit
Houston Freeways

Other stuff

The Look of Light Rail in Portland   PrintableSheet
Traffic Calming (speed bumps etc)
Traffic Calmong Caused Accident
One-Way Streets are safer
The American Dream Coalition
Synthetic fuel     Oil from Coal  abiotic petroleum
USGS: Huge Oil Reserves  Arctic Energy
 Demographia   Public Purpose  
Extraordinary Public Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.   (Wikipedia)
Climate Change
Links
Portland Crime rate
Per Capita Personal Income
Houston Beats Portland to Windmil Factory
Comprehensive Inventory of U.S. OCS Oil and Gas
Planning Facts & Myths
The Price of URBAN RENEWAL
Do People Like What Portland's Planners Do
Portland Votes Against Density Increase
High Density REDUCES socail interactions

Growth Pays For Itself
High Density Requires Subsidies.
Metro's scheme
How Bad Is Houston?
Vera's Portland The City That Shrinks
Should we Copy Europe?
A Vibrant Downtown
TODs fail to reduce congestion or driving
Driving, regional & Per Person
Portland's TODs
How Planners Trick You
Louvre Café Syndrome
Population is leveling out, NOT Careening out of control

Cost Of Housing

Why Many Portlanders Can't afford a house
Cost of Housing Comparisons    
Why California is more unaffordable than Oregon (pdf)
House Price Index
National City Housing Price Report (pdf)   local
Cost of High Density Construction
Affordable Living for the Middle-Income (Glaeser)
97213 - one of 10 most overpriced zip codes (Forbes)

Failed Portland Area Plans

The round
Cascade Station

South Waterfront

Portland's People

Who Runs Portland?
Sweet Deals
Interesting News Articles
Neil Goldschmidt’s web.
Neil Goldschmidt’s Spider Web
How to Buy A Politician

Solving Sprawl

What is sprawl?
What does sprawl look like?
ALTERNATIVES TO SMART GROWTH
Do People Like Density?

Coming Soon (this is our notes & our to do section - please ignore it, unless you want to suggest that we add something)

Video:We don't reduce congestion anymore

Video: LRT isn't transport - it is development

Audio: Window Shop from your car

Safety of  Bus, LRT, Car, Bike

Note on politics of fear

The reason Portland has high crime

The reason Portland has High taxes

Worst increase in traffic congestion in the country

Portland's Pearl District

Portland's North Macadam District (South Waterfront)

What does the UGB really cost?

land for jobs

Earl in SUV

Spending a BILLION to deal with sewers in high density

US Census Population Projections
UN's Population Division     UN's projection to 2300

Gentrification

World, Europe, USA, Local Population trends

“Streetcars have sex appeal.”
“OK, If you think that streetcars have sex appeal,
go screw a streetcar, instead of the public.” Tom Rubin

Metro Likes Congestion

UR:
Traffic Congestion is Good For You

Laughingstock:
Radio guy Bob Miller suggests that the new OHSU Medical Group aerial tram [rim shot] be called "PHART" -- short for Pill Hill Aerial Rapid Transit. I must admit, it's got quite a ring to it. And b!X has picked it up, which is a good sign. He can smell a smash hit acronym at quite a distance....Can't wait for the neon: "Go by PHART!" (BoJack.com)

Posted at 8:46 AM | Permalink

Biking in Portland Rain

Critical mass/Zoo Bombers

Disabled/elderly & transit

TODs

Portland's mass transit increases market share!

This presentation further develops my ongoing argument that the “big debates” about the nature of our world continue to reflect the contest between the Enlightenment and Romanticism.1 Of course these two modes of thought overlap in their influence on all of our lives. The most “rational” of us is likely to have some affection for “nature” and an appreciation of one or more of the arts. So we are talking about positions on a spectrum rather than a clash between polar opposites..This presentation examines “Smart Growth”, and “Visioning” as a means of managing our urban and rural environments, within the context of this ongoing debate.New Road to Serfdom

MoreStuff

Technifilm - we have come into posession of some film that was in the vaults when Technifilm closed. If you know who might own this film, please contact the webmaster.