Portland, Oregon
A number of my elemental things came together in my recent trip to Portland, Oregon. I went there for a conference of my professional organization that focusing on improving teaching in higher education. I was particuarly interested in traveling to Portland for this conference because I have always heard how progressive Portland is in terms of land-use, public transportation, and bike infrastructure. As a with any "business" trip, I also planned on running to see what kind of trail system the City of Roses had.
I'm always impressed when I can take a train from an American airport to my hotel. Atlanta has the truncated, half-assed version of this, but until I can take a train from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to the Athens multi-modal center, I won't be satisfied that Atlanta is moving in the right direction; what a wretched city to try to get around in. Anyway, in Portland, there was a short indoor walk from baggage claim to the light rail train that dropped me off literally in front of my hotel, the Red Lion down by the convention center. Cost me $4.25. If I had been paying attention, I think it should have cost me $2.
That night and early the next day, I was really unimpressed with Portland but that was because I was on the wrong side of the river from downtown. I was in the convention district, which was built there probably because there was so much more potential that actual on the east side of the Willamette. Still, that area boasted a better downtown feel than most generic American downtowns. Besides the light rail intrstructure that was attractive and safe, there were examples of what I would discovered were called Benson Bubblers--perpetually flowing water fountains funded by an early town father who was also responsible for deeding land on which some of the stunning Columbia Gorge waterfalls are located. Frequent public water fountains, along with good public transportation and good bike infrastructure, is a good indication of a thoughtful civic life. People need water and they should have to buy a bottle of Dansani for a buck and a half to quench basic thirst. Still, over on the east side where the convention center and the Lloyd center are, there are a lot of parking lots and office boxes that have a dead feeling even during the work day.
Once the conference was over, I got to explore Portland with ELP. We are city walkers. We did the usual Portland things--Japanese Gardens, Powells, tour of the gorge and the waterfalls, but mainly we wandered around city and ate good food.
We were there around Halloween, and that colors a bit my perceptions of the city because so many people walked around in costumes for the period of time I was there, so there was this kind of alternative/carnival feel about downtown and the Pearl District. A guy walking around with boxes on his heads, a woman in animal suit with a sign around her neck that said "Animals for the Ethical Treatment of People," and the assorted strumpet, French maid, and other sexy woman outfits that typify adult recogintion of Halloween. I was handed a couple of cds called "Wild Animus, a Brut Art Project." During the day, people rode bikes in cow costumes. So Portland had a baccannal feel to it that probably isn't really part of its essential fabric--though the author of Fight Club wrote a book about underground Portland that makes it sound like the west coast equivalent of Venice.
I ran twice in Portland, both times up and down the Willamette river, which flows north into the Columbia. They have a great, great trail on the east side that extends sound forever it seems, but coming back up the west side kind of sucks; though that side is considered trail, it isn't marked and is really sidewalk away from the river until you get to the riverside park downtown. Still, I had a good solid 90 minute run. I think I've started an annual tradition of running a 90-minute run during this same conference. I ran one last year when the conference was in Milwaukee, which has better running trails from downtown. My second run was twice around the more traditional running route of the Katz (?) trail on the east from the Steel Bridge to the Hawthorne Bridge and up the west-side part back to the Steel Bridge, which has a really cool pedestrian bridge that is very much below traffic level. Lots of homeless people in the park, but there was never any time when I felt threatened. And I wasn't panhandled by the obviously homeless in Portland--it was always the slacker, grunge-looking white males who always were hitting me up for money. At least they were polite about it and took my refusals gracefully.
Why is it that cities like Portland and Milwaukee have these great pedestrian/bike trails, often along abandoned rail lines, and the south lags so much? My wife just returned from Minneapolis and commented on the great infrastructure there. All three of these places has relatively inhospitable weather compared to Athens and Atlanta--so inhospitable that you can't ride a bike period. Sure we've got heat, but that doesn't impede riding. Meanwhile, in Athens, we have to push and cajole state and local officials to convert an abandoned rail line what would link the east side to downtown along a flat route. This would be as much a transportation path than an recreation one. There's little governmental vision for this. Is there any signficance in red state/blue state difference?
Saw another hawk while I was commuting in again. The color this year has been very vivid.
I'm always impressed when I can take a train from an American airport to my hotel. Atlanta has the truncated, half-assed version of this, but until I can take a train from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to the Athens multi-modal center, I won't be satisfied that Atlanta is moving in the right direction; what a wretched city to try to get around in. Anyway, in Portland, there was a short indoor walk from baggage claim to the light rail train that dropped me off literally in front of my hotel, the Red Lion down by the convention center. Cost me $4.25. If I had been paying attention, I think it should have cost me $2.
That night and early the next day, I was really unimpressed with Portland but that was because I was on the wrong side of the river from downtown. I was in the convention district, which was built there probably because there was so much more potential that actual on the east side of the Willamette. Still, that area boasted a better downtown feel than most generic American downtowns. Besides the light rail intrstructure that was attractive and safe, there were examples of what I would discovered were called Benson Bubblers--perpetually flowing water fountains funded by an early town father who was also responsible for deeding land on which some of the stunning Columbia Gorge waterfalls are located. Frequent public water fountains, along with good public transportation and good bike infrastructure, is a good indication of a thoughtful civic life. People need water and they should have to buy a bottle of Dansani for a buck and a half to quench basic thirst. Still, over on the east side where the convention center and the Lloyd center are, there are a lot of parking lots and office boxes that have a dead feeling even during the work day.
Once the conference was over, I got to explore Portland with ELP. We are city walkers. We did the usual Portland things--Japanese Gardens, Powells, tour of the gorge and the waterfalls, but mainly we wandered around city and ate good food.
We were there around Halloween, and that colors a bit my perceptions of the city because so many people walked around in costumes for the period of time I was there, so there was this kind of alternative/carnival feel about downtown and the Pearl District. A guy walking around with boxes on his heads, a woman in animal suit with a sign around her neck that said "Animals for the Ethical Treatment of People," and the assorted strumpet, French maid, and other sexy woman outfits that typify adult recogintion of Halloween. I was handed a couple of cds called "Wild Animus, a Brut Art Project." During the day, people rode bikes in cow costumes. So Portland had a baccannal feel to it that probably isn't really part of its essential fabric--though the author of Fight Club wrote a book about underground Portland that makes it sound like the west coast equivalent of Venice.
I ran twice in Portland, both times up and down the Willamette river, which flows north into the Columbia. They have a great, great trail on the east side that extends sound forever it seems, but coming back up the west side kind of sucks; though that side is considered trail, it isn't marked and is really sidewalk away from the river until you get to the riverside park downtown. Still, I had a good solid 90 minute run. I think I've started an annual tradition of running a 90-minute run during this same conference. I ran one last year when the conference was in Milwaukee, which has better running trails from downtown. My second run was twice around the more traditional running route of the Katz (?) trail on the east from the Steel Bridge to the Hawthorne Bridge and up the west-side part back to the Steel Bridge, which has a really cool pedestrian bridge that is very much below traffic level. Lots of homeless people in the park, but there was never any time when I felt threatened. And I wasn't panhandled by the obviously homeless in Portland--it was always the slacker, grunge-looking white males who always were hitting me up for money. At least they were polite about it and took my refusals gracefully.
Why is it that cities like Portland and Milwaukee have these great pedestrian/bike trails, often along abandoned rail lines, and the south lags so much? My wife just returned from Minneapolis and commented on the great infrastructure there. All three of these places has relatively inhospitable weather compared to Athens and Atlanta--so inhospitable that you can't ride a bike period. Sure we've got heat, but that doesn't impede riding. Meanwhile, in Athens, we have to push and cajole state and local officials to convert an abandoned rail line what would link the east side to downtown along a flat route. This would be as much a transportation path than an recreation one. There's little governmental vision for this. Is there any signficance in red state/blue state difference?
Saw another hawk while I was commuting in again. The color this year has been very vivid.
posted by Paul Quick | 8:29 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home