Posts tagged portland

Maybe I’ve just played a little bit too much SimCity. 

Prior to my most recent outing, it was the only way that I justified how strongly I felt about Portland’s efforts as mass transit, as I really just admired the principle of aggressively pursuing light rail and bus systems that work, and then combining this with smart zoning and other solutions to really curb urban sprawl and create a city that’s easy to live & work in.   But now, after a recent hands-on tour of Portland’s 2 other ballsy transit systems, the Portland Streetcar and Portland Aerial Tram, I know it’s a bit more than just SimCity. 

Portland Streetcar:
First installed in 2001, and upgraded with more service since, the Portland Streetcar was put there with the end of making a fast and predictable way to get around downtown, and to also stimulate development.  

I’ve lived in a number of cities, ones with both good and terrible transit systems.  In just about every city, especially somewhat backwards ones like Phoenix, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle, I’ve read in newspapers simply endless babble by naysayers, droning on about how light-rail or rail transit period, is a total waste of taxpayer money, and that the same money would be better spent widening freeways, adding bus lines, or doing some other short-term, short-circuit handling for urban planning.  

So, even though I can realize this sort of talk as “natter” (as anyone who’s read the Ethics Book would know), I decided to see for myself what the streetcar has that a bus line wouldn’t provide, as naysayers love to speak about how bus lines are cheaper, faster solutions to transit. 

However, one ride told me everything I needed to know.  There is nothing on a bus line that can replace the predictability and ease-of-use of being able to just walk up to a train station, and hop on the train, and then use it to arrive to a station, which you know is right where you want to get off.  There’s a dynamic there you can’t get with a bus, and something decidedly fun about it.  I guess that’s why the streetcar I was on was packed, even though it was the middle of the day on a Friday.    Apparently 12,000+ riders already use it daily. 

Portland Aerial Tramway:
But something I wasn’t ready for was the coolness of being able to take the Westside MAX zipping in to town from where I’m at in Beaverton, transfer with the same flash of a metro pass onto the streetcar to the waterfront, and then flash the pass again and get onto a thoroughly modern, and absolutely breathtaking ride up the Portland Aerial Tramway.   

The ride up the tramway from the city’s newly-redeveloped South Waterfront district, up to Oregon Health Sciences University on Marquam Hill.   The ride gets you just amazing views of the Portland Downtown, Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Hood, and the whole Portland Metro Area. 

After spending a half-hour up at the Upper Terminal taking photos, I got an appreciation for how much foresight that the Portland City Planners have to have when planning and executing such projects despite still-extant criticism.  Because, in the end, you end up with a magnificent transportation system that lets you get all around the city rapidly, effortlessly, and aesthetically in a way that cities like LA, Phoenix, Houston, Seattle, etc can never hope to match. 

Unless they play a bit more SimCity, that is.