Portland

Streetcar Woes 0
- October 4, 2012
Portland opened its new east side streetcar line a couple of weeks ago, but the real story is in the Lake Oswego plant that is supposed to be making streetcars to run on the new line. In 2011, the company, United Streetcar, announced that its first streetcars would be several months late and it would […]
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Clackistanis Threaten Portland Light Rail 0
- September 12, 2012
In all the times it has been on the ballot, Clackamas County has never voted for Portland light rail. But Portland planners were determined to run a light-rail line into the urban heart of the county, so they persuaded the county commission to give them $20 million of the $1.5 billion cost of the 7.7-mile […]
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Still Corrupt After All These Years 0
- August 20, 2012
The Oregonian reports that construction of the Sellwood Bridge was rife with “graft, kickbacks and corruption”–or at least it was when the bridge was first planned 87 years ago. As comments to the article point out, not much has changed. Today, the region is planning an expensive replacement bridge that is twice as wide as […]
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More Evidence That Portland Is Nuts 0
- June 27, 2012
TriMet, Portland’s transit agency, has made the largest cuts in its history, including reductions in bus service, fare increases, and elimination of free rail rides in downtown Portland (the free bus rides were eliminated last year). Meanwhile, it is using nearly $10 million of money supposedly dedicated to the Milwaukie light-rail line to remodel its […]
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Streetcar Dreams 0
- March 8, 2012
A few weeks ago, the Antiplanner questioned a streetcar project in Atlanta. Now comes a response from none other than Portland Mayor Sam Adams, who says Portland’s streetcar once had detractors “were afraid that it would be too expensive and people wouldn’t ride it. We don’t hear that so much these days.” As Bojack says, […]
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Letting the Infrastructure Crumble 0
- February 27, 2012
Portland can spend hundreds of millions on streetcars and billions on light rail. But it is letting its most-valuable asset–the city’s $5 billion road system–fall apart, says an expose featured in yesterday’s Oregonian. The city’s transportation department, says the article, has enough money to hire eight new employees to oversee streetcars, build more than a […]
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