Comments on: Riding in Portland: Lessons for Tucson

By: steev

steev — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:02:40 +0000

Ryn's points are well taken but i would add that the other thing to understand is that it's about history too, that Portland and Tucson, in the early 70s, were basically very similar in terms of urban planning. In both places there were huge fights back then between the forces of money and sprawl and real estate on one hand, and smart forward-thinking people who cared about quality of life and sustainability on the other. In one place, one side won, and they created the Urban Growth Boundary and other policies that got them to where they are today. In the other place, the other side won. Guess which is which…

However, this doesn't mean hope is lost, Ryn. Refer to the saying “The best time to plant a tree is 30 years ago. the 2nd best time is now.” The only problem is we might not have another 30-40 years before climate change and peak oil make Tucson (and most of the southwest) uninhabitable…

By: steev

steev — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:02:40 +0000

By: Tabot Tietjen

Tabot Tietjen — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:14:50 +0000

I like the median cutouts. On busy streets in Tucson, I wait on the side of the road until I can cross all the way to the other side. Is Portland thinking of using raised bike lanes like Copenhagen? I really like the raised bike lanes and I would love to see them utilized here in Tucson.

Thanks for the photos and a great write-up.

By: Edward Cantrell

Edward Cantrell — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:27:01 +0000

Thanks Mike for sharing this riding lessons with us!

“Portland appears to be thinking about the future, while Tucson is often thinking about the here and now. We can do everything Portland has done, we just have to have the political will and the support to get it done.”

I look forward “to be thinking about the future” not here and now.

By: Colby

Colby — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:20:09 +0000

Mike – I attended the Bike Blvd Webinat at PAG last week and it definitely cleared up some questions I had. Like Coghauler, i was a bit fuzzy on what exactly these looked like.

Looks like you got a 'personal tour' version of the webinar plus some bonus. Keep up the great work!

By: tucsonvelo

tucsonvelo — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:56:20 +0000

I posted that on the site a while back. It is well done as usual!

By: Coghauler

Coghauler — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:36:59 +0000

It was good to see the implimentation of
ideas; a lot of which seem simple enough
to be done here without a cultural
revolution.
These visuals are just what some of us needed
to see get a clearer picture of what a bike
boulevard is. The mental image seemed to be a little
unclear from some of the comments I've read.
Thanks for the great work, Mike, and letting
us intrude a little on your vacation.

By: tucsonvelo

tucsonvelo — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:32:52 +0000

Ryn, thanks your your very thoughtful comment. You are right that the story wasn't meant to be a detailed breakdown of the two cities, which are very different.

But when it specifically comes to bike infrastructure, I truly believe we can do they same types of improvement Portland has done.

We may not get the same results as Portland has because we are so different.

The biggest change we need is our mentality.

Thanks again for the comment and I hope this will start a conversation.

By: Frank Tellez

Frank Tellez — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:30:33 +0000

Nice! I wish we had all that stuff!

By: Ryn Shane-Armstrong

Ryn Shane-Armstrong — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:10:10 +0000

To whom it may concern,

Thank you for the detailed article. As a former resident of Portland, it's always great to see (literally) some of my old bicycle haunts. I wasn't in the northwest very long, unfortunately, but like you I was also deeply impressed with that city's tremendous support of pedal-power. The rest of the United States would do well to pay attention!

That said, I must take some minor umbrage with your implicit analysis vis-a-vis how we might be able to use Portland as a model for future transportation developments in sunny Tucson, Arizona. These are two radically different cities with two radically different socio-political, economic, and cultural contexts. Your article fails to acknowledge some very fundamental distinctions that make's Portland's efforts seemingly impossible here in the Old Pueblo.

For example, here are a list of words that you cannot find anywhere in your writing:

tax
base
middle
class
income
liberal
white
wealthy
educated
caucasian
money
gentrification
poverty
race
ethnicity
housing
market
recession
unemployment
jobs
bankrupt
debt

To your credit, this report was probably not intended as a comprehensive deconstruction of what makes Portland's alt transportation community so vibrant; you're just sharing your experiences of an admittedly wonderful, bike-friendly oasis in another western state. But I do think it's important -- before we start making unfounded comments like, "We can do everything Portland has done, we just have to have the political will and the support to get it done." -- that we fully consider the complexities of our own situation.

Put simply, we CAN'T do everything Portland has done because we are at a serious disadvantage in a number of key categories. So while I share your sense of awe and optimism, I do not agree with your ultimate conclusion that Portland, Oregon, is a appropriate blueprint for how Tucson can adopt a truly sustainable, bike-centered transportation system. We need to blaze our own trail; we just can't afford someone else's vision of the future.

Thanks again for the photos and the storytelling! All the best,

Ryn