http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2009/07/01/portlands-streetcar-born-in-the-us-of-fuckin-a Comments On: Portland's Streetcar Born in the U.S. of Fuckin' A! by Sarah Mirk en-us Copyright 2009 Portland Mercury. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Portland Mercury readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Portland Mercury. webmaster@portlandmercury.com (Portland Mercury Webmaster) Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0800 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:00:00 -0800 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
streetcars are nice. and it worked...living there when it first launched it made no sense, now there is an entire neighborhood built around the streetcar stops. for better or for worse, it's there.

bikes are nice, too. try riding one with maniacal illinois drivers nearly clipping you, two feet of snow on the ground and a minus ten windchill. and with no on-street bike parking in sight.
Posted by idontwannacreateanaccount]]> Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:14:47 -0700 Portland Mercury
Perhaps this article should be amended to First US OWNED?

http://www.spiegel.de/international/busine…
Posted by cmiles]]> Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:27:18 -0700 Portland Mercury % of new yorkers who drive: 35
Posted by davlloyd]]> Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:49:59 -0700 Portland Mercury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLvpBj7bRs4

Posted by Bob R.]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:46:20 -0700 Portland Mercury tH\VF5!V+00HY?jgK7@iA<_(B0Mii*:@e9Iq]]>
Trams, light rail, streetcars all use a great deal of energy, of course. Even walking uses energy, people have to eat to fuel their existence.

You want to significantly reduce carbon footprint? Sterilize children on birth, and make them pay $$$ money to get it reversed. PEOPLE are the greatest use of energy. Reduce people, and you reduce carbon footprint. Political death to suggest population control, funnily enough.
Posted by ?pqM)mH{5i*7V7wVNiH?tcvUk'j>tH\VF5!V+00HY?jgK7@iA<_(B0Mii*:@e9Iq]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:50:29 -0700 Portland Mercury Posted by Blabby]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:10:29 -0700 Portland Mercury Posted by a.O]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:50:33 -0700 Portland Mercury Posted by Mizzzzzzz]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:48:53 -0700 Portland Mercury
Also, this has to be the worst written story I've ever read. And considering this is the Mercury, that's a tall order.
Posted by Andy Mesa]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:32:19 -0700 Portland Mercury Posted by Lt. Billiam Esquire III]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:52:45 -0700 Portland Mercury
Seriously, how hard would it be to make approaching streetcar trains automatically trigger green lights, so they'd at least be quicker than walking?"

As I've pointed out before, a streetcar does absolutely nothing that a bus can't do, without the expense of permenantly putting tracks in the street and removing street parking spaces.

Why don't we buy one of those buses made up to look like a trolley and drive it up MLK and Grand? It would take all of two months of operation to figure out that it has limited utility.
Posted by Blabby]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:30:14 -0700 Portland Mercury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Tjj7ga5jE
Posted by Bob R.]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:17:21 -0700 Portland Mercury Posted by Paul Cone]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:39:41 -0700 Portland Mercury
Max = undeniably a good thing (I don't understand why there's so many people who are happy to take MAX but refuse to take the bus, but so long as they exist, the MAX is worthwhile).

Streetcar = waste of money.

Seriously, how hard would it be to make approaching streetcar trains automatically trigger green lights, so they'd at least be quicker than walking?
Posted by Stu]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:17:55 -0700 Portland Mercury tH\VF5!V+00HY?jgK7@iA<_(B0Mii*:@e9Iq]]>
Posted by ?pqM)mH{5i*7V7wVNiH?tcvUk'j>tH\VF5!V+00HY?jgK7@iA<_(B0Mii*:@e9Iq]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:22:15 -0700 Portland Mercury Posted by Blabby]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:18:01 -0700 Portland Mercury
If that were the case, there'd be a hell of a lot less cars on the road and more horses.

I, like many tourists and newcomers to Portland, loved the hell out of the streetcar when I first moved here, especially living in downtown and going to PSU.

Then I realized that it was entirely useless past 9:30, 10pm.
Then I realized that I could outwalk the thing, so if it was going to take any longer than 5 minutes to arrive at a stop, I would be better off served taking off myself.
And then I also realized and christened it "the yuppie train" precisely because of the areas it serves (NW 23rd, Pearl, Downtown- presumably for the other folks to get to work- and then the South Waterfront?)

I'm happy that they're wanting to extend the streetcar service to other areas that it could really be used in, but it is a shame if you think about the opportunity cost. I think Jonathan Maus is on to the right sort of thinking; what else could we have used that money for? Bikes would be great, but building an electric bus network similar to SF's MUNI would help reduce pollution, noise, and make downtown a lot nicer for pedestrians and especially the bicyclists who are stuck sucking in their fumes.

I guess, just like everything else with Oregon, if we give it enough time they'll pull their heads out of their asses and catch up with the rest of the country (see: smoking ban, cell phone ban).
Posted by el cubano]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:17:21 -0700 Portland Mercury Posted by bah-humbug]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:49:40 -0700 Portland Mercury Posted by Will Radik]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:41:21 -0700 Portland Mercury
You guys really don't have a copy editor do you? It's not just a joke, is it?
Posted by GLV]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:39:53 -0700 Portland Mercury Posted by Bob R.]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:35:29 -0700 Portland Mercury
Hmm. Looks a lot like the streetcar era of 100 years ago to me.
Posted by Blabby]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:08:13 -0700 Portland Mercury Posted by alan cordle]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:56:17 -0700 Portland Mercury
There better be some strong Democrat ready to take him on in the 2010 primary. He's completely out of touch with Oregon, funded almost entirely by wealthy Asian-American businesspeople in NYC and not even willing to have real discussion of any issue. Send his ass home.
Posted by Oregometry]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:39:51 -0700 Portland Mercury Posted by Chunty McHutchence]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:37:05 -0700 Portland Mercury