Car-free experiment in Portland (oil, cities, New York, City)

[Philip T]

Originally Posted by DCguy03

Me too! The town I live in (Arlington, VA) actually promotes themselves as a place where you can live car free. They even have a website/promo campaign called The Car-Free Diet. I just saw a poster on the metro that said "I just lost 2,000 lbs. in one day on Arlington's car-free diet!" It's a good attitude to have, imo.

the site is Arlington's Car-Free Diet

Thanks DCguy03,

that is a great site. Had no idea about Arlington, VA in that regard.

Have done some things around Crystal City before and took the Metro in, but that whole program is very impressive.

Sad contrast to "our" Arlington -- Arlington, TX that is. Prides itself on being the largest city in the US with no mass transit. They figure the lack of mass transit will keep poor folks away.

[Niners fan]

Originally Posted by Philip T

Agreed. But why? Because that was/is how the business was set up and operated -- not because the workers want to. Biggest mess I see with that is the million-some folks who all have to get on the highway all at the same time every morning and again every afternoon.

Again, why is that? The moron business owners. They set up things for what works best for them, or even with less thinking -- how they have always done things.

I have set up some of my guys with the flexibility to work offsite some of the time. But these are guys who would be sitting in front of their computers at the office so why not let them do it at home some of the time. Without high-speed internet, however, this wouldn't be very realistic.

It's hard to manufacture products on an assembly line with a bunch of telecommuters though. That's not going to change. We are considering going to a 4x10 workweek. It's not easy to do in California but in Idaho it will be.

[k350]

Nothing better than not being able tod rive on the roads paid by the tax dollars of drivers.

Perhaps taxing bicycles should be considered?

[Hoosier]

Originally Posted by Philip T

Part of Portland went sans automobiles for a day!

Sounds great.

Anyone know of US communities that do not have cars -- other than Mackinaw Island?

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Some happy, some not with car-free experiment | KATU.com - Portland, Oregon | News

This is so Portland-like. This does not surprise me in the least. We lived in Portland for many years and quite honestly the city government doesn't think things through completely. While it may be a good idea in theory, it's absolutely ridiculous. This is why parks exist. Maybe Portland should invest in some nice parks instead of polluting the streets with people. But, Oregon is all about environmentalism, and stuff like that. I agree with environmentalism, but seriously, this city is out of balance. Here's another link I found about their Sunday no-driving. Portland Carfree Day » 2008 Portland Conference, 2007

Oh, and BTW, the area of town they chose? Not a good or safe area of town. You just don't cruise north Portland or drive through it at night.

[Philip T]

Originally Posted by k350

Nothing better than not being able tod rive on the roads paid by the tax dollars of drivers.

Perhaps taxing bicycles should be considered?

And pedestrians on sidewalks, too -- the tax-cheats.

Sort of funny but highway taxes (fuel taxes) pay for highways.

Are not most city streets and maintenance paid for city taxes -- generally which are property, sales, and bonds? So the cars are getting to stink up and clog the city as freeloaders?

Maybe start taxing cars in cities by the miles driven in the city in addition to the highway taxes?

hmmmmm, taxes.

[Philip T]

Originally Posted by Hoosier

This is so Portland-like. This does not surprise me in the least. We lived in Portland for many years and quite honestly the city government doesn't think things through completely. While it may be a good idea in theory, it's absolutely ridiculous. This is why parks exist. Maybe Portland should invest in some nice parks instead of polluting the streets with people. But, Oregon is all about environmentalism, and stuff like that. I agree with environmentalism, but seriously, this city is out of balance. Here's another link I found about their Sunday no-driving. Portland Carfree Day » 2008 Portland Conference, 2007

Oh, and BTW, the area of town they chose? Not a good or safe area of town. You just don't cruise north Portland or drive through it at night.

hahaha. THAT is good -- people are pollution.

(and here I was thinking that people are Soylent Green )

Thanks for the link, that looked interesting.

You make a good point about the 'hood having the potential to be progressive. Seems that is the trend in old city areas around the nation. When the Rainbow Flags show up, you can know that urban renewal is on the way.

The way the trends go around here (Dallas), an area will start out Rich White, then go Middle to Poor White, then Black. then Mexican, then the Rainbow Flag folks . . . followed once again by the Rich Whites. Have seen that routine around the country in Philly, Atlanta, Chicago, and St. Louis, too.

So if the Freaks and Geeks (probably closest thing to where I track -- and usually ghettoed with the Gays) are in the area with a present status of no-so-good, that bodes well for that area?

[ME-Evergreen]

We are car free here too but sadly, this would not work everywhere. It is not always so easy to exist without a car but it is soooooooooooo much cheaper! Kudos to Portland.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Philip T

...

Maybe start taxing cars in cities by the miles driven in the city in addition to the highway taxes?

hmmmmm, taxes.

They are doing that in some places in USA. Living in Singapore in 1990 we were paying a CBD (central business district) premium and was higher during peak hours. Of course all automatically deducted via mag card reader on your dash, as were the transit buses and subway many yrs ago... mag cards Makes commuting much more convenient, but in the USA... I still have to remove the card, to get the reader to work, in Singapore, you just pass you wallet or purse over the scanner. (they probably allow a bit higher reader power, cuz folks who complain about stuff like EMI... get cained)

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Niners fan

...
It's hard to manufacture products on an assembly line with a bunch of telecommuters though. That's not going to change. We are considering going to a 4x10 workweek. It's not easy to do in California but in Idaho it will be.

good idea... (4x10) we had to lobby for this for many years, but it can be good for most, and saved the manufacturing company one extra day / week cleanup / transition times + one less day paid lunch for us night shifters & they got a state tax credit of 'trip-reductions' (hint; if this is possible do it AFTER you set up shop in ID). I really wanted the 3 x 12 weekend shift, but since I did R&D work instead of Manf, they wouldn't accept my proposal. To bad they wouldn't have provided a seat of MasterCam and SolidWorks or Unigraphics + add some pallet changers for the telecommute option

I just felt lucky to be able to work night shift for 15 yrs with NO BOSS & no supervisor, and no interruptions. We typically had much higher productivity, and 3 of us got to share 9 CNC machining centers and other automated equip (molding machines, EDM's, Lathes, Screw machines...) We would take a break when we each had three machines running unattended

Portland is a pretty commuter friendly city, with free service downtown, and an expanding light rail. Just too bad they didn't invest in a non-surface level version to transverse the city quickly and not run over people and fire trucks... The segregated routes along the freeways are nice, but it takes forever on the routes that wrestle with pedestrians, cars, buses, bikes... elevated like Vancouver BC would have been better for all, especially the businesses and commercial props who lost customers, as the traffic patterns changed. (got worse)

The area they chose for the 'car-free' zone was an interesting choice... a "worst case 'DC' style scenario" (maybe they were expecting some gang activity and wanted to curtail 'drive-by' shootings for a weekend.

[Adrian71]

That's great, but streets were built for cars. I can think of ways to make a point without inconveniencing people so much. Maybe some community should allow cars access to bike paths and sidewalks.