You're not supposed to be driving one anyway. :-)

Look for a city-wide car ban when Sam the Tram become mayor.

I have lived in 10 different states in my life, and the roads in OR are as good as they are anywhere. The calls for more road spending here are ridiculous -- the roads here are just fine the way they are. Esp. because there's no winter weather to trash them.

So let's back off the call for more taxes. I already can't afford the taxes I supposed to pay.

each time we add lanes and highways and roads, traffic increases to fill it. *every time.*

and, obviously, we can only make highways so wide, else the entire landscape would be a highway.

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." -Einstein

I'm all for not building any more roads, but I'm also all for not building giant apartment buildings full of people who are going to try use the roads we have. If we're building towers, we need to add roads. Expecting condo folks to ride slow, inconvenient streetcars everywhere is a foolish fantasy.

I'm also all for not building giant apartment buildings full of people who are going to try use the roads we have.

i agree.

I knew you would!

Having driven in several dozen cities in as many states in the last 7 years (college debater w/ 15 passenger van cert), Oregon has decent roads. They are not great, but they are not in as bad shape as many other states (Idaho, South Carolina, and Florida spring to mind).

The easiest way to save Oregon's roads? Tire restrictions ... I understand you think you need tire studs to make it over the Cascade passes in the winter, but they tear up the roads. And, bike-commuting downtown this year, I heard tire studs in late May on a near daily basis. Either charge these idiots for destroying the roads, or ban the tires outright. Just chain up when you're driving to Timberline for your weekend skiing (if you even need them ... learning to drive in snow is better) and save the roads the rest of the year.

And, its not a safety issue ... Washington (which gets colder weather) only has conditions in which stud tires shine 1% of the time [http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/winter/studtire.htm]. Real winter states, like Michigan (think cold + lake effect), have banned the tires. Its a gimmick, a waste of money, and a drain on the Oregon treasury. It's only the illusion of safety ... meaning, you'll just end up that much further off the road in the woods.

More towers = more roads needed is simply wrong. More sprawl means more roads. More density means more businesses can survive on walk-in and transit-dependent trade, without the need for the parking and the lanes.

The nicest urban places in the world, the ones that people pay huge premiums to live in and visit do not make this mistake. They welcome people, not their cars.

Cars make a place unwelcoming for people.

I'm with Chris - banning studded tires would do more to spare the roads than jacking up taxes to fix the damage. The rare instances where you actually need the extra traction can be handled with tire chains.

BTW - I am spending my kicker on liquor.

Cars make a place unwelcoming for people.

Please. There are so many other places on the internet where you can leave this. Don't forget to wipe.

Chris -
How long ago where you in South Carolina? Up until August, I'd never been there; however, my daughter graduated from basic training at Fort Jackson so I went. I was in awe about the roads. My Lord, they were clean, absolutely NO potholes. We got caught twice in their version of traffic 'rush' - it was about like driving at 2:00 in the afternoon around here. I was based around Columbia, SC but did drive to Augusta (GA), down to Charleston and to Myrtel Beach (WAY too touristy for me). Overall, I'd rank Oregon roads at a five, based on that SC roads get a nine.

I did high school and college in South Carolina (1996-2004); in Irmo and Columbia.

I know they've been doing some work in Columbia over the last couple of years on the main ways in the town, but most of my driving there was on the secondary highways and non-interstate arteries (which i remember being in terrible shape).

Jack, I thought you were talking about the Bailey decision recently handed down by the Oregon Supreme Court. You know, the one that conceivably opens the door (pun intended?) to negligence claims against prior car owners (or prior owners of other products). I sell you an item via the classifieds, it malfunctions and causes an accident 12 months later, and I am liable for not maintaining the thing when I owned it. In other words, now would be the time to buy lifetime insurance policies on everything you own. At least, that wouldn't be a totally insane thing to do.

I sell you an item via the classifieds, it malfunctions and causes an accident 12 months later, and I am liable for not maintaining the thing when I owned it.

Oh. My. God. You have got to be kidding me. That is one of the craziest, most nonsensical things I have ever heard of.