We prefer Clackabama, thank you very much.

"CLAAAAAACK — Lahoma, where the wind comes right before the train . . . ."

Sadly, sitting at the right hand of retread, she will be a position to do far more financial damage than she could have accomplished if limited to Clackahoma.

I live in Clackamas Ctny, so please show some respect, if you have a better school district than West Linn or Lake O or more high-tech jobs than Hillsboro or Bvtn, let me know.

One note to John - Having your constituents with good jobs sure makes communities a lot more sustainable - More nonsense.

If she's advising transportation it only should be another 80 years before the CRC gets the go-ahead.

Urban renewal with clever bank statements
Snuggy tight infill and sweet tax abatements
Peasants on bicycles, just like Beijing's
These are a few of her favorite things

Shiny bright streetcars with fareless strap hangers
Trains that go nowhere all full of gang bangers
Unfunded debt with the pork that it brings
These are a few of her favorite things

When the jobs leave
When the well's dry
When the polls are mad
She simply casts votes for her favorite things
And then she don't feel so bad

Jack,

Amazing, Irwin Kostal would be proud.

A song from the "The Sound of Planners", no doubt.

OK, so I’m dense. In many ways, I love this blog, but could someone please explain what exactly is wrong with bicycles, buses, streetcars and trains, as opposed to cars? Are you really suggesting that we should just abandon public transportation and build more freeways? Bicyclists are peasants from Beijing? Not even sure where to begin with that one.

We’re all for the wise spending of public resources and maybe “the train to nowhere” isn’t what we should be spending money on (and I live just south of Milwaukie, and have commuted via Tri-Met for 15 years), but I don’t see the point of ridiculing those who support bicycling, or public transit.

To Dream the Sustainable Dream
To Fight to Deny That We're Broke
To Bear the Unbearable Debt Load
To Fund Where the Trains Shouldn't Go

To Move to Another Sweet Gig
To Keep the Maintainable Spin
To Try Though the Budget Is Breaking
To Force All These Things Down Our Throats

This is the Quest, to Follow that Star
No Matter how Hopeless
No Matter how Far
No Matter how Stupid the Names are to Say
To be willing to Spend 'til We March into Hell on a Solar Highway.

...I don’t see the point of ridiculing those who support bicycling, or public transit.

I would venture a guess that the ridicule is a substitue for another, baser, impulse.

It's directed not so much at "suporters" of bicycling or public transit (and public transit, itself, is usually not in the "crosshairs" here) as the self-styled masters of the universe who would foist it on others without regard for its efficacy, efficiency or costs.

Buses are great. Light rail on dedicated rights of way may make sense, depending on where it's going. Bicycles are impractical for most folks, and too dangerous for many others. Streetcars are total bullpuckey, good for nothing.

But Mr Bog, streetcars in Portland have been very good for Charlie Hales: he earned so much vending them elsewhere on Stumptown's example that a mayor's pay was far too meager for him.

They used to sell condos, too.

Isaak, I'll keep it real simple and not elaborate like I sometimes do in reply to your inquiry about "what is wrong with bicycles, buses, streetcars...". Most aren't opposed to these modes, they are opposed to the proportionality of spending for each of all trip modes.

For an explicit example, take Peterson's position on the Sellwood Bridge. Why, for the new bridge only 24 ft is dedicated to vehicles (even part of this is dedicated for a future trolley) but 38 ft to bikes and pedestrians, especially in these economic times?

And to add to the proportionality argument consider that according to US Department of Transportation over $187 dollars per 1000 trip miles are spent for transit, $118 for trains, and zero for vehicles. Vehicle gas taxes are paying fully for vehicles, contrary to the several local transit advocate bloggers who have it wrong. And even gas taxes are partially paying for the first two modes. Then factor in that over 95% of all local trips are by vehicle.

That is what upsets many of us and not any hatred for bikes, peds, transit. And added to this concern is, if all these other modes are thought by pols/government and others as the right thing to do to the degree being foisted, then why not have a reality check once in a while and have a vote? Prove you are right.

Excuse me, the dollars amounts above are the subsidized dollar amounts, not the total cost of each 1000 trip miles.

The Portland (milwaukee) light rail boondoggle takes $250 million in lottery monies while the governor cuts state funding for education. Then there's the federal subsidy of this boondoggle at some $750 million. Adams and Cogen steal $40 million from the Sellwood Bridge project to also help fund this boondoggle. The capital cost alone per ride (of less than seven miles) is over $10 if everything goes according to plan. Compare this to only $5 or less for all in cost of a comparable bus ride of equal or greater length.

If you don't think this project is a boondoggle just consider the new bridge it requires across the Willamette. It won't allow cars. But even more telling is this bridge will have an embedded toy whereby passing bicyclists will create a musical chime.

Yet Governor retread selects bonehead or corrupted Peterson (probably both); who swears up and down for the merits of this boondoggle at a time when everyday people struggle just to make a living; to lead transportation. How can the media with a straight face say Kitzhaber II is any different from Kitzhaber I or Kulongoski for that matter. It's same o same o, waiting for our Greek moment when the naive electorate finally gets a hard economic gut check after decades of overspending on public consumption.

Issak,...but could someone please explain what exactly is wrong with bicycles, buses, streetcars and trains, as opposed to cars?...

Density in the extreme bringing ghetto style housing (in some neighborhoods) causes enormous negative impacts and responsibilities into those once stable neighborhoods. 10year tax abatements that bring this housing along with the light rail into those neighborhoods are one reason rails are not embraced.

Costs are enormous for the community, schools and public services not adequate. This brings traffic congestion and the slow moving rails and problems on those rails are not an incentive to get out of cars. Instead of facilitating auto traffic to move along, the agenda here has been to slow it down, with more bike lanes, curb extensions, etc. and to neglect our streets at the expense of projects going to the bike crowd. The result of this congestion is really more pollution for all of us. As far as convenience, if one can do an errand in 30 minutes, unless one loves to stand and wait in the rain without bus shelters and then transfer, etc. that same errand can take hours the way our transit works here.

Difficult to think kindly about money from water/sewer going towards bike perks, when paying those increased rates is a hardship for many.

I am disappointed. She did really well as an elected. She actually made a lot of sense and spoke well at meetings finding the middle ground. Oh well. Well Schrader would be fine. This is what happens in a new elected year, lots of shake-ups and moving around...

Me thinks that lucky little kid with the spiffy bow tie enjoyed his writing "Favorite Things" today.
Quite the day for lyrics, "Impossible Dream" good too.

oops, Isaak.
Anyway, others wrote too, perhaps a trip around the city to see what light rail has brought into some neighborhoods might help.

Public transportation -- ALL public transportation -- is a vector for crime.

There's nothing like the arrogance of Utopians (planners & politicians) telling us how to live and creating their version of the perfect world for everyone to live in. Self determination is the enemy, and choice is limited to what "they" determine is OK. It's not enough to live and let live anymore (the way Oregon used to be), but we all have to fall in line with the group-think du jour. We are not adults who possess free will but children that need to be led. We are birds in a gilded cage.

"a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. ......those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. — C.S. Lewis

Isaak,

You must not read much if you can't grasp the litany of beefs against the insane rail transit, bike facilities and subsidized development schemes.

If all you have gotten is picking on bike and transit riders you're completely out of touch.
But the $1.8 billion milwaukie Light rail is madness.

So is dedicating 37 feet to pedestrian and bike traffic over the new Sellwood bridge. That's more than the entire current bridge surface.

Daisy Chain,

Peterson was horrible as an elected and an even worse manager.
Her conniving and vindictive ways, along with her Sam Adams agenda, were becoming intolerable to many of her own county employees as well as the residents of the county. She was looking at losing any re-election attempt or even recall if she pulled another stunt or two.

So what is it you are "disappointed" about?
I'll just guess that you may be Judie Hammerstad. That would make you her equal.

Martha Schrader is not wanted by the bulk of county employees and super majority of CC residents.

The shake-ups and moving around is due to misjudging CC as having been anexed by Portland.

A sizable county coalition will want someone like Paul Savas to fill the vacancy and either him as the new chair or a temporary chair that will not re-run as chair. Perhaps the county should repeal the chair as an elected postion.
That's a problem.

"what exactly is wrong with bicycles, buses, streetcars and trains"

The fact that schools need to have a bake sale to fix buildings, we pay 50% more for water in two years, Sellwood bridge is collapsing due to lack of funding and we have to navigate a mine field of potholes.

Meanwhile, TriMet with one vote can spend $750M on a new bridge and train line, CoP can find $30M to spend on one street (SW Moody) for the train and we have $630M for bike paths - Plus no bike,bus or train project has ever stopped for lack of money.

Nothing wrong with alternate modes of transport - You just don't spend $125,000 on a hybrid mini-van if you'r kids can't afford school or clothes.

Nolo:...We are birds in a gilded cage.

How do the children feel in this cage?