"... a sewer swamp of urban nihilism."

I'm wondering if Stenchy has an amphibian buddy here in Jack Blog's Bog?

I should just ignore this person. But the whole Mountain Park thing cracks me up.

Does the UPO want to rule the world with his or her planning?
I would guess the answer is yes. But as with all despots the rules are for the masses and not for the rulers.
UPO should perhaps move to some nice 3rd world country and take over. May I suggest Ecuador? Where mud huts and mud everything else is the norm...a clean slate so to speak for urban overlordism.
Hasta la vista, baby! And bueno suerte.
And make sure to pay the mordida too!

Probably one of these people:

http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/plan/contact.htm

"That's the only explanation for this drivel from Lewis & Clark's preeminent tax law professor and Portland's preeminent urban nihilist."

No Fair! **I'm** Portland's preeminent urban nihilist!

"I am a local planning professional"

Guess the "local planning professional" gig pays pretty well...

"URBAN PLANNING OVERLORD
"SOVIET-STYLE HUMAN WAREHOUSING IS PORTLAND'S ONLY HOPE."
---

Soviet? Dude, they need you badly in P-town planning dept.

Just say Das vidania to EllOh and join the gulag!

All liberal soviet overlords live in EllOh. Even Mark/Torrid Bunster/Joe, the IT clown who constantly comments on his and other blogs while on his public sector IT gig. ( but only on breaks from his non-public-owned device, yep, yep, for sure...)

Too many planners; too few doers!
They all should get pink slips and the money saved could actually fix real stuff like streets and bridges!

So he (or she) thinks that all of your commenters represent an "amen corner of a commentariat", does he? Apparently he's missed some of the exchanges between Jim Karlock and me.

Quite frankly, I don't think there is any local blog that represents quite the diversity of opinion that you offer right here. And that's the way it ought to be.

Yes, our Mayor, and a few of his cronies on city council are "liberal soviet overlords" who want to tell us how and where to live. Plus our former mayor and now our new mayor wanna-be, Greg MacPherson. It never ends.

But our planners don't live here. They commute daily from the People's Republic of Portland. So..... perhaps Overlord lives in Mountain Park and works in PDX planning!?

urban_planning_overlord: "Soviet-style human warehousing is Portland's only hope."
JK: WOW.
I would have thought this a parody on planning, except for your claim that YOU ARE a “planning professional”.

But it does fit perfectly with one planner’s admission that planners are fascists, as former Metro Planning Director, Rich Carson, wrote about planners:

No, they are not all terrorists. But they do make pretty good communists and fascists. Planners want organization and for all things to be predictable. The profession came into being in the 1960s. So they tend to believe in the issues spawned in the day. They are environmental socialists. In other words, they believe in collective environmentalism (Gore) and not individual environmentalism.” from: http://victoriataftkpam.blogspot.com/2011/09/911-richard-carson-pdx-is-ready-for.html

Now lets talk about you claiming you are a “professional:”
There is no such thing as a professional planner, only planners that think they are being professional when they lie to people, tell people where they can and cannot live, how they should travel (Go By Streetcar!), destroy people’s life savings, waste money, pursue the latest crackpot fads (young professionals, creative class, 20 minute neighborhoods, ad nausium), bankrupt cities, and generally act like little Hitters and Stalins, (or is it little Maos–of course most planners worship Stalin and Mao for their perfect planning.) They even selected one East German city as the most livable city in the world before their perfectly planned Mecca fell apart.

urban_planning_overlord: Commenter "Gardner Menefree" then hopes for a "reeducation program" for "urban developers, urban renewers, and urban planners."
JK: Here we agree, planners should not be subjected to such things. They should merely all be fired with the suggestion that they find an honest profession compatible with a free society.

urban_planning_overlord: Perhaps like the Chinese reeducation camps for the "wrong class" elements after 1949, eh Gardner?
JK: Well, on second thought, I would recommend that the average planner learn some facts relevant to the basics of planning:
Mass transit costs more than driving a car. Much more.
Mass transit uses MORE energy than small cars.
Mass transit is much slower than driving.
(These are the real reasons that people began abandoning mass transit almost 100 years ago.)
High density is much more expensive than low density.
High density concentrates pollution where people are.
High density is a cause of traffic congestion.
TODs cause traffic congestion by concentrating population in small areas.
Portland voters overwhelmingly rejected increased density in our neighborhoods in a 2002 vote.
Duplicating European cities WILL NOT make Americans behave like Europeans.
Planners have trouble differentiating between form and function.
Europeans drive almost as much as Americans do - 78% of person-kilometers are in cars.
Europeans are abandoning mass transit too (down 20% in 20 years)
Cars pay their own way - they are NOT heavily subsidized.
Light rail DOES NOT cause development (the subsidies caused the development.)
Driving is easier for most elderly than using transit.
High density DOES NOT increase social interaction.
Light rail kills more people than cars per passenger-mile.
Planners have caused the cost of housing to double.

Planners should study PortlandFacts.com for all this and more.

Thanks
JK

Oh Jack.

This is just too funny.

I find it interesting that the "Overlord" is posting his personal blog through the Mountain Park Homeowner's Association ISP address.

The Mountain Park Home Owner's Association is an Oregon non profit mutual benefit corporation with members, registry number 083102-11, according to the Oregon Sec. of State's office. See, http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=722445&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

I am not able, tonight, to access the IRS web site to see if the Mountain Park Homeowner's a Association is federal tax exempt under Section 501 (c), or any other provision of the IRC.

I do know, though, that private use of the assets of an Oregon non profit for the benefit of an officer, director, or member is a major "No No".

It may be that the HOA provides web access for all its members, which probably would passs muster. But if the Overlord is "special" and gets web access which other members don't, the HOA is playing fast and loose with its responsibilities under the Oregon non profit corporation statutes.

Urban Planning Overlord has a problem in "planning" from false premises.

Overlords first example knocking Bojack is the assumption that Burnside has to have two bike paths making one vehicle lane both ways. What about east/west bike paths being on nearby streets like Couch and Everett? Then having four left turns allowed at strategic traffic signals to prevent the ridiculous process of making right turns only to eventually go left, adding six or more blocks to travel causing more pollution and waste of gas. That's planning.

If Urban Planner Overlord does work for LO, he/she might be feeling a bit testy since the people of LO are demanding a major reduction in force for the planning dept. - known to be the largest per capita in the state. I think LO planners feel jealous that we don't have condo (or apartment) bunkers like Portland. The citizens don't, and we would rather get rid of the planners than our self-determination.

Well, I guess I'll quit reading this blog now.

The planner really showed me the light.

Personally, I think it's a bad move to publicize the idiot's blog; it lends some bit of credibility, which can lead only to further efforts toward self-aggrandizement.

We find it amusing, in a pitiful sort of way, that the people who want so badly to tell Portlanders how to live don't even live here themselves.

I currently live in Hood River, but have spent most of my life in Portland. Does that, in and of itself, make my comment less worthwhile? Why not share the IP addresses of all your other commentors, singling out those not in Portland so we know who we should pay attention to.

If they bait and attack me, I can assure you, I will do what I can to see to it that they do so under their real names.

Upon further review, it appears that "Overlord" brings his snark to Lake Oswego via California. He says his wife is a USC alum, and he may have started out his government career in the planning division of the City of Simi Valley, near Los Angeles.

He's posted here in the past, from the Clackamas Educational Service District and the State of Oregon. It shouldn't be too hard to connect the dots.

Good on ya', Jack. Somebody ought to be calling the Intelligentsia out for destroying an otherwise livable town.

They wouldn't be criticizing if they didn't think you were influencing public opinion.

"Why not share the IP addresses of all your other commentors, singling out those not in Portland so we know who we should pay attention to."
===

Jack has shared IP addresses before, but more for sock-puppetry or for being TJ/Mark Bunster-like "public servants", not just because people comment about Portland without living (or posting from) there.

It's Jack playground, and his rules. Most people here know those rules. You don't have to play by those rules, since you are not required to read or post here.

I actually like it when he exposes the source of certain people's IP, as it provides context to the position they are advocating. And I accept the fact that I may also have my IP exposed, especially since I no longer live in Ptown.

Now there's a mystery: is he snarkin' from LO with a CA proxy? Vice-versa? Those are the kinds of things I just love to chew on. Seriously. Some people like jigsaw puzzles; I just like different stuff. Looks like you need to go past the standard IP log, in any case.

Happy hunting!

PS: checking over there, I see that Al the bus driver left a comment - so at least he's got your back!

Thing is the dude is right about Burnside. Road really does need to be two traffic lanes with good separated bike facilities all the way up to 24th.

Clearly none of the critics ever walked around the improved eastside couplet, either. It's a huge improvement for people in the neighborhood and people walking around. Don't get me wrong I find a lot lacking with it, but the fact that people have to adapt to the transition at 14th isn't one of them. God forbid people have to be aware as they drive around a dense downtown city area.

It's all a waste of money to make the rich people richer. The east side couplet was for Joe Weston, and the west side one is supposed to be for Mike Powell.

Just a random thought here, but if Weston and Powell want couplets to help their businesses, doesn't that mean they want the streets to be more user-friendly? It would seem counter-productive for them to want to muck things up for customers.

User friendly to who?

Yeah, their property values go up, and the taxpayers pay for it. Great system.

User-friendly to customers of their businesses. It's in their self interest. Confession: I haven't tried out the new couplet and I'm not supporting it, only wanted to say that someone must find it useful or their businesses would go belly-up.

Guess it's too late for me - I just remembered why they put the couplet in in the first place. I had the sequence backward there for a moment - my apologies. Yeah, bad old Joe and his skinny towers!

Andrew s:Thing is the dude is right about Burnside. Road really does need to be two traffic lanes with good separated bike facilities all the way up to 24th.
JK: Then let the bikies pay for 1/2 the cost with bike user fees, like cars pay for their own facilities with user fees.

Thanks
JK

Ever notice how the people who push the rhetoric of "let the people decide" when it comes down to corporate (and coprolithic) welfare are always the ones who get butthurt when someone dares disagree with them and points out major issues with the proposal? This was what the crew at Regretsy.com calls a "flounce": oh, the writer asks "Why do I bother reading this?", but s/he's really begging "So who wants to join me in not reading this?"

The more the plans fail, the more the planners plan...

I haven't studied the couplet design or how it would improve or wreck local businesses, but I would think that accessibility and traffic flow are twin goals of any street plan. I would not like to see neighborhood streets chained just to raise property values for one property or have development that was bad for the city. I would hope that street improvements can be divorced from politics, but at the end of the day, healthy businesses are what keep us all alive, so some accommodations should be made where reasonable.

Wow! I counted 17 people on the Lake Oswego Planning Staff. That has to be at least $1.5-2.0 Million dollars in salaries and benefits alone that could be used for something of value like schools and roads.

I read the other day that Hillsboro plans to switch out its one-way street grid and turn them into two-way streets. Don't those guys have any "planners"?

Wow! I counted 17 people on the Lake Oswego Planning Staff.

How many on pdx planning staff?

Too many !

I find it not surprising that an urban planner chooses to live in Mountain Park - land of cheaply built apartments and condos. Some builder made a fortune slapping up that house of cards.

Max:I read the other day that Hillsboro plans to switch out its one-way street grid and turn them into two-way streets. Don't those guys have any "planners"?
JK: The problem is that they have planners. Planners that ignore reality for fantasy. Planners that actually hurt people. Planners that get people killed with their incompetence.

For instance two way streets are more dangerous than one way streets. But that does not matter to planners because two way streets are slower for cars. That is their goal: to hurt people in cars. In this case they are too stupid to realize that the real speed is NOT slower, just less time wasted at red lights and waiting behind someone turning.

Two way streets have higher pedestrian accident rates. In city after city, when they converted to one way, pedestrian injuries went down. Now as some are switching back, more pedestrians are getting hurt. Planners simply don’t care about hurting people.

For proof of this see:
http://www.portlandfacts.com/onewaystreets.htm

"The only good planner is an unemployed planner"
Thanks
JK

IP addresses are notoriously unreliable as ways to track down who is responsible for a blog or web site. Here's what the Urban Planning Overlord says about this current effort to track him/her down via an IP address:

"Bog is correct that the post was made from the Mountain Park Homeowners Association. But the association has a public computer in its Recreation Center. It is open not only to members (all 10,000 of them) who live in Mountain Park, but also is open to guests of those members, and guests of the facility. And Sunday afternoon, when I posted, there was a wedding being held at the Recreation Center, so there were LOTS of guests, and perhaps not all of them live in Mountain Park, or even Lake Oswego. Hmmm... perhaps I live in Portland after all? Or maybe even (gasp, Ben!) Milwaukie!"

Personally, I think this guy makes a lot of sense. Wouldn't it be better to respond thoughtfully to what he's saying, rather than play "kill the messenger" sorts of games?

In this case, there is nothing unreliable at all. The fellow posted from Mountain Park yesterday, a Sunday. He must live there. He was not taking time out to troll this blog from a wedding reception at the Mountain Park Rec Center.

But if you want to buy that line, Brian, you go right ahead.

Eventually I will determine who he is and publish his identity. He has attacked me personally, relentlessly, and he himself admits that it was bait to boost traffic to his website. His antics do not warrant a "thoughtful" response.

I will defend myself by piercing his troll anonymity. It worked with Robert Canfield of Troutdale, who seems to have lost interest in personal attacks once his identity was revealed, and it will work with this fellow. I'm sure he's already deleting posts that he doesn't want his employer to read. If he's smart, he is.

If the guy is posting during a wedding reception, then he is the worst kind of frickin' loser. Are you kidding me with that? Get an effing life.

Actually, if the wedding was anything like the last wedding I attended, I could certainly understand a little urge to express myself via fingertips on keyboard, in a minor act of escapism from the madding crowd. That said, I think it's sad that people feel afraid to express their opinions under their own name.

I kept a thinly veiled fake name for a while, so that I would be less inhibited about a number of things, including the liberal use of profanity.
I find it much more satisfying to identify myself, ditch the profanity, or most of it, and push the word caravan right to the edge of generally acceptable.

Just because a guy is a curmudgeon does not mean that he's a nihilist. I think that part was a bit of hyperbole from UPO.