I hope that this time they put down a tile that doesn't get quite so slippery when wet. Since I returned full time to Portland in about 1990, I have often been amazed to find that the tile that had been put down in the transit mall along 5th and 6th in downtown was quite slippery when wet-----far more than just regular sidewalk concrete. It seemed like they planned for the San Diego climate, not Portland's.

This always seemed to me symbolic of planning processes that bypass the actual needs of ordinary citizens. Hype v. actual daily life, the idea v. the reality, theory vs. actual facts, etc.

Man, if they're really putting it down at an angle like that, the skatepunks will LOVE it.

I love it when people comment before checking out one of Jack's classic gag links.

Is that Borat?

I notice that they've scheduled all of the open houses for the project during workday hours when most people can't go, despite the fact that (for example) such nonsensical scheduling gets mentioned over and over and over again when people are asked for easily-enacted changes to public process in Portland.

Kari, sometimes the gag bombs so badly you can't blame folks for thinking it's real.

One. Very funny Jack.

Two. Since the original mall was built, I couldn't hazard a guess how many times I've slipped on those wet bricks. God forbid you're wearing new, non-scuffed shoes.

Three. Tri-Met had an open house today at PSU I went to over lunch. Gave 'em some grief over their refusal to reconsider the stupidity of having the #14 go outbound over the Morrison Bridge, not the Hawthorne, adding all kinds of hassle and extra time to the commute.

Four. On the way out I grabbed a free handout, and stuck it in my pocket. Back at the office it was a a measuring tape with a "Portland Mall" logo on it.

Can anybody tell me what the...heck that's got to do with anything?

Four. On the way out I grabbed a free handout, and stuck it in my pocket. Back at the office it was a a measuring tape with a "Portland Mall" logo on it.

Can anybody tell me what the...heck that's got to do with anything?

C'mon, Frank. You know that our hard-earned tax dollars have little more value than as trinkets and trash serving as worthless PR for a decision the public wasn't consulted on that would have been a done deal no matter what we said....(inhale)

BTW, you mean one of those 6" rulers? Or an actual 6' meauring tape? Either way, you're right. No point. Other than some idiot in the staff thought, "Hmm, check out these cool rulers in this catalog! Wouldn't it be neat to get 'Portland Mall' ones and hand them out?" without a thought in the world about whose money is paying for it.

No better symbol for many government workers' level of respect for our hard earned tax dollars wrested from our control at the point of a gun.

Present company excluded.

Well, except Torrid, if he's lurking.

Oh, yeah, and Jack, very funny, as per usual. I have been seeing that image on Yahoo for a week or so.

...you mean one of those 6" rulers? Or an actual 6' meauring tape?

A retracting measuring tape in a round plastic housing. I was making fun of it with a guy at work who is also losing patience with the state of mass transit...I was gonna measure his height, but it only stretched out to five feet. It's got a cool button on the back, though...push it and "whoosh" the tape's sucked back in.

Gives me something to play with, I guess, when the overcrowded #14 is too full for me to board and take home (like tonight).

For a different perspective on urban planning issues from the curdled one presented here, I suggest this as a bookmark:

http://urbanplanningoverlord.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the off-topic post. It's your last.

I'm glad you've found somewhere else to spew your venom toward me. Interesting, though, that you feel you have to hide your identity. Well, here's a clue for everyone -- where you're posting from tonight:

198.236.192.210

OrgName: Oregon Public Education Network
OrgID: ORPN
Address: Marylhurst Campus, Hwy 43
Address: PO Box 216
City: Marylhurst
StateProv: OR
PostalCode: 97036-0216
Country: US

NetRange: 198.236.0.0 - 198.237.255.255
CIDR: 198.236.0.0/15
NetName: OPEN-BLOCK1
NetHandle: NET-198-236-0-0-1
Parent: NET-198-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: DNS1.K12.OR.US
NameServer: OPENDNS2.K12.OR.US
NameServer: NS1.NERO.NET
NameServer: ARIZONA.EDU
Comment:
RegDate: 1993-09-13
Updated: 2005-03-02

Good luck, whoever you are.

Too bad. I was looking forward to Randy Gragg versus Jack Bogdanski...
If only the gauntlet had been thrown down...
And so it would begin...

DRAT!

(Well, a man can dream. Let us hope, for the sake of all of our entertainment, that this "overlord" who refuses to use a real name is worthy of the beret of Gragg).

Earlier this week, this person posted from 159.121.27.66 -- a State of Oregon site -- during the day. At night he or she's in a public school somewhere. Clearly a public employee, somehow involved in academia. Hard to think it's not one of the PSU crowd.

Jack, they have already changed the symbol, they've decided to go with the classic hammer and scycle. It describes city government's policies MUCH better.

And Frank, think of all the women in heels downtown! Men have it relatively easy.

Side comment: Planning Overlord reminds me how New Urbanism has truly become a cult-level phenomenon. (Though its opposite, the Ortem/Cascade Policy stuff is equally narrow). Portlanders need to create a sensible, creative path between the two land use cults.

BACK to TILE SLIPPING: If anyone knows a good public office to call to inquire about using tile that is "anti-slip", let me know. I suppose council offices and aids would be a reasonable place to start. I would bet the problem would be taken seriously. Perhaps they've already anticipated it.

Right on, Jack! Nice use of the picture.

they have already changed the symbol, they've decided to go with the classic hammer and scycle. It describes city government's policies MUCH better.

LOL, thats how I pictured it when I sent Jack the pic...

Good luck, whoever you are.

I went over and read his blog for kicks (not much there really)...but he says he was posting on your site a while back as "Matilda" as well.