Instead of these cruddy little project to benefit a few, why not ask for money to build the damn CRC to benefit thousands of folks.

I am completely in favor of any transportation project that would make it easier to get to work. These projects won't help the construction people arrive on time until they are done(laid off.) Too bad I don't know if I will find work along business nodes or bike paths/swales. Maybe we should wait for a destination (a job) to appear, before we apply for matching federal seed money. I'd rather hire a plumber at double time than flush my money hoping to unclog the toilet.

Interesting how the Metro bureaucrats and their consultants have been insisting for months in public meetings that the Portland-Lake Oswego transit project is not a "streetcar project", because the Environmetnal Impact Statement hasn't even been published yet, and of course fed law requires that all reasonable alternatives be considered -- so a bus alterntiave will be described in the EIS. But the Mayor's press release confirms the obvious -- it was always going to be a streetcar project, no matter how much better an express bus project would function.

John Charles

...and what about the Sellwood Bridge?

What does the Mayor have against express buses?
If federal law requires that all reasonable alternatives be considered, how will they get around that?

This is a great illustration of Portland's flawed thinking. If you grovel for a streetcar, you get something that takes more to operate and maintain then it brings in revenue. You've just begged for a operating deficit that lasts forever.

If you grovel for some Pentagon or federal facility, you get high-paying jobs which stay basically forever. Think the NAOA facility in Newport.

It's still funny to me Mayor Adams' remark to John Canzano: paraphrasing...you can operate in financial fantasy land but we at cityhall operate in financial reality. I guess financial reality means running up mounds of debt and then asking for federal bailout monies. Then there is the heap of praise thrown on David Bragdon (former Metro prez) for accomplishing what? If Bradon is your example of success, I guess what your telling young people about success is it means being a big spender of other peoples' money they may or may not have, kind of like Bernie Madoff in a way. Only it's legal because the electorate is naive enough not to see the public credit card amount owed.

"Then there is the heap of praise thrown on David Bragdon (former Metro prez) for accomplishing what?"

For being a "Portland Kind of Guy". That's literally the level that most voters here think. He's nice, energetic, seems to like the environment and stuff. That's more than enough for our army of discerning college-educated liberal voters.

For those interested in the proposed trolley to LO, there is a meeting at the Umpqua Bank in South WaterFront, SoWhat right next to the John Ross at 5:00PM today.

It's suppose to be an informational and discussion meeting about "alternative transportation" methods as well as the trolley. The trolley to LO is not a foregone conclusion, especially with some Johns Landing businesses and residents plus Dunthorpe citizens organizing.

I don't know why His Royal Pain is so interested in Streetcars. Especially for somebody so opposed to streets and cars.

Do we know how much soliciting is being done in the Men's Room?

Men's Room?

The Men have had all the room in the world and look what a mess has been made by them and the women within the system who emulate their ways.

Apologies to the good guys and gals on here of course.
But enough is enough.

The good Women must unite against this sickness that is so pervasive in much of our lives.

. . . and who in the hell raised these monsters anyway?

"why His Royal Pain is so interested in Streetcars."

He can "do" something and it keeps his fellow cocktail party-goers impressed.

Besides fixing real and current problems like collapsing sewers, expensive water and collapsing Sellwood Bridge is really boring.

In addition, he can fix a problem that may happen 25 years from now (gridlock from growth) so he can't be judged on his effectiveness today.

Len Bergstein must be frothing at the mouth when he reads "Portland to Lake Oswego Streetcar ... serving 10,000 passengers a day".

BTW what's the daily ridership right now for Tri-Met #35 and #36 to/from Lake Oswego to Portland City Center?

For a couple of years now #36 runs peak hours only and doesn't even go mid-day because LO and Tualatin to/fm Portland farebox revenues can't support operational expenses.

got logic... every major corporation in the area subsidizes Tri-Met with payroll taxes, forget about fare boxes

What does the Mayor have against express buses?

Because only the little people ride buses. The good, choice people, the creative class, the ones that Sam likes - they're too good to ride the bus. They will gladly drive SUVs before they ride a bus. (Just like the Lexus SUV with the "Share the Road" license plate, but no bike rack, I saw headed out of town on I-5 earlier this afternoon.)

Remember when Sam voluntarily gave up driving for a month? He admitted he rode the bus a couple times but preferred getting rides or having someone in a City car drive out to drive him. When the month was up - he went back to DRIVING to work by himself each and every day.

Sam is a perfect example of "do what I say, not as I do". That's why he owns three houses in North Portland but wants everyone to be warehoused in tiny, expensive condos downtown. He wants everyone to ride a bike so his commute (in vehicles that he hardly needs for himself, like a full-size pickup truck) will have fewer cars to contend with.

Erick H.
I have been saying Sam is a hypocrite.
Why don't his supporter's see that?
They must be blind.

That has annoyed me as well, he has a yard, garden and chickens last I heard, yet other people can be warehoused in either fancy condo's or in density ridden ghettos in other parts of the city.

Will the Feds be looking at the crime statistics here on light rail?