Funny, no one interviewed that builds roads.

If they actually did basic things like built and repaved roads, picked up trash regularly, and maintained parks, they wouldn't need to spend our money on videos telling us how great they are.

In the entire video, the only cars are way in the distance, heading over the Hawthorne Bridge, for about two seconds. In the cartoon fantasy world, there are no cars at all.

Feels like I just went to the Church of Planning.

If the last plan was so great, why are things so bad now?

assimilate, Resistance is futile...

Is it not interesting that the City has disabled the comment section for this YouTube video?

The cartoon vision of the ideal future contains not a single automobile.

I want a mayor that has his/her "legacy" one in which at the end of office they can confidently say they RAN the entire city.

These plaque chasing politicos make me want to vomit.

Full text out today:

March 20, 2012

The Portland Plan - Recommended Draft heads to City Council
Review of our roadmap to a prosperous, educated, healthy and equitable Portland scheduled for April 18 at 6 p.m.

Created by 20 public agency partners over 2+ years with more than 50 public meetings and 20,000 comments from residents, businesses, neighborhoods and nonprofits, the Portland Plan – Recommended Draft will be presented to City Council on April 18 at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers.

This promises to be a watershed moment as it’s been more than 30 years since the City of Portland adopted a plan like this. The new Portland Plan builds on the successes of that plan and blazes a new path for the next 25 years.

The Portland Plan video captures the essence of the plan nicely — why we need it, how we defined our priorities, and what we need to do to reach our goals. It also shows how the plan’s actions and the City and partners’ strategic investments can have a transformative effect on our lives — from our schools and neighborhoods, to jobs and the environment.

Unlike past plans, the new Portland Plan focuses not just on places but also on people. This broader and more inclusive approach, as well as its core principle of equity, is what will distinguish the Portland Plan from others of its kind.

With adoption of the Portland Plan within our sights, it’s a good time to acknowledge the many Portlanders who have been involved in the creation of this once-in-a-generation plan that provides a roadmap for Portland’s future. Thank you for your contribution to the creation of this remarkable plan for our community.

We can all help to achieve the goals of a prosperous, educated, healthy and equitable city. For actions you can take to help implement the plan, please go to the new My Portland Plan page and choose an activity that can improve your life or that of your family, neighborhood, school or community.

Then join us as we honor all the work we’ve done to make this plan a reality.

Recommended Draft – Portland Plan City Council Hearing
April 18, 2012, 6 p.m.
Council Chambers, City Hall
Partners and community members will be on hand to offer their testimony, and the public is invited to attend or watch the meeting online or on Channel 30.

The Portland Plan team will make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. Please notify us no fewer than five (5) business days prior to the event by phone 503-823-7700, by the TTY line at 503-823-6868 or by the Oregon Relay Service at 1-800-735-2900.
About the Portland Plan

The Portland Plan is the city's new roadmap to 2035, featuring integrated strategies to ensure that Portland is prosperous, educated, healthy and equitable. The plan includes long term policies, short term actions and measurable goals. The final draft plan is now available at www.pdxplan.com.

About the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS)

To create and enhance a vibrant city, BPS combines the disciplines of planning and sustainability to advance Portland's diverse and distinct neighborhoods, promote a prosperous and low-carbon economy, and help ensure that people and the natural environment are healthy and integrated into the cityscape. BPS provides a forum for community engagement and education, and is a catalyst for action. With a city full of partners, BPS develops creative and practical solutions on issues as far ranging as comprehensive, neighborhood and environmental planning, urban design, waste reduction and recycling, energy efficiency and solar technologies. This innovative, interdisciplinary approach strengthens Portland's position as an international model of sustainable development practices and commerce. For more information, go to www.portlandonline.com/bps.

1900 SW 4th Ave , 7th Floor | Portland, OR 97201 US

Which one of those cartoon characters will seduce Mayor Adams on his 18th birthday?

Don't forget all of that accumulated PERS racking up the years on that cartoon production team. Beep! Beep!

I am so tired of talking crap about the people who "run" this place every single day.

"If the last plan was so great, why are things so bad now?"

dg, my first thought too.

According to the video, one of the goals is to have a grocery store within 1/2 mile of every home in Portland.

Is it even possible for that many grocery stores to exist and be profitable? We recently had a grocery store in our neighborhood go out of business. There were three large grocery chains within a couple miles of one another and there evidently wasn't enough business to support all three.

Yup, no cars in sight. Lots of roads, but no cars. No pot holes either! Total fantasy for Portland.

Who is the audience here anyhow? And seriously, if adults are supposed to be moved by this message, then who's the genius that decided on cartoon characters. Besides to avoid the expenses of hiring human talent - as in providing a job for someone(s). Music track sucks, too. Basic library loop ad-infinitum.

So, Sarah's dad is the bus driver?

When do we see the real Portland Plan video that Homer and his pals are following?

That is a cult video. Every single participant should be removed from any public position.
Why would Portland planners they need a new plan when for decades they've been telling everyone across the country they have been the model for planning.
Stunningly they are even doing that now as they promote more of the same lousy plans all over the place.
So they really don't need a new plan they just want more money to keep doing exactly the same things.
Milwaukie Light Rail, The Education Urban Renewal District, Sustainability Center Building, the CRC, Barbur\99 light rail\corridor, Powell Blvd light rail, on and on.

Maybe they should try some of this.

http://cascadepolicy.org/insider/2011/09/14/the-1-5b-mlr-alternative/

Re: "Can you imagine what this thing is costing us?"

Shouldn't the dollar cost of this production be public knowledge?
As well as the dollar cost of the implementation of the previous plan? And the anticipated cost of the implementation of the proposed plan?

A bottom line is far more useful than an imagined or unimaginable cost?

Brave new world!!

And not to mention the oddity or the irony, but did anyone notice the narrator is clearly a black female? Now there's three percent of the population for you. It's just too precious.

The whole politico-socio-econo- iron-clad engineering construct. There's nothing they don't think they can -- and have some holy god-given right to -- do.

Is there?

The intended audience is obviously those who don't live here (yet). Marketing, P/R, marketing. Local government is all about advertising now... think old-school Madison Avenue stuff.

Portland has turned into a Mad Men version of Rajneeshpuram on a grand scale.

Rediculous! And scary!
We need more than mindless cartoons to improve education and decrease drop out rates!
That whole thing is just too Orwellian.
Who is responsible for this junk? Sustainable Susan? They all should be fired! The money could be used to hire real teachers.

"These are problems we couldn't foresee 30 years ago."

Disease? No jobs? Low graduation rates?

It took them two years to figure this out, so they think these are unforeseeable, new problems? I just...I don't....I don't understand. Is there something like a city-wide Dunning-Kruger effect?

City of Portland snow globe started the fire? Ironic.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/Snow-globe-responsible-for-unusual-fire-143567556.html

Did Susan ever consider that maybe the previous 30 Year Plan created the litany of No Jobs, Low Graduation Rates, Inequities.....????

HA! That's funny Mr. G!! We're already getting burned by the water bureau and trash collection (among other things), why not the official CoP snow globe! Probably too out there for Portlandia.

"According to the video, one of the goals is to have a grocery store within 1/2 mile of every home in Portland."

If you don't live within 1/2 mile of a grocery store, you will be forcibly relocated to a camp within 1/2 mile of a grocery store.

Only 27 seconds into it and I'm already nauseous. Vibrant city? Best transportation systems in the country? Since when and by whose reckoning?

And I'm really getting the idea it may be time to go.

An animated steaming pant load of utopian BS. Perfectly Portland.

If only Fred and Carrie had acted in it....then I'd know for sure that this was satiric excrement. What a sorry place: Portlandia.

So I got two things from this.....

They just don't realize there would be more 'living wage' jobs if they would quit raising taxes and fees to produce crap like this.

Am I alone in thinking the cartoon part would have been better if it had starred the South Park gang?

As Admiral Randy says, when you move to Vancouver, you have to live in Vancouver. So far, Portland has not made me regret my decision to move last year.

Awful. Just awful.

Also, where's the rain in the idyllic picture? We do have that 10 months a year.

Are they all on antidepressants?

It's a video display of everything wrong with Portland and the region as well.
There are many electeds and bureaucrats throughout the region who wish they too could be in such a video for the region.

And when they run for election they don't tell the voters anything about their enamor for all things Portland or their intention to adopt all the same policies.

Does anyone know when, or why, the traditional liberals in Portland turned into a cult of morons?

Obviously Sam is the current leader, but it must have started before him. I know this all started with Goldy figuring out a way to steal money from the feds for light rail, but I don't think Goldy was actually a cult member. He was an old fashioned liberal who just took advantage of any opportunity that presented itself. Bud Clark wasn't a cult member, did Vera start the Cult?

"And not to mention the oddity or the irony, but did anyone notice the narrator is clearly a black female? Now there's three percent of the population for you. It's just too precious."

Just part of the belief that governance should be a function of desired fantasy, not reality. Of course, the whitest big city in the country would use a black female to voice their video...

It's all New World Order, and it's all right here:

http://www.freedomadvocates.org/images/pdf/SD%20A21%20pamphlet-2010.pdf

It's a good place to start, and there is a lot more. It's not a partisan issue, it is a freedom issue.

Okay, let the bashing begin. I can take it.

"Of course, the whitest big city in the country would use a black female to voice their video..."

Black population, City of Portland, 2000: 6.6%.
Black population, City of Portland, 2010: 6.3%.

As Sam's policies drive blacks out of the City of Portland, they can be comforted that they will have a leading role in all of the City's propaganda videos.

Are they all on antidepressants?

No. It's just more of the same deceptive advertising we've been being slathered with for the past several years. For instance, the collage of narrow video clips is clever. Cyclists zoom around with vehicle traffic either off camera or coveniently cropped off the side. And the part that said the city asked the people what they wanted really got me. This blog alone repeatedly publishes evidence of how rigged opinion gathering is. I wonder how much longer they think they can keep pulling off their own version of The Big Lie and expect people to believe it?

Besides the futility of this utopian nonsense, someone needs to immediately prescribe antibiotics for Susan Anderson's inner ear infection.

All that greenspace...where is that? All I see is more and more crappy multi-family housing. That, of course, is degrading the neighborhoods because they aren't creating any more park space while attempting to accommodate the (insert stupendous figure) of immigrants flocking to Portland. More people using the same old limited park space (and sewers, and water supply, etc.) just provides us a much crappier community.

I want a moratorium on multi-family home building in the city until such time as they can figure out how the developers are going to provide an upgrade in NEARBY park space. The city already collects fees for this, but nobody seems to know where those fees go...I can tell you, it ain't in my neighborhood, which is still as "park deficient" as it was twenty years ago.

Here's a chance to reach a wider audience, perhaps. Not smarter, just wider.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/portlandcityhall/2012/03/mayor_sam_adams_drums_up_enthu.html

What a bunch of b*** sh**. I can't think of anything much more educated to say than that. All these people justifying their existence in local government. And as I drive in on US 26 there are whole sections that are torn up, used up, not restriped and dangerous.

Oh my God! At 1:09 there was...

A BUS!

Not a streetcar (which was prominently featured earlier), or a MAX train (also prominently featured earlier) or a bike.

But people actually ride buses!

Oh, wait, at 1:13 she got on her bike. And it was a nice, sunny day too. Guess we need to crank up the carbon machine to induce more global warming.

Definition of a "low-carbon economy": Where carbon is no longer made a part of the economy.

Wait a second...then there IS a TriMet bus! Good!

Oh no, she's going to school...on a TriMet bus? Because Portland Public Schools all but eliminated school transportation. Hope there's a good bus stop to wait at, because the majority of bus stops don't even have sidewalks and shelters. What's the Portland Plan to say about that?

Later on, we magically whisk ourselves to Forest Park...guess magic carpets? Or trams? Sigh...and then more bikeways. Oh, look at the senior center. Are they going to have to ride bikes too? Are we going to eliminate public transportation for the disabled and elderly to make way for bikes?

In 1982 I purchased a small house with a large lot on SW Vermont St. It was a fairly quiet place, with a Fanno Creek tributary meandering along the very back of the property.

Then they started with the infill and the townhomes, with no concommitant road improvements, of course. As more cars whizzed by, it became not only noisier but increasingly difficult to get into or out of the driveway. We had been making improvements to the home, but it became clear that our quality of life had been irredeemably damaged, and would likely get worse.

This was one of two reasons that ultimately led to our decision to sell the place and move on.

"Oh, look at the senior center. Are they going to have to ride bikes too?"

In the New Portland, if you aren't physically capable of riding a bike, you don't deserve to live.

The video looks like it was done by kids raised on Ken and Barbie dolls and plastic dollhouses. A model done by kids playing. Maybe the problem here is that these planners watched too many cartoons when they were youngsters.

Heaven help us before the entire city is torn up and turned into a kid’s version of a cartoon.

Everyone associated with this film should have cartoon names like Goofy, Roadracer, Mr. McGoo, etc. I could not believe my ears when I heard Donna Jordan at the LO City Council last night ask the owner of Allied Waste about picking up food scraps. Portland -- keep these things to yourselves, or KILL THEM before the virus spreads!!!

Jack asks if we can imagine what this thing is costing us.

I'm sure that those who put it together would answer that cost is unimportant. To them, economics is just some plot by right wingers like Jack (LOL) to spoil their fun.

And, the Portland Plan is to be integrated into every bureau budget at COP. Tonight - Wednesday, March 21, from 6:30 to 8:30, at Cleveland High School - I think in the cafeteria - there is a Portland Budget Forum. As a now former city employee, I plan to attend, and speak out if an opportunity presents.

Someone else mentioned it, but look at 1:16 - "Every morning, Sarah's dad drops her off at school on his way to work."

He "drops her off at school" from the bus! They're both riding the stupid bus! Since when is that called "dropping your kid off at school?"

Idiots.

What a beautiful plan, what a beautiful city. After I die, I hope to go there.

I feel sick to my stomach..
Sure glad they gave me that cute green bucket, I think I'll need it after reading that statement from the city.

PDXLifer, thanks for that link. The link you posted actually makes some sense of this behavior. I was having trouble figuring out how Portland became infected with this cult of idiots but now I see that they are part of a much larger movement.

That explains why I see some of the same stupid cult like behavior from politicians in other regions. It seems to mostly be concentrated in traditional liberal places such as SF, NYC, parts of the North East, etc.

They will cut off free transportation into their city, the cars that are being pushed by the auto makers will create grid lock... the vulnerable will get parking tickets that will cost more than they make in a day. Warrants will be issued when the ticket becomes more than they make in a month. Their privileged to drive becomes suspended and they are now a criminal... They go to jail, the ones that Wells Fargo are funding. They come out and get hammered again... and the abuse cycle continues for those That Are NOT City, State, Government and Corporate employees that go to work on the tri-met or ride the bike or walk... Kinda comes down to the King sacrificing the daughter story. It is always at the expense of the most vulnerable... But what pretty picture video... I wonder if it is the same art work that is on the Loo's... and I resent the use of Photos from Occupy... WTF

"and I resent the use of Photos from Occupy"

That's just the losers that created this crap promoting their own kind...no shock there!

They certainly aren't going to glorify all the actual hard-working people of the city....what few there are left of them!

Sounds like a plan. Forced relocation of populace into designated areas. Probably decided by "Diversity" monitors to insure the correct ethnic balance. Every residence required to maintain a small vegetable garden, with required quotas to stock the local markets.

State provided markets stocking all the products approved by the Health Nazis.

Local jobs (Unionized of course)subsidized by the State to provide for the needs of the workers. Jobs in local markets, small clothing stores, and coffee shops preferred. No National or Multinational subsidiaries allowed.

Abundant Public Transportation with Max trains on every other street. Transportation vouchers to be provided by the subsidized industries.

I didn't notice, is this plan designed to be accomplished in five years?

http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?c=51589&a=390712

Portland Plan heads to City Council for Adoption

Reminds me of the pig in the GEICO commercial. WEEEE!

Not that anyone cares, but a "yes" vote for the plan is a "no" vote for you in your position from me.

Local jobs (Unionized of course)subsidized by the State to provide for the needs of the workers. Jobs in local markets, small clothing stores, and coffee shops preferred. No National or Multinational subsidiaries allowed.

Abundant Public Transportation with Max trains on every other street.

Ahhh, the irony. Portland seems bent on propping up a big multinational company called Siemens to support its light rail addiction.

We could build buses locally...Freightliner (which has a manufacturing plant in Portland) owns Orion Bus...but apparently it's better to buy a Germany product made in a factory in Sacramento - and then load it up on a truck (yes! They are not delivered by train) to get to Portland.

There is Oregon Iron Works...that company that's been in business for a few years and has built exactly one non-revenue Streetcar in the last three or so years, despite being given a design by a former Soviet Bloc country to copy.

PDXLifer,
Thank you again for the link above.

On page 7:
This is the
premise of Sustainable Development: That individual human wants,
needs and desires are to be conformed to the views and dictates of
planners.

On page 14:
Stakeholder council meetings are typically arranged under the
auspices of soliciting input from community members on a project.
This project may be initiated by local public officials, a local nonprofit
organization, a national or regional non-profit organization, or
an NGO. 13 It is very rare for community members to instigate the
stakeholder “visioning” process.
A typical stakeholder council meeting is run by a trained
facilitator. 14 It is not the facilitator’s job to make sure that all views
are entered into the record. His job, instead, is to guide the group
to arrive at a consensus on the project. The consensus process has
no mechanism for recording minority views.

Familiar?

Note that sentence that it is very rare for community members to instigate the stakeholder "visioning" process.

That is why we are so inundated with meetings after meetings in our area, of course under the umbrella of their control. I think it is time we stop going to their meetings and begin our own "visioning" process.

Clinamen, that excerpt you provided from Page 14 sounds exactly like what's going on with Portland Public Schools' "Long-Range Facilities Plan Advisory Committee." It's supposedly laying the groundwork for the next school bond.

I've been to about a half dozen meetings. Of the 40 or so members, so far the smartest appear to be the two high school students. One of them even objected to all the "fluffy" words being tossed around.

The two students have a better handle on reality than the adults.

For what it's worth, I am most certainly not a conspiracy freak. I only look at what evidence appears to make sense to me then connect the dots. My favorite fictional dramatic series is "Breaking Bad." In that series, the kingpin of the cartel north of the border claims his success due to the fact that he "hides in plain sight."

That's why this whole United Nations "Agenda 21" stuff makes sense. It is not secret, it just acts insidiously, eroding the lifestyle we think we know, and covertly undermining the freedoms we think we still have.

I expected bashing for providing the link, but I appreciate that some find it worth investigating.

Here's something else. Think about those new "smart" electric meters installed on our homes. They monitor our use of power and transmit the info on a radio frequency. Should that be a concern to us? I don't know, did you give them permission to monitor that data? Would you be surprised to know that they claim "implied consent" because you did not say "no?"

http://www.freedomadvocates.org/video/watch/138_jerry_day_explains_why_smart_meters_are_bad/

I don't think this is paranoia. I simply think it is yet another example of how our rights are being subtly eroded. I do believe that the property rights we thought we had are threatened and that monetary gain and tangible wealth based on personal effort and success are being undermined for the sake of the "common good." I think that's pretty scary, because philanthropy begins with those who can afford to give.

Again, it is not a partisan issue, it is a freedom issue.

I Apologize for wrong page number.
That excerpt was on p. 12. and should have read:

On page 12:
Stakeholder council meetings are typically arranged under the
auspices of soliciting input from community members on a project......

More Stakeholder information on pages 11 and 12.

There is much more to read, from the link that PDXLifer provided earlier:
http://www.freedomadvocates.org/images/pdf/SD%20A21%20pamphlet-2010.pdf

PDXLifer,
If there is concern regarding these smart meters,
I have not done research on them.
Do you know, can one say No when they come to install them,
or if they have been installed, can one request they be removed?

Oh dear Lord... as Chuckles used to say so well (before he lost it for good), there is a bad craziness going on.

I especially liked the wickle food carts sitting right next to the uptown al fresco sit-down restaurant. I guess we really *can* all just get along. No patrons to be seen, but whatever.

I can hear that fully-actualized narrator saying (as the music swells): "The New Five Year Plan was a great success. All Hail the New New Five Year Plan. The Plan is Great. Sustain. Sustain."

This is beyond politics and fashion, it's now clearly a matter of faith, a creed by another name. Empty streets? To them, the Perfect Society has a population approaching zero. To a city, this is death.

The only place where this perpetual money-filled, blemish-free, leafy uptown exists is in every Lifetime Network movie. With about the same connection to reality as this viddy...

Just ugh.

Honestly, I never even questioned those meters until I watched the video on the link I supplied above. They made sense to me since everything else is wireless these days. But if you watch that video, it does bring into consideration the idea of "wire tapping," and I think it is at least worth considering the legal implications.

On a side note, my CPAP machine transmits all the dat associated with my use to some central agency that monitors how many nights and hours I use it for insurance purposes. If I don't use it for a specific percentage of the time, my insurance will not pay for it. On the one hand, yeah, that makes sense. On the other, do I monitor all the activity with all the money I've invested in the insurance plan?

I don't know. What is too much?

These comments are classic. Keep em' coming! Yeah, the morons that run City Hall, Metro, etc. remind me of drug addicts......."If I could only have one more bike lane, one more streetcar, one more MAX line, one more sustainable ______, and then everything would be OK".

This is a pipe dream because only a relatively small percentage of people can easily access Forest Park.

I know because I lived next to Forest Park.

The rest have to devote considerable resources both in time and money just to reach the park. For instance, those living in vast east portland.

When Depart after 10:00am Thursday, March 22, 2012
Preferences Quickest trip with a maximum walk of 1 mile Edit
Time 98 minutes (including 39 minutes walking and 9 minutes waiting) Look for a shorter waiting time.
Transfers 1
Fare Adult All-Zone: $2.40, Youth: $1.50, Honored Citizen: $1

1. Start at David Douglas High School in Portland
2. Walk 0.30 mile north from David Douglas High School (1001 SE 135th Ave) to SE Stark & 133rd
Stop ID 5433
3. 10:22am Board 20 Burnside/Stark to Beaverton TC via Portland City Center
10:58am Get off at W Burnside & NW Park
Stop ID 716
4. Walk 0.10 mile northeast to NW Broadway & NW Couch
Stop ID 13575
5. 11:07am Board 17 NW 21st Ave to Montgomery Park
11:21am Get off at NW Vaughn & 27th
Stop ID 8802
6. Walk 0.8 mile west to Forest Park (NW Gordon St & NW Thurman St)
7. End at Forest Park in Portland

Takes about 3 1/2 hrs. RT travel time plus $4.80 per adult.

starbuck, you can make that an even $5.00 under the upcoming fare schedule. =-)

To your point, indeed it is silly to think that everybody is going to the park on transit. People have kids, dogs, pick-a-nick baskets, horseshoe sets, &c.

Most of us are not ultra-long-distance cross-country hashers who live off the land... but maybe the planners are. Maybe they commute to work via Parkour.

Joseph Goebbels would be so proud.

John D.:Every residence required to maintain a small vegetable garden, with required quotas to stock the local markets.

It did show that garden in the video.
Question is how does this compute with the high density housing, no yards, and yet a garden? Kind of hard to grow a garden living in a cell like unit and no patio. If the plan is to work for required quotas to stock the local markets, I imagine slaves of the plans will be more than willing to be light railed from their government units to fields to work for the collective good.

Some of us did grow up without having everything planned for us and find this extreme planning and control and the propaganda over our community to achieve planner’s desired results alarming. The irony is that we pay for all of this. In my opinion in more ways than one. One has to be careful that living in a community under an insider regime is not harmful to one’s overall health. I am thankful for this blog and to know that I am not alone in resisting.