Not to mention safety - I don't think I'd sit street-side on that contraption, considering Tri-Met busses are 12 inches away. It's much safer to have a row of parked cars as a buffer.

Then again, it might make dine n' dash a little easier.

That's insane. I mean, where are the bicycles supposed to be parked?

I wonder how much that private business is paying for my public right of way?

It's more likely the city is encouraging this.
It's all part of shutting down streets to vehicles.

If a business does not respect my choice of transportation, they don't respect my profession that provides me the means to conduct business with that establishment, and why would I spend my hard earned money with someone who doesn't respect me for what I do in, and for, the community?

Did they cut down the bus stop sign that used to be there? Those FIENDS!

The big "plan" is counting on you and others choosing not to do business there and to go away... that's why there's such big push to create these high density communities that will happily want to walk/bike everywhere.

It's social engineering through urban renewal, though it's really another form of discrimination that just happens not to be illegal.

Geez, do they know it's ging to rain for nine months and no one will that space? Maybe they have a roof for it.

Geez, "going" to rain, "use" that space. Tough morning when I am making two corrections for one short thought.

Looks as somebody has already made off with the tables but didn't like the chairs.

It's possible these people may have done this without city approval.They could have got an okay to put in bike parking here and put a deck in instead. There is a Kinkos /FedEx on SE Bybee that couldn't get a TLZ out in front of their store so they put their own sign out front that said no parking truck loading zone. I asked the manager about it since it didn't look like a city sign. He lied and said they got approval. Two days later sign was gone. This "deck" may be gone real quick too.

So, not only is Urban Development Partners allowed to construct apartments with no parking for residents, but existing street parking in front of their building is turned into dining spots for their commercial tenants? Are you effing kidding me?

I've seen a lot of craziness in Portland, but this simply makes my blood boil. Jack, please tell me this is your latest Photoshop spoof. Please?

On the City Council agenda today is an ordinance to approve pilot program to reduce requirements for initiating an Area Parking Permit Program. Basically this allows neighborhoods to take a vote on requiring a street parking permit system without any of the currently required background and research information demonstrating that commuters are filling up all the on-street parking.
If such a vote is allowed, it seems to me the neighborhoods ought to have the same type of a vote related to allowing new tenement bunkers without adequate off-street parking. The City of Roses should be renamed the City of Inequitable Double Standards.

Once the wood starts to rot in the rain, voila, instant bioswale!

Seriously, though. I lived in that neighborhood for over 20 years and spent a lot of time and money there.

Before the local media mysteriously went largely silent about controversial details of CoP's master plan for how we live, one rag or another would run an article that at the time I thought was crazy and could never be done.

One was to close SE Division from 12th to 60th to all vehicular traffic and convert it to a pedestrian/bike only boulevard. Fast foward to the future.... and step by step, no-parking-apartments, bike-only parking, dining-in-street, you can see it being quietly engineered.

Another story from about 10 years ago talked about closing off all travel between neighborhoods except by foot, bike, or gov't provided transit through traffic engineering. Fast forward to the future... and you see one project after another, starting with the small neighborhood through-streets and moving up to the bigger boulevards and main thoroughfares, quietly putting it in place.

To use the words of a popular Miami columnist, I'm not making this up. I just wish I'd clipped and saved each and every article, story, and press release that at the time I thought was outrageous. If I had them all in front of me I could probably publish a book.

Portland doesn't behave like a city anymore, not by any understanding I was ever taught in school or grew up thinking cities were. It behaves like a real estate development project constructing a giant theme park for a target market, specifically young adults.

Even the upcoming mayoral election isn't about electing a mayor, it's more like electing a CEO for a big corporation, and the city council is merely the board of directors.

this is currently being discussed among members of the Historic Mississippi Business Association. Mississippi Pizza wants to be part of this "street seat pilot" program. It's gaining much controversy and it looks to position the restaurant/bars vs the other business types.

http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/59158

Did they cut down the bus stop sign that used to be there? Those FIENDS!

Of course, Mayor Sam is no friend of bus riders (they are below his standard of living and community).

If you are physically incapable of riding a bike, one of these vans will be quickly dispatched to your house to take care of you.

Ok so it is legal. Won't other businesses on that street object to this? Loss of a parking space or two parking spaces to benefit just one business.Not used in the rain. Not used when the business is not open.Not leased from the city just a permit fee.

Take a look at the city council agenda. Today, through an emergency ordinance
an authorization most likely will be passed to designate NH Greenway Streets.

http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?c=26997&

*901 Authorize the designation of 20 Miles per Hour Neighborhood Greenway Streets (Ordinance)

The * indicates an emergency ordinance, which takes effect immediately if passed. Non-emergency ordinances require two readings and a 30-day waiting period before taking effect. Resolutions, reports, etc., adopted by Council are effective after adjournment.

This idea could help with Portland's unpaved roads. Have a raft out front so you can cross the bigger potholes during the rainy season.

The city-wreckers are picking up the pace.

They must've noticed the public is beginning to ask questions.

Calm down, folks. This is perfectly o.k. San Francisco does it.

Next time I'm in town I'm going to go by and sit to enjoy a nice cigar in my taxpayer-funded seating area (public right-of-way) and decline any service or purchase unless something catches my fancy.

I suggest other aficionados to the same.

Lars?

Hello. Welcome to Portland, Oregon. This isn't San Francisco, California. San Francisco probably does a lot of things Portlanders aren't interested in.

I just noticed the comment prior to mine and have to ask the rhetorical:

San Francisco does a lot of things. By what rationale is anything they do "OK"?

Calm down yourself, smurf.

OMG, I saw Wafu post about their new deck...I had no idea. I love the restaurant, but I have to say, I am NOT a fan of this idea. I'll continue to go to that restaurant and Sunshine Tavern next door...until I can't find parking in the neighborhood anymore.

A link to more info about street seats http://bicyclenewssite.com/2012/08/20/spotted-portlands-first-street-seats/

Who would want to sit in the street to eat and drink anyway? You would be inhaling exhaust fumes and dust all day.

From the PBOT application "3) Support
Demonstrate that you have adequately provided outreach to neighbors, tenants of the
subject property and local business and neighborhood associations. Please attach
documentation of this support. This can take the form of letters, petitions, emails, or
another piece of evidence that shows these stakeholders are aware of the proposal and
will support the installation.." So what does that mean. If I have a business across the street and I object does that stop it?

That's insane. I mean, where are the bicycles supposed to be parked?

Maybe that's what the railings are for. It's not as though anybody's going to fall off the "deck"; if that were the case, CoPo'd have railings at every curb.

You all might want to check this book out.

My understanding from listening to the author is that he talks about our little burg and the Urban Growth Boundary quite a bit.

Some of you may object to the author and his targeting of Obama, but its the same kinds of players with the same philosophies at Portland City Hall that are orchestrating all of this.

Just sit back and enjoy it, folks...it's all part of the plan.

Looks like a nice place to park your horse.
I recently returned from a trip home to rural MN where the Amish get around quite effeciently in horse drawn buggies. When the teenagers head out they ditch the buggy and just cruise with a horse.
Considering the cost of parking permits, the wait for a streetcar, the traffic backup from the inner eastside bioswale couplets, and my disdain for the Portland bike community, a pony just might be a sound, carbon footprint friendly solution.

When I lived in DC , I designed a big covered glassed-in
'non-permanent' sidewalk cafe attached to the restaurant
that was there. The City sold licenses to pubs/bars etc to
use the sidewalks all over town to build attached seating
spaces. They made good money on it.
Of course the non-permanent unit is still there sitting on
the city sidewalk in the right-of-way with working heating
and cooling 17 yrs later. Still paying rent , you think if the
C Council in PDX is giving away the use of ROW , they could charge some fat rent for prime real estate.

"Portland doesn't behave like a city anymore, not by any understanding I was ever taught in school or grew up thinking cities were. It behaves like a real estate development project constructing a giant theme park for a target market, specifically young adults.

Even the upcoming mayoral election isn't about electing a mayor, it's more like electing a CEO for a big corporation, and the city council is merely the board of directors.

Posted by Mr. Grumpy | August 22, 2012 9:48 AM "

Think Chicago, with less "in-your-face" corruption and many fewer murders.

Looks like they're setting a stage for a spectacular Monty Python-like London Bus-smashes-into-hipster-diners scene.

"Ah, yes -- the local chicken & honey pufu. Would you like body armor with that?"

Just wait for the first DUI maniac to come barreling down from one of the many new bars or liquor carts along Division St. lights out and all....

"That'll be 10 orders of carnage to go -- hold the common sense!"

As far as "San Francisco does it" goes, I'd like to remind Allan that SF is a compact and very congested City (land-wise and people-wise), roughly seven miles by seven miles square. SF may be similar to Portland in terms of politics, but no comparison in terms of usable space.

(And my apologies to Allan is he was being sarcastic or ironic.)

Imagine a 3/4 ton pickup traveling @ 25 mph swerving into this structure when fully occupied with patrons. Dead bodies & kindling will be the result...

So, what happens when the city puts in parking meters all along that street? Does an employee have to go out and plug the meter ever few hours?

The agreement in the PBOT pilot program states that the deck owner has to reimburse the city for all lost parking meter revenue for the space taken by the deck.