Not so strange as I hear they are looking at wind powered chair lifts and rope-tows in Astoria making them the skateboard capitol.

2012 Nov 20 Tue 20:30 U (8:30 PM PT)

My secret fear (visionary idea) for the next great Metro/TriMet transit project to connect Lake Oswego urban villages under the 2035 Visioning processes in the Comprehensive Plan Component for Complete Neighborhoods and Housing - Just approved this evening. [2011-2012 LO City Council Resolution 12-52, Agenda item 5.3 meeting 2012 Nov 20 Tue 18:00 U (6:00 PM PT), aka LO Planning File LU 12-0018] I used them in Switzerland circa 1995 and Park City UT circa 1975.

Since a streetcar will not likely be built on the Willamette Shore Line between Portland and Lake Oswego. Then this mode is a must do necessity to connect Lakeridge HS, Lake Oswego HS, PCC, Lake Grove, and "downtown LO". Just consider the following for our children:
1. Magnificent views above Oswego Lake
2. Drop off access points into Oswego Lake for kayaks.
3. Sustainable transportation without cars.

Time for zip lines across the river.

They float above traffic and panhandlers. Will the neighbors below be as upset as they were in Portland over losing their privacy? What about air rights?

Can't wait to see the blooper reel of people falling trying to get on amd off. They can call it the Austin City Lift, or ACL.

on "and" off

Thankfully, this is just talk at the moment, but you can understand the fear. Austin has that lovely combination of unemployed Cat Piss Man engineers, hipsters, and state legislators that means that no idea is too ridiculous. Right now, the only reason the whole city isn't covered with Portland-level half-finished idiotic projects is because someone usually stands up and asks "So...who's paying for this?" The engineers go back to playing "World of Warcraft", the hipsters go back to yammering about the next SXSW band list, and the legislators go back to tripping on the carpet pattern.

The only problem with this situation, though, is that nobody on the outside learns that the proposals never went anywhere, and everyone points at Austin and whines "Well, Austin does it!" when it's time to introduce their own versions of the madness. In the old days, Dallas and San Antonio used to justify paying for horrible street art because Austin spent more on "the arts". Now, city managers who drank all of Richard Florida's Kool-Aid look to both Portland and Austin for ideas on attracting that elusive "creative class". The difference is that Austin didn't actually spend any of the money to make the dumb ideas happen.

The difference is that Portland is ruled by those who want and want . . .
in my opinion, our council and others should be ashamed
of their behavior and the debt swamping.

Sam Smith has written a book, "Why Bother?"
part of which is presented below.

http://www.pubtheo.com/page.asp?pid=1405

Gone is the ground rule that once required social and political change to be covered -- even if the publisher didn’t approve of it. Gone is the notion that if you made news, they would come. In an age of corporatist journalism, in which Peter Jennings has become the professional colleague of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, it no longer matters. News is just another item in the multinational product line with little value outside of its contribution to market share and other corporate objectives.

Worse, it has become just about impossible to find anyone in power who is ashamed of this. In fact, it is just about impossible to find anyone in power who is ashamed of anything. For centuries, shame has been one of the most useful restraints on power. As Edmund Burke noted, "Whilst shame keeps its watch, virtue is not wholly extinguished in the heart." But one of the perks of contemporary power is to exist without shame.