Anniversary Missed...

A couple of months ago a major anniversary took place that I let pass by without any fanfare mainly because how busy I have been over the summer and continue to be. The anniversary that took place on August 4th when this blog turned 10 years old.

Back then it was called Transit in Utah and was started to discuss transit issues in the Salt Lake region and other parts of Utah. Having been a transit and rail passenger advocate for many years, it was an opportunity to discuss some of the things I have learned over the years and saw as opportunities to improve transit service.

As the blog matured I became interested in how land use and transportation have interacted over the years and how we have ended up with the land use patterns we have today. I have also become very interested in Urban Design and how our built environment works and doesn't work.

It only took a short time for this blog to start focusing on issues outside of Utah considering I have plenty of transit experience outside the region having grew up in Pasadena, CA and having lived in Spokane, Seattle, and Charlotte over the years. However, it took until 2011 when I moved to Portland to officially change the name of the blog to something that more reflected what this blog is about.

Sadly over the last few months I have not been able to post as frequently that I would like and cannot see that changing before next June at the earliest. I have plenty of ideas for stories and will try to post when time allows.

Thank you for reading over the years and I hope you will stay tuned for the articles to come.

What makes a Successful Public Space?

Hotel Portland, since demolished (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Pettygrove Park in Portland, Oregon. Created by Lawrence Halprin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Occupy Portland protest at Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland, Oregon on October 6, 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What makes a good public space? One that people want to use and is used by a large number of different people? The Project for Public Spaces is a good source for information about what a successful public space should have, today I am going to look at two public spaces in the city of Portland Pettygrove City Park and Pioneer Courthouse Square.

The latter one is known as Portland's "living room" while the other languishes despite being close to office buildings and residences.

Can Alternatives to Owing a car be made More Convenient?

TriMet bus parked near MAX tracks (helping out on opening day) in Portland, OR. Public domain photo, taken by the poster. Category:Transportation in Portland, Oregon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Honda Civic Hybrid used by Zipcar, a carsharing service. Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Public bike sharing station (Bicing) in Hospital del Mar, Barceloneta District (Barcelona, Catalonia). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are you like me and have a large number of the chain store loyalty cards attached to your key ring that your rarely if ever use? One of the reasons that the stores use these cards is that their marketing people tell them that a customer that if a person has a loyalty card they will more likely shop at that store when they have a choice.

The problem is you get so many of these cards and many of them are nothing but a program to get access to your information so they can target even more advertising your way. There is not a benefit for you as a consumer to have these cards unless you actually get something for your effort.

Is it the Pathway or is it the Urban Fabric?

TriMet is looking at closing a pathway that connects the Willow Creek Transit Center which is located just northwest of the intersection of 185th and Baseline on the MAX Blue Line. The reason behind the possible closure is because of crime and drug problems along the path so I decided to take a look at the situation first hand to see what the problems truly are here.

First here is a Google map of the area:


View Larger Map

The pathway in question goes south from the transit center to Baseline Road.

Looking from Transit Center toward Baseline Road

The picture above is looking from the Willow Creek Transit Center toward Baseline Road and instantly you can see two major problems with this pathway. The first is that there is high walls on both sides blocking views of anyone along the path and the second is that there is very little lighting along the path. In addition there is a child care facility to the left of the photo which is only open at certain times of the day and there is a single family residence located to the right of the photo.

Looking back toward the Willow Creek Transit Center from Baseline

The next picture is looking back toward the transit center from Baseline and once again you can see the problems along the path. Once again you have the fences which creates a canyon affect which is just asking for problems in addition to the bushes on the right that even further block the view of the path. While you want tree canopy to shade pathways and make them more walk-able in this case they combine with the high fences to further hide the pathway from the public.

Looking west along Baseline

Looking east from along Baseline

Once you get off the pathway you have more issues once you get to Baseline. The road is wide with narrow sidewalks and very few streetlights. As can be seen in the upper photo looking toward the west where most of the residences are you have fences that put even fewer eyes on the street. Looking east you have a child care place that is very auto centric and turns its back to the transit center then empty lot on one side of the street and a shopping center.

The problem with closing the path is that for people to residences located on either side of Baseline there it leaves a long walk. From the transit center you will have to travel out of your way and head north to Edgeway then head to 185th then south to Baseline with both of those streets being very pedestrian unfriendly. While walking is fine for many of us, we also have to take into consideration the elderly and those with limited mobility that will have a more difficult time reaching the center. The other alternative for these people will be to take the infrequent 88 bus that travels a short distance on Baseline to reach the transit center.

The problem here is not the presence of the pathway but the Urban Environment around the pathway or the lack there of. The pathway design creates a canyon and walled off effect that means that there is not eyes on the pathway. The solution is not to close the path but to find ways to make it safer which will require rethinking how it is laid out and the visibility onto it. Unfortunately it is just not the path that is the problem, the area around Baseline is auto-centric suburbia where pedestrians come last.

Hopefully a good solution can be found. 

Looking for an Internship

English: A car of the Portland Streetcar system at the eastbound Portland State University stop, on Market Street at the South Park Blocks. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some of you may remember when I mentioned I graduated from Portland State University with a Bachelor's Degree. Well I immediately started the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning program in September with a specialization in Transportation plus an Urban Design Certificate.

Well now I need to do 400 hours of internship hours to graduate so I am currently looking for one. You would think that I would have enough experience (especially after writing this blog for 10 years!) plus my business related background but as an older student sometimes it is difficult to find the right position.

Therefore I am checking with my readers to see if they have any leads on internships. If you have any possible leads let me know at jdornoff(at)pdx.edu.

Thank you and I will be written more in depth articles soon.

The Barbur Transit Center - The Good, Bad, the Ugly, and the Really Ugly and how it doesn't fit into the urban form

In my first entry on how transit centers fit into the urban form and how they can they can fit better into a strong vibrant urban form I showed a worse case example with the freeway based Parkrose-Sumner Transit Center near the Portland International Airport on the MAX Red Line. 

Today's entry is an even worse example and that is the Barbur Transit Center which is stuck between Interstate 5 and its predecessor Barbur Blvd which was once US Highway 99W. The Barbur Transit Center is currently the oldest transit center in the Trimet system having opened in 1977 and as you will see it is showing its age. The transit center is actually nothing but a glorified Park N' Ride lot as the area around the transit center is very auto oriented and hostile to pedestrians and is not designed to blend into the community or the community to blend into the transit center.  

Trimet Parkrose/Sumner Transit Station - The good, bad and ugly

During my recent trip to the Portland International Airport for a trip to Los Angles, I took pictures of the three Red Line stations that only serve the Red Line to the airport. Unfortunately I was using a borrowed point and shoot which did not have the quality of my DSLR but the pictures will have to do. For these stations along with many others I plan to photograph soon, I will document what the existing conditions are, what the zoning is, what the plus and minuses of the station are, and what can be done from an urban design standpoint to make the station a better place now and in the future.

First up is the Parkrose/Sumner Transit Center which is the perfect example of why freeway based rail transit stations just don't work especially when all the conditions this one faces. That is not to say it is not a popular transit hub as it does serve several important bus lines but because of the freeway location will never be all it could be.