A few weeks ago, the Antiplanner questioned a streetcar project in Atlanta. Now comes a response from none other than Portland Mayor Sam Adams, who says Portland’s streetcar once had detractors “were afraid that it would be too expensive and people wouldn’t ride it. We don’t hear that so much these days.”
As Bojack says, “Maybe he would if he knew how to listen.” Or how to read: the big-government loving Governing magazine recently published an article detailing how Portland is running out of money to pay for its streetcar and light-rail dreams.
Meanwhile, the former city commissioner who dreamed up the Portland streetcar, then took a job for an engineering firm selling streetcars to other cities, is running for mayor of Portland. He writes an article defending the “things that are great about Portland” including “smart growth, transit, urban renewal, bicycles, [and] myself.” I guess Portlanders should vote for him if he is one of the city’s great things.
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Except he might not really be in Portland. It turns out that, in order to avoid Oregon income taxes, he’s been living across the Columbia River in Washington state. Now that’s one of the great things about Portland: you can avoid Oregon income taxes and Washington sales taxes by living in Vancouver and shopping in Oregon. Too bad Vancouver doesn’t have a streetcar to any Portland shopping malls–but they’re working on it.
(*Singing) Street dreams are made of these, billions of dollars and misery.
Bad musical puns aside, what do cities usually do when they go broke. Lay off firemen, police, cut services, shutting down schools……..Hasn’t Portland already done that.
Portland stops paving roads but still want to builds the unsustainable, sustainable center, light rail to Milwaukie, expand streetcars, subsidize TOD’s, expanding urban renewal districts and so on.
Portland in denial!
They can’t be out of money, they still have more checks!
Would you like to see congestion charging introduced?
Sam Adams : “Investing local, state and federal dollars to leverage private funds has reinvigorated our city, created jobs and given Portlanders a healthy, more sustainable transportation choice.”
The Labour Party in the UK used this language a lot. Remove money from people via compulsion, spend it on their pet projects, and call it ‘investment’.
What kind of an investment is it that ends up costing money rather than making it?
Sam Adams: “Creating vibrant, mixed-use neighborhoods around streetcars makes good business sense. Streetcars are attractive and tracks can’t be easily moved, so their presence makes business owners more likely to locate nearby. ”
Equally, instead of allowing bus companies to put their buses where they like, they could be franchised to run the buses on an agreed alignment. Money saved.
I’m not sure what vibrant means, unless it has something to do with taxpayer subsidies, tax breaks and tax abatement.
I think I might move to Vancouver. Seems like a Tea Party wet dream. Play your cards right and no state income or sales tax. Sweet!
Sounds a lot like New Hampshire, though they make up for the lack of sales taxes with high property taxes.
The Antiplanner wrote:
Except he might not really be in Portland. It turns out that, in order to avoid Oregon income taxes, he’s been living across the Columbia River in Washington state. Now that’s one of the great things about Portland: you can avoid Oregon income taxes and Washington sales taxes by living in Vancouver and shopping in Oregon.
That he pays taxes in the state of Washington ought to disqualify him from running for any state, county or municipal elected office in Oregon.
He can run for office in Washington and promote Portland-flavored Kool-Aid north of the Columbia River all at the same time.