Early this month, Portland broke ground on a hugely expensive light-rail bridge across the Willamette River, part of a $1.5 billion, 7.3-mile rail line to the Portland suburb of Milwaukie. This prompted faithful Antiplanner ally John Charles to write an article arguing that this is a “bridge to the last century.”
In response, Portland’s mayor, Sam Adams, wailed at a public meeting that “We’re under attack. Basic, impartial information is under attack” (click here for a 33-MB audio recording of the meeting; Adams’ comments are at 1:05:05, but the meeting is liberally littered with statements by public officials hostile to anyone who doesn’t share their utopian vision).
Adams called Charles’ article a “screed,” but what really raised Charles’ ire is the claim that Adams was on the side of “basic, impartial information.” So Charles replies with a barrage of “basic, impartial information” about the new light-rail line.
