Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Zoning changes for Cascade Station
Participants in the Preserving the American Dream tour of Portland last April will remember Cascade Station, a vacant site near Portland airport that was slated for a retail-and-office development. But the site has been vacant for three years because developers couldn't find anyone interested in leasing the small retail shops that planners had required. Developers have also said there is no market for offices because office workers don't want to be "stuck in open fields with no nearby amenities."
So now the city has finally broken down and accepted what John Charles said on the tour: the site begs for big-box stores. Where the rules previously limited stores to 60,000 square feet (about the size of a supermarket-pharmacy combo), planners have agreed to allow up to three big-box stores of up to 200,000 square feet each (about the size of the largest Wal-Mart supercenters).
The city has already spent $14 million on streets, parks, and light-rail stations. Tour participants were amused to see that the light-rail cars all stopped at both stations on the property even though neither provided access to anything and one was prominently marked "closed." Maybe, if we have another conference in Portland after 2006, we will see something other than vacant ground.
So now the city has finally broken down and accepted what John Charles said on the tour: the site begs for big-box stores. Where the rules previously limited stores to 60,000 square feet (about the size of a supermarket-pharmacy combo), planners have agreed to allow up to three big-box stores of up to 200,000 square feet each (about the size of the largest Wal-Mart supercenters).
The city has already spent $14 million on streets, parks, and light-rail stations. Tour participants were amused to see that the light-rail cars all stopped at both stations on the property even though neither provided access to anything and one was prominently marked "closed." Maybe, if we have another conference in Portland after 2006, we will see something other than vacant ground.
Monday, October 11, 2004
Washington Metro: Billions for More Congestion
WASHINGTON METRO AFTER A QUARTER CENTURY:
BILLIONS FOR TRANSIT & MORE CONGESTION
http://www.publicpurpose.com/pp84-wmata.pdf
BILLIONS FOR TRANSIT & MORE CONGESTION
http://www.publicpurpose.com/pp84-wmata.pdf
