Saturday, February 05, 2005
Grants help poor get to work in Portland
Shirley Cromwell lives in Southeast Portland, fifteen miles from her work in North Portland. By car it takes her 30 minutes, but when her car broke down, the trip by transit required two hours. Now a new Ways to Work program is helping low-income people buy or maintain their cars.
Kerri Sullivan, a Portland State University researcher (now working for the city of Wenatchee, Washington), found that someone without a high school degree was 80 percent more likely to have a job if they owned a car than if they relied on transit. They also earned an average of $1,100 more per month. "A car has more of an influence (on whether or not someone has a job) than a GED" (high school equivalency), says the researcher. Sullivan's research paper was published by Harvard University.
Not surprisingly, some people in "transit-minded" Portland think that helping low-income people get and keep their jobs is a bad idea. (I guess Portland is "transit minded" because a whopping 7.7 percent of its residents usually take transit to work.) "It doesn't solve the problem," says Rex Burkholder, a member of Metro's council. He thinks Portland needs "more affordable housing closer to jobs."
But people don't choose their home location solely based on their job location. Housing is less expensive in North Portland than Southeast Portland. But Shirley Cromwell chooses to live in Southeast Portland, probably because schools are better there. (Note to Burkholder: Forget about affordable housing, which you've already destroyed with your urban-growth boundary, and get the Portland Public School board to fix Jefferson and Roosevelt high schools, whose performances on standard tests are a disgrace.)
The Ways to Work program started in Wisconsin and is now available in 23 states. We can only hope that transit advocates don't kill it before it helps more people out of poverty.
Kerri Sullivan, a Portland State University researcher (now working for the city of Wenatchee, Washington), found that someone without a high school degree was 80 percent more likely to have a job if they owned a car than if they relied on transit. They also earned an average of $1,100 more per month. "A car has more of an influence (on whether or not someone has a job) than a GED" (high school equivalency), says the researcher. Sullivan's research paper was published by Harvard University.
Not surprisingly, some people in "transit-minded" Portland think that helping low-income people get and keep their jobs is a bad idea. (I guess Portland is "transit minded" because a whopping 7.7 percent of its residents usually take transit to work.) "It doesn't solve the problem," says Rex Burkholder, a member of Metro's council. He thinks Portland needs "more affordable housing closer to jobs."
But people don't choose their home location solely based on their job location. Housing is less expensive in North Portland than Southeast Portland. But Shirley Cromwell chooses to live in Southeast Portland, probably because schools are better there. (Note to Burkholder: Forget about affordable housing, which you've already destroyed with your urban-growth boundary, and get the Portland Public School board to fix Jefferson and Roosevelt high schools, whose performances on standard tests are a disgrace.)
The Ways to Work program started in Wisconsin and is now available in 23 states. We can only hope that transit advocates don't kill it before it helps more people out of poverty.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Garage may rise at Round
What happened to the walkable community?
Why aren't shoppers and residents coming and going using transit?
Taxpayers have spent millions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks for this Smart Growth project. We were told it is a model to get people out of their cars.
Now the developer wants the tallest buildings to be a parking garages
The developer of the Round at Beaverton Central is proposing a seven-story garage with 360 parking stalls. The 75-foot building would be the tallest structure in Beaverton, said Linda Adlard, the city's chief of staff. LDP is planning a second garage for the north side of the development. It will have about 400 spaces. The garage will not be used as a park-and-ride lot for the MAX light rail, Kleiderman said.
What happened to the walkable community?
Why aren't shoppers and residents coming and going using transit?
Taxpayers have spent millions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks for this Smart Growth project. We were told it is a model to get people out of their cars.
Now the developer wants the tallest buildings to be a parking garages
The developer of the Round at Beaverton Central is proposing a seven-story garage with 360 parking stalls. The 75-foot building would be the tallest structure in Beaverton, said Linda Adlard, the city's chief of staff. LDP is planning a second garage for the north side of the development. It will have about 400 spaces. The garage will not be used as a park-and-ride lot for the MAX light rail, Kleiderman said.
