Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Don't drive? Get your free body piercing
The city of Portland is spending $100,000 to give its residents coupons for such things as dog manicures and body piercings if they will walk or bicycle to the shops rather than drive. The city is also getting $160,000 for this program from various businesses, mainly two of the region's major hospitals, Kaiser and Providence. The program also gves away umbrellas, pedometers, and children's bicycle helmets.
"We don't expect people to make major lifestyle changes," says one city official. "What we’re looking for are small changes. If everyone could drive once or twice less each week, it will make a huge difference." This article quotes a city report claiming that a similar program in Southwest Portland reduced auto trips by 9 percent and miles driven by 12 percent. Now it is targeting North and Southeast Portland. For more information about this new program, go to the city's transportation web page.
I looked up the city report (3.3 MB). It claims that driving was reduced from 85 to 80 percent of trips relative to a control group, while transit increased from 5 to 7 percent and walking/cycling increased from 10 to 13 percent. This is based on surveys conducted six months to a year after implementing the program, so the city doesn't know if these changes are temporary or will be sustained any longer than a few months.
"We don't expect people to make major lifestyle changes," says one city official. "What we’re looking for are small changes. If everyone could drive once or twice less each week, it will make a huge difference." This article quotes a city report claiming that a similar program in Southwest Portland reduced auto trips by 9 percent and miles driven by 12 percent. Now it is targeting North and Southeast Portland. For more information about this new program, go to the city's transportation web page.
I looked up the city report (3.3 MB). It claims that driving was reduced from 85 to 80 percent of trips relative to a control group, while transit increased from 5 to 7 percent and walking/cycling increased from 10 to 13 percent. This is based on surveys conducted six months to a year after implementing the program, so the city doesn't know if these changes are temporary or will be sustained any longer than a few months.
Housing bubble in Portland?
If people are paying $100,000 more than the asking price for houses and buying houses sight unseen and leaving them vacant for a year before reselling them, then you probably have a housing bubble. In the Portland suburb of Lake Oswego, residents are disturbed that people are paying $250,000 for houses, tearing them down, and replacing them with million-dollar dwellings. "I feel like riff-raff in my own neighborhood," says one.
But the real worry should be that the Portland area has run out of land for new housing, so people are paying through the nose for "infill" housing. What happens to families who paid $300,000 or more for homes they can't afford when interest rates go up and suddenly their homes are worth far less than the mortgage they have yet to pay on them? What happens to an urban area when large numbers of foreclosures boot people out of their homes and leave families bankrupt? What happens to the nation when the smart-growth driven housing bubble bursts and a major sector that has kept our economy going for the last decade is on the rocks?
But the real worry should be that the Portland area has run out of land for new housing, so people are paying through the nose for "infill" housing. What happens to families who paid $300,000 or more for homes they can't afford when interest rates go up and suddenly their homes are worth far less than the mortgage they have yet to pay on them? What happens to an urban area when large numbers of foreclosures boot people out of their homes and leave families bankrupt? What happens to the nation when the smart-growth driven housing bubble bursts and a major sector that has kept our economy going for the last decade is on the rocks?
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Families CAN live in New Urban high rises
Who says families have to live in the suburbs? With careful design, families can live the New Urban lifestyle in high-rise skyscrapers in Manhattan. The New York Times calls this "suburbs in the sky." The only downside is that the condos cost a minimum of $1,600 a square foot, or about $3 million for a two-bedroom home. But that's trivial compared with the benefits of living without a car.
