Columbus vs. Portland
With the mayor proposing downtown streetcars and comparing it to the downtown transit in Portland, Oregon, your guide was thrilled he recently had a chance to visit Portland to see how it works.
Portland has lots of transit. LOTS OF IT. Light rail from east suburbs through downtown to west suburbs. A north-south streetcar line. Busways and busses everywhere. And most of it goes 24/7. And their ridership numbers show it--Portland transit gets as many riders in two months as COTA gets in a year.
Photo ©Photodisc / Getty Images
But Portland itself is quite a bit different also. Environmentally friendly with pedestrians and bike trails and facilities everywhere. And tons of downtown foot traffic: your guide rode the light rail around a downtown loop (for free!) and even though it went every 5 minutes it was filled to standing room only on a Saturday afternoon. Why?
Because it's more than just streetcars. Downtown Portland was huge! And there were neat restored buildings and parks and street vendors and events and stores and stuff EVERYWHERE. What is there in downtown Columbus to ride a streetcar past at this point? Pretty much a dead mall and state office towers.
Of course, would the streetcars be the catalyst to bring things back to downtown Columbus? I don't have a definite answer, but having seen downtown Portland I can say that Columbus has miles to go before our downtown is like theirs. Much, much, much more than just building streetcar lines.
And while we're on the topic, the folks over at All Aboard Ohio wanted to share news that Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-Toledo) and Tim Ryan (D-Youngstown) are supporting the Ohio Rail Development Commission's request for federal funding of the Environmental Impact Study of the Ohio Hub Plan and the Alternatives Analysis for the Lorain to Cleveland Westshore Corridor Commuter Rail Service. Both Representatives Kaptur and Ryan need to hear your support of the development of better passenger and freight rail in Ohio by Wednesday, July 11th.
Please ask your Representative to support the funding request by Representatives Kaptur and Ryan for the development of more and better passenger and freight rail in Ohio. This request is part of the House Transportation & Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill. Please mention this fact as it will help in the communications process.
Please keep in mind that these are the ONLY actionable items for our cause at this time. The Ohio Rail Development Commission has already released promising economic numbers with the first study of the Ohio Hub Plan and the Westshore Corridor continues to move forward in the planning phases. It is now time to reconnect Ohio's cities, grow our economy, and provide better transportation solutions by moving the Ohio Hub Plan and others forward.
More posts about Columbus.
Comments
Portland is one of the models for development in the peak oil world. If Columbus could emulate them we would be in so much better shape. But it’s going to take more than just a trolley or some bike lanes - it’s going to take MUCH stricter zoning laws and greater cooperation between Columbus and the suburbs than we have now.
As long as Dublin, Gahanna, Hilliard, Delaware, etc. are pulling businesses outside of city limits, all the trolleys in the world won’t make a lick of difference.
Very good points. I am constantly amazed at how many people I know think the current price of gas is just the oil companies “gouging” us and that once Bush is replaced as president, it will go back down again. Folks, there are a lot more issues going on here, and we really are going to have to go back to more mass transit, conservation, as you say in the “peak oil world.”
John
The streetcars should connect German Village with the Short North, and not just the center of the business district of downtown. There are plenty of residents and visitors in these inner-ring neighborhoods and providing a better transit alternative to COTA and walking is needed in some form.
Bring on the streetcars!