Although it's been a while since I've posted anything new, I assure you I have been hard at work. I will have posts on two projects in the next weeks, documenting historic streetcar development and Portland bicycle history, respectively.
In the meantime, I was hard at work applying the finishing touches to an article on the Crooked River in Central Oregon that I have submitted to the Oregon Historical Quarterly. Its not transportation related, so I'll spare you the details (hopefully, you can read it in about six months - give or take - in the OHQ).
Here is a little sneak peak of the streetcar post. (pdf)
And here is one on Portland Bike history. (pdf)
The Portland Historic Streetcar Project
Since my last post on Portland's historic streetcar network, I've been hard at work re-creating the network on Portland's current street grid. The map is now done and the spatial analysis can begin. We will be asking if the city's urban development, specifically residential and commercial density as measured by the creation of new tax lots, was impacted significantly by the implementation of the streetcar.
From the looks of our preliminary data, the majority of new tax lots in the decades between 1880 and 1900 were within close proximity (1/4 mile or less) to new streetcar lines. We will continue to look at the entire 20th century, as well. Where will we find the majority of the new tax lots (i.e. development) from 1950, when the last streetcars were decommissioned, to 1985, when the Blue Line Max came on-line? East Portland, around 205? West Portland on the border of Beaverton? Since we are only looking at the City of Portland, we won't get into suburban development.
In the last six weeks I have learned a lot about the old streetcar system, but there is a ton of missing information. As far as I can tell John Labbe's Fares Please! Those Portland Trolley Years and Richard Thompson's website and book are the only sources out there. Some of you posted questions about streetcar routes through your part of town. The map my project partner and I developed will answer some of your questions, but not all. Unfortunately, it is not complete. Some of the inter-urban raillines, like the Springwater, West Portland (up to Hillsdale), and Oregon Electric (out to Multnomah Village) are missing. The biggest challenge for us centered on these particular raillines routes - for the most part they did not use streets, which posed a significant challenge to draw accurately. The Springwater would have been the easiest to draw since it followed the current trail alingment, but we didn't want to only look at one inter-urban line and not include the others.
So we are left with a map that documents as many on-street raillines that served the City of Portland from 1880-1950 that I could find and verify. I'll publish the map and our analytical report on the blog. Keep an eye open...
From the looks of our preliminary data, the majority of new tax lots in the decades between 1880 and 1900 were within close proximity (1/4 mile or less) to new streetcar lines. We will continue to look at the entire 20th century, as well. Where will we find the majority of the new tax lots (i.e. development) from 1950, when the last streetcars were decommissioned, to 1985, when the Blue Line Max came on-line? East Portland, around 205? West Portland on the border of Beaverton? Since we are only looking at the City of Portland, we won't get into suburban development.
In the last six weeks I have learned a lot about the old streetcar system, but there is a ton of missing information. As far as I can tell John Labbe's Fares Please! Those Portland Trolley Years and Richard Thompson's website and book are the only sources out there. Some of you posted questions about streetcar routes through your part of town. The map my project partner and I developed will answer some of your questions, but not all. Unfortunately, it is not complete. Some of the inter-urban raillines, like the Springwater, West Portland (up to Hillsdale), and Oregon Electric (out to Multnomah Village) are missing. The biggest challenge for us centered on these particular raillines routes - for the most part they did not use streets, which posed a significant challenge to draw accurately. The Springwater would have been the easiest to draw since it followed the current trail alingment, but we didn't want to only look at one inter-urban line and not include the others.
So we are left with a map that documents as many on-street raillines that served the City of Portland from 1880-1950 that I could find and verify. I'll publish the map and our analytical report on the blog. Keep an eye open...
Bike History in Amsterdam
I know, I know - this is a blog about Portland's history not Amsterdam's, but as I was biking up Highway 30 from Northwest to the St. John's Bridge I started to think about our city's self-congratulatory stance on the bicycling infrastructure.
We undoubtedly have come a long way in building a comprehensive bike network since 1990 (if you want some statistics to prove our development, click here), but we have a long, long way to go. For example, our bikeway network includes miles of bike lanes along Highway 30 from NE 11th to NE 178th and many more miles on the west side, from Northwest Portland to Linnton and beyond. Unfortunately, these are not useful or realistic bikeways; they are dangerous, inaccessbile, and completely marginalized. Now I know that when the city was getting the bike program and master plan developed they looked to streets that could easily accomodate bike lanes without signficantly impacting automobile traffic. So roads like Killingsworth in North Portland (also known as Portland Highway or Highway 30) with a wide right-of-way we're easily retrofitted with four-foot wide bike lanes on either side. I think that was a wise strategy then, but now we need to revisit those decisions in light of what we know about what really gets people on bikes and what makes for a safe bikeway. The fact is, Portland has largely built its bicycling infrastructure on non-controversial, inexpensive projects that squeeze bike facilities into current right-of-ways without inconveniencing drivers.
Which brings me to Amsterdam.
I know very little about Amsterdam's, and the Netherlands' in general, transportation history. After the Oil Crisis in the 1970s, the federal government chose to implement a national program to encourage bicycling. I am also marginally familiar with the cultural, topographic, spatial, architectural, and urban design features that help make Amsterdam and the Netherlands more amenable to biking. Still, what bike facilities existed in Amsterdam when they started their bike program in earnest? How did they develop their bike network? When, if ever, were the difficult decisions made?
Portland often looks to Amsterdam as both a goal and an example for biking (see these Oregonian articles by Jeff Mapes for more information). If we are to learn anything from their current world-class bike facilities, we ought to know something about the development of those facilities. If Portland really wants to grow beyond that 5% mode share mark, we're going to have to make tough decisions about our bicycling facilities.
We undoubtedly have come a long way in building a comprehensive bike network since 1990 (if you want some statistics to prove our development, click here), but we have a long, long way to go. For example, our bikeway network includes miles of bike lanes along Highway 30 from NE 11th to NE 178th and many more miles on the west side, from Northwest Portland to Linnton and beyond. Unfortunately, these are not useful or realistic bikeways; they are dangerous, inaccessbile, and completely marginalized. Now I know that when the city was getting the bike program and master plan developed they looked to streets that could easily accomodate bike lanes without signficantly impacting automobile traffic. So roads like Killingsworth in North Portland (also known as Portland Highway or Highway 30) with a wide right-of-way we're easily retrofitted with four-foot wide bike lanes on either side. I think that was a wise strategy then, but now we need to revisit those decisions in light of what we know about what really gets people on bikes and what makes for a safe bikeway. The fact is, Portland has largely built its bicycling infrastructure on non-controversial, inexpensive projects that squeeze bike facilities into current right-of-ways without inconveniencing drivers.
Which brings me to Amsterdam.
I know very little about Amsterdam's, and the Netherlands' in general, transportation history. After the Oil Crisis in the 1970s, the federal government chose to implement a national program to encourage bicycling. I am also marginally familiar with the cultural, topographic, spatial, architectural, and urban design features that help make Amsterdam and the Netherlands more amenable to biking. Still, what bike facilities existed in Amsterdam when they started their bike program in earnest? How did they develop their bike network? When, if ever, were the difficult decisions made?
Portland often looks to Amsterdam as both a goal and an example for biking (see these Oregonian articles by Jeff Mapes for more information). If we are to learn anything from their current world-class bike facilities, we ought to know something about the development of those facilities. If Portland really wants to grow beyond that 5% mode share mark, we're going to have to make tough decisions about our bicycling facilities.
Portland Bike History, 1972 - 2005
In my other life I am a capstone instructor at Portland State. Capstone courses are required for undergraduates and the class mainly focuses on a group project that serves a community organization. My course deals with bicycle and alternative transportation issues in Portland, and this term we are undertaking a historical research project for the Portland Office of Transportation. This is the first part of what I expect to be an in-depth research project.
The students are currently wrapping up their research and we'll present PDOT with a database cataloging every Oregonian article dealing with bicycle issues from 1972 - 2005 and a report analyzing our data. I'll make these items available on this site.
My hope is that this work will lead to documenting Portland's recent bicycle history. We are in a unique position right now. We have enough distance from some of the significant events of the recent past to think about them historically, but we are also close enough to actually learn from the people who played signficant roles. I am thinking about people like Mia Birk, Portland's former Bicycle Program Coordinator, who's work led to the city's dramatic increase in bicycle infrastructure (see my post on Portland Bike History for more information). Birk has many great stories about her time with the city, but if you want to hear them you have to register for her bike and ped planning course at PSU. I want those stories recorded and accessible to future historians who examine Portland's development and ask, "How did a relatively wet, hilly, and cold city get 25% of its residents on bikes?" (Hey, a historian can dream right?...)
The students are currently wrapping up their research and we'll present PDOT with a database cataloging every Oregonian article dealing with bicycle issues from 1972 - 2005 and a report analyzing our data. I'll make these items available on this site.
My hope is that this work will lead to documenting Portland's recent bicycle history. We are in a unique position right now. We have enough distance from some of the significant events of the recent past to think about them historically, but we are also close enough to actually learn from the people who played signficant roles. I am thinking about people like Mia Birk, Portland's former Bicycle Program Coordinator, who's work led to the city's dramatic increase in bicycle infrastructure (see my post on Portland Bike History for more information). Birk has many great stories about her time with the city, but if you want to hear them you have to register for her bike and ped planning course at PSU. I want those stories recorded and accessible to future historians who examine Portland's development and ask, "How did a relatively wet, hilly, and cold city get 25% of its residents on bikes?" (Hey, a historian can dream right?...)
More on Historic Streetcar (continued)
First off, thanks to all of you who commented or emailed me with ideas on where to track down the historic streetcar maps. The maps from the City of Portland site, which includes the 1890 streetcar network and several other snapshots, can be found at the Oregon Historical Society. If you do a search under "Transportation Network 1890" you can find them easily. They are actually hand drawn maps, done in 1973, by a city employee and they are quite large. In conjunction with Richard Thompson's fantastic website, we've been able to start overlaying the streetcar lines onto a current Portland map.
OHS has other good maps, but they are essentially not duplicable. So be prepared to bring some paper and sketch away (its what I did).
The image in the top right corner is just our first attempt to digitize the streetcar network in 1890. Click it to see a larger image. I'll keep you posted...
More on Historic Streetcar
I am working on a project right now with a fellow PSU student, Ben Kinkley, to overlay the historic streetcar lines on a current map of Portland. The idea is to determine how the streetcar system impacted Portland's development, particularly urban density.
I am really interested in looking at the Springwater corridor (probably because its one of the few places I know where we've had a streetcar line). Did population density change when the line stopped operating? Has the trail changed residential patterns? How about the widening of Johnson Creek Boulevard?
I plan to post our findings here, or perhaps on a mutual site created by Ben and I.
To all you readers out there, I ask: Anyone know where the historic streetcar maps of Portland might live? The City Archives, you say? Nope. Oregon Historical Society? Maybe, I'll find out today. Chime in if you've got any ideas...
I am really interested in looking at the Springwater corridor (probably because its one of the few places I know where we've had a streetcar line). Did population density change when the line stopped operating? Has the trail changed residential patterns? How about the widening of Johnson Creek Boulevard?
I plan to post our findings here, or perhaps on a mutual site created by Ben and I.
To all you readers out there, I ask: Anyone know where the historic streetcar maps of Portland might live? The City Archives, you say? Nope. Oregon Historical Society? Maybe, I'll find out today. Chime in if you've got any ideas...
Interstate 5
While Oregon lore is full of stories about the defeat of the Mt. Hood Freeway, you don't hear quite as much about the building of Interstate 5. And with the Interstate Bridge taking center stage in the news lately, now is a good time to think about the entire I-5 corridor and how it has impacted Portland and its neighborhoods.Following the same pattern of development as many other U.S. cities, the interstate in Portland cut through a predominantly African-American neighborhood, essentially bisecting the community and dislocating many residents. While this was the mold used in U.S. cities, other countries did not run their major freeways through densely populated areas. For example, in the March 2001 Journal of Urban History, in an article titled "The History of American Cities and Suburbs," Lionel Frost writes,
In the 1950s, when American cities were building freeways lavishly, Toronto built a subway system. The freeways that were built there stopped short of entering the inner neighborhoods. There are several reasons why these cities developed as they did: they did not have access to federal funding for freeway building; in Australia, gasoline taxes are much higher. A more fundamental explanation for this distinctiveness lies in the choices that cities made at crucial stages in their histories, which took them along different paths and created conditions that shaped future decision making.Did American cities have the same discretion that these Canadian and Austrailian cities had in federal transportation planning? From my understanding, the first American city to fight against a federal project was Boston in the late 1960s, where city officials and citizens oppossed the Inner Belt expansion project. Was it the experience of the earlier built interstates that gave the people of Boston (and later Portland, with the Mt. Hood Freeway) the ability to fight against new freeway projects? Did anyone fight against I-5's construction here in Portland?
Regarless of who ultimately controlled the decision making process, I am interested in the main actors here in Portland and on the state and federal levels that made I-5 a reality. How did the decision making take place? Who was included in that process? Were there any local, state, or federal politicians involved, or was this simply a project designed by engineers that met no resistance from elected officials?
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