Planner’s Notes

Bensen Bubblers are sprinkled all about downtown Portland.  Young, old and even dogs use them to quench their thirst.  Water flows freely from 6 am to 11 pm daily all year round.  The Bull Run watershed has been the city’s water source since 1895.  Almost 53% of the watershed is classified as ‘old growth’ and has never been logged.   Rain, not snowmelt, provides 90-95% of the water in the watershed, averaging 130 inches a year.  It’s 1 of only 2 untreated metropolitan water supplies in the country.  The water tastes great!

Portland, Oregon did just that…the City removed 2 parallel on-street parking spaces and replaced them with racks that serve about 20 bikes. 

Nearly 1/3 of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the US come from transportaton sector, making it the nation’s largest end-use source of emissions .  Transportation GHG emissions are a result of 3 drivers - vehicle fuel efficiency, fuel emissions & how much people drive, as measured in vehicle miles traveled (VMT).  In June, the Center for Clean Air Policy published their analyses of reducing GHG emissions through smart growth, transportation choices and transportation pricing.  They estimate that comprehensive application of best practices could reduce VMT per capita by 10% in a dozen years.  Click here for the full report.

It’s not just for motorized, vehicular traffic anymore.  What a great concept…pedestrian modeling.