Here's a roundup of what WWP is reading and doing today -- an unusually busy summer Thursday.
You'll never eat alone: Turns out Portland isn't the only place where the food police want to control your every bite.
You'll never surf alone: WWP wasn't the only one who noticed the new iPhone "apps store" bugginess. [Amigo Cliffdweller has more to say on the subject.]
Pearls of wisdom: Here are some blog comments that perfectly capsulize what is wrong with "The City That Works." It's tempting to print more, but we'll limit ourselves to just two:
What too few people understand is that this is precisely the point of our planning regime around here. The unavoidable result of the urban growth boundary is to drive up density in the city, especially around transit. We don't extend the boundary, but by state law we have to plan for growth. That is done by "up-zoning" our existing neighborhoods.
And the point of transportation planning is to make it miserable to drive and park. These are actual objectives of city staff, barely concealed, and we pay them to do this to us.
And:
Isn't it bizarre that city staff and the council seem more interested in serving the hypothetical residents of these neighborhoods 20 years from now then the actual living people of Portland today?
So many planning decisions don't serve current Portlanders at all. In fact, they make livability worse for current residents. So who do they serve? Believe me, appearances aside, planners have no love for developers. That's not who they're doing it for. So who?
So strange that the system has evolved to serve imagined future residents rather than the people living here now...
Might there be a revolution brewing? Finally. [Read it all here.]
Blessed be the ties that bind: WWP loves his church.
Blessed be the tie that binds: WWP loves his church -- even if it means interminally long, boring meetings. [Read about WWP's lifelong amigo and favorite episcopal candidate here.]
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