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Photographing Metropolitan Topography
“Forget the damned motor car, build the cities for lovers and friends.” ~ Lewis Mumford Similar to a piece I wrote recently highlighting the ongoing photographic documentation of bicycle culture, it...
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It’s Time to Stop Sharing the Road
You’ve heard it ad nauseam: Share the Road - a mantra adopted much by cyclists and not at all by motorists. It’s become a passive petition: vulnerable bicyclists begging for enough street space to not...
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Would Space Aliens Think Cars Are the Dominant Species?
A colleague of mine recently asked me who came up with the line, “If aliens came to Earth, they’d probably think cars were the dominant life form.” I’d heard this line before, but had no clue who...
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Revisiting ‘The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces’
William H. Whyte was ‘an American urbanist, organizational analyst, journalist and people-watcher.’ You’ve likely heard the oft quoted line, “It is difficult to design a space that will not attract...
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Columbia River Crossing Lies and the Lying Liars that Tell Them
Okay, I’m gonna try to keep this one short. After dancing on the grave of the CRC this summer, I’ve largely refrained from dragging myself through the nauseating task of tapping fingers to keyboard yet...
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The Portland Riverfront that Almost Was
While browsing the city of Portland’s auditor’s website, I recently stumbled upon a rare image with which I was previously unfamiliar. Portland’s history of halting harmful highways like the Mt. Hood...
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Portland’s Livable Street Problem: the Equity Gap
This article was originally published at Blooming Rock. Portland, Oregon is known nationally as a bikeable, walkable, livable place to call home. For many wealthier upper middle-class neighborhoods,...
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Is It OK to Kill Bike Thieves?
I’ve had two bikes stolen in my life. The first was some 8 years ago after learning that in Portland, a cable lock is not the impenetrable fortress that it is in Michigan. The second was after a long...
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The Autonomous Necessity of Graffiti
This article was originally published for the Portland Street Art Alliance. It’s been a depressing month for street art. Snagging national media attention, the buffing of legendary graffiti destination...
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Oregon’s DOT and the Banality of Evil
Sooo, this happened yesterday. The great progressive state of Oregon’s Department of Transportation tweeted out its expert opinion that dangerous driving is a behavior problem that cannot be attributed...
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Seed Bombing Little Beirut
Recently, an unidentified plant I rescued some four years ago began to flower. I couldn’t recall if it had before, but as the buds grew fuller and more colorful, they began to form purple speckles the...
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Examining Street Life Before the Automobile
Exactly when I first stumbled upon Shorpy.com I do not recall. It may have been due to StumbleUpon, actually. Once realizing the treasure I’d found, it also became apparent the vast hours of time that...
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Looking Back on Yehuda Moon
It’s been almost a year since the final strip of Yehuda Moon & the Kickstand Cyclery was published as a webcomic. Unlike other popular strips, there was no epic closure, no promise of continued...
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Another Woman Killed on Portland’s Livable Streets
Valentine Khubeyeva was killed this weekend on the streets of Portland by a GMC Yukon driven by Charles McBride. The lethal act of traffic violence took place on a section of Powell boulevard that...
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‘We Fear the Jaywalker Worse Than the Anarchist’
‘It is the self-conceited individual who thinks people are cattle and run upon them tooting a horn. Make every machine stop and wait until the road is clear. Give precedent to people who are walking....
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Rebel Metropolis Bicycle Drunk-Cast: Volume One!
Merry Chrimbus! Hopefully yesterday’s festivities were fulfilling for all and included at least a bit of riding. Okay, on with the show. Meg Brennan is a dear friend of mine. She is a writer and a...
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94 Women, 99 Bicycles
There’ve been healthy volumes of words penned regarding how fewer women ride bicycles in the U.S. than do men. Strive as many might to be gender-inclusive in the perennially male-dominated multiverse...
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David Axelrod Obviously Doesn’t Ride Bikes
Oh, how deep the depths of cycling ignorance within the minds of those who do not ride. Ask any bike advocate and they’ll likely agree, half the work of getting more people commuting via bicycle...
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Bike Share Hype as Performance Art
The first rule of Bike Share Hype is you have to talk about Bike Share. Publicly. And often. As loudly and colorfully as possible. Doesn’t matter if you think Bike Share will herald a new dawn of true...
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Unmerciful Insanity: the Columbia River Crossing
This article was originally published on Mismanaging Perception. In the last two years I’ve written over 20 articles breaking down why the Columbia River Crossing freeway mega-expansion isn’t just...
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