We just need to give everyone amazing tank wheelchairs! I ran into this dude yesterday at East Portland Sunday Parkways. He said a friend custom-built him the electric-driven chair. In a city with 65 miles of dirt roads and a distinct lack of sidewalks east of I-205, a tank wheelchair certainly makes an excellent gift.
Sarah Shay Mirk
Sarah Shay Mirk reported on transportation, sex and gender issues, and politics at the Mercury from 2008-2013. They have gone on to make many things, including countless comics and several books.
Posted inBikes
City Zeroes in on Alta to Run Portland Bike Share
GOTHAMIST For better or worse, here we come! The Portland Bureau of Transportation announced today that it has chosen Portland-based company Alta Bicycle Share as the finalist to run the ambitious bike sharing system that aims to roll out across Portland next year. The city chose Alta over river B-Cycle in part, it seems, because […]
Posted inNews
Is Portland Better Off Now than it Was Three Years Ago?
This week, the mayor’s office and the Portland Development Commission presented the city’s three-year status report (PDF) on the economic development plan Mayor Sam Adams kicked off in 2009. The report paints a rather rosy picture of the city, especially given the recent report of Portland having the highest underemployment rate in the country among […]
Posted inPortland
Where Did that “Young People Go to Retire” Joke Come From, Anyway?
This week in the paper, I wrote about two Portland State University researchers who dug into the “Portlandia hypothesis” about the city being where “young people go to retire.” The studies are really interesting and you should go read about them, but I was wondering what the people behind Portlandia think of all the hubbub […]
Posted inDrunk
Police Want Old Town Bar District to Go Car-Free On Weekends
Cutting through NW 3rd Avenue on weekend nights is a bonkers experience. In the space of a few blocks north of Burnside, rather intoxicated patrons of bars like the Barrel Room, Dirty, the Dixie Tavern, Tube, and Yes/No spill out into the street, talking, smoking, balancing on tiny heels, getting into fights, popping their collars, […]
Posted inPortland
Imagine the Real World, But Filmed by Actual Portland Hippies
Are you sick of the Real World: Portland, yet? Good, because some kids on NE Emerson are shooting their own reality show in a house known as The Treehouse. “From an awarded poet, to a small business owner to a band about to launch their second west coast tour the lives of these individuals are […]
Posted inPortland
Goodbye, Slovenly Newsracks of Downtown!
In Future Portland, the jumble of newsracks that stand on streetcorners may be a bygone. Last week, under a plan to clean up downtown, the Portland Business Alliance cut the ribbon on the fancy new racks that will replace the individual stands with boxes that hold a eight newspapers (including the Mercury). Behold! Four of […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
It’s a Deal! The real NFL refs are back in the game after signing a contract yesterday. Are Polls Biased for Obama? There’s no trusting the early polls that show Obama has a lead—keep holding your breath. Not Exactly a Good Talking Point: Mitt Romney has said privately that he’ll repeal Obama’s no-torture policy. Big […]
Posted inNews
Bike Business
Portland Study Shows Cyclists Make Good Customers
Portland study shows cyclists are valuable customers.
Posted inNews
The Real Portlandia
Research Shows We’re Not “Retired,” We’re Underpaid
Research determines Portland is not slacker central.
Posted inBikes
No Criminal Charge or Ticket for Driver In Fatal Crash With Kathryn Rickson
On May 16, 29-year-old Kathryn Rickson was killed in downtown Portland, just a block from city hall, when she and a truck turning right onto SW 3rd Avenue from Madison collided as she was biking east on the same street. Today, the district attorney finished its investigation into the crash (PDF). The result? The truck […]
Posted inSexual Politics
The Moral Case For Sex Before Marriage
Writer Jill Filipovic has a great, short piece about why having sex before marriage is good for our morals. Basically: Sex makes us much happier people. Much, much happier. You should feel okay about having sex as consistently as possible, because the average brain is certainly better for it: 95 percent of Americans don’t wait […]