You know, I've been wanting biotech to take off in Portland for quite some time now, as I'm a out-of-state researcher with family in the Portland/Van area. But even I, much as I hope this would stimulate biotech development, think this is a hideous idea. Ugh Ugh Ugh. If Portland wants to boost biotech, this isn't the way. If they want to move people, this isn't the way. What's the third strike? Oh yeah, waste of money.

JBog, think the line from Fast Times at Ridgemont High: "U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi. You're ugly, you're ugly..."

Addendum 1: please replace "a" with "an" in the 1st sentence above.

Addendum 2: Can we mention the psychological joy of riding an elevated tram, on skinny supports, that has been subject to budget trimming? "Hmmm, maybe we can save another million by making these struts a little narrower..."

I'll continue to play my role as the repeating broken record on this issue. How can you base a transportation plan for a major development merely on a gimmick that only moves people between businesses? Yes, some people will live in the South Waterfront area but a whole bunch of the people working there will not. As of late I have yet to hear how the city plans to move traffic through or to this area. As a Brooklyn resident we fear the large uptick in traffic past/through our neighborhood to get across an already at-capacity Ross Island Bridge. Of course the Oregon Department of Transportation which controls Powell Blvd..errr.Highway 26 would probably just prefer to turn Powell into another freeway like McLoughlin just south of the Ross Island Bridge.

Uh -- what's a shizzle?

and how does it affect your Nizzle?

With the cost of a tram ballooning (hey! how about using tethered hot-air balloons to move people between Up There and Down There?) and nearly doubling, it's time for the City to revisit using a tunnel and high-speed elevator. The tunnel would be about 1600 feet long if it follows the Gibbs Street alignment. Stick two moving sidewalks inside it, build an elevator at the top end like the ZOOmer, and they're good to go. Lots cheaper than $30 million.

Build the tunnel wide enough to handle a train track, and later on it can be connected to the light rail or to the streetcar.

I don't think the people who voted for Measure 30 or any of its predecessors are that wild about it either.

Well, someone's got to defend the damn thing, so I will. Is it necessary? No. Should we build it if the choice is between a tram or health care? No. But I don't think that's the choice at all. We build things all the time that aren't strictly necessary but that add value to the city. The tram is the kind of showcase amenity that just might convince high-flying biotech firms to locate in the S. Waterfront. In the scheme of things, its cost is a drop in the bucket. It's the kind of gee-whiz thing that differentiates Portland from other comparably sized metro areas that don't have the same cachet. In short, it's the kind of thing that makes Portland Portland.

How's that for a half-assed defense.

Newark would not buy into that Tinker-Toy-looking thing. Besides, that contraption would last about one day in Newark.

I don't know how all the OHSU-types would get up the hill every morning, but it seems like the Zoo Bombers should be able donate some bikes and get them down every afternoon at significantly lower cost.

I think Brett has made better than a half-assed defense of the tram.

And as for the Newark example, I think not building things like trams and planning for the redevelopment of "brownfield" sites like South Macadam and planning for keeping "Pill Hill" in Portland rather than Hillsboro is something that would happen in Newark. If we don't do these kind of big vision things, we'll end up more like Newark ourselves.

If you think the rich West Hills docs of OHSU are going to move their shop to Hillsboro because they don't have an aerial tram, you're about as gullible as the city commissioners.

as for shizzling someone's nizzle....i think everyone ought to figure out what the slang means before they say it...try looking up those words at www.urbandictionary.com...you might be surprised and somewhat ashamed...

I had no idea what it means. Here's what the dictionary says: "Fo shizzle my nizzle" means "I concur, my african american friend."

Is "nizzle" the N-word? I don't get it. For the moment, however, the shame is not upon me. I'm willing to revizzle this, however.

look up nizzle...and as i understand it, nizzle is the "N-word".

Oh, I see that now. O.k., no more nizzle.

Shizzle.

apparently it's ok to say "fo' shizzle mah bizzle" though.

Now you tell me! I'll chizzle it rizzle now.

could always use crizzle instead of Nizzle, crizzle being cracker n all. or "alrighty, my whitey"

heh

Brent, that was a pretty good half-assed defense :) What is keeping high-flying biotechs from Portland is certainly not the lack of a tram. Trust me.

I don't doubt that. Maybe it has something to do with our new Brand Oregon slogan - "Oregon - we tax dreamers."

But even so, I think it's an item that would bolster Portland's quirky image, in the vein of Pioneer Cthse Square, MAX, the Streetcar (which I know is not popular round these parts), Forest Park, etc. I hope that we don't stop building these kinds of things because of a temporary money crunch. They will be around a lot longer than the deficit.

Pio Cthse Square was done largely, if not entirely, with private money. People paid $15 each to buy a brick.

Maybe Neil can give the tram people one of his many millions to get the ball rolling. Don't hold your breath.

I'm a resident of the Arlington Heights neighborhood and wanted to contact someone in the "Zoobombers" group. We live on a corner that the group does alot of yelling on in order to warn each other of oncoming traffic which is a real nuisance when we're awoken late at night. I don't want to spoil the groups fun by involving the cops, so instead I have a quiet solution I wanted to suggest for them to try.