Biking Is For Everyone!

It seems that all these Portlanders commuting on their bicycles everyday is it's own advertisement. Many people who would have never, ever dreamed of leaving their car at home are now getting exercise and saving money. After all we are one of the most bike friendly cities in the country, why not try it out?

Last year volunteers counted over 12,000 daily bike trips across the Hawthorne, Broadway, Steel and Burnside bridges. That is 8 percent more than 2005 so now bicycles are accounting for 1 out of every 10 vehicles on these bridges.

The popularity is growing by leaps and bounds. While many still ride just for recreation, it's becoming increasingly more common to run errands or commute to work on a bike.

Because of this trend of fun AND functionality the bicycle of choice is more often the hybrid. The hybrid bike is a blend of mountain bike and racing bike. This way they are adaptable to both bike paths and the street.

The stars have aligned to make bicycling so big. The cities efforts to increase the bike lane and path networks have played a major role. Long time riders are encouraging friends, family and neighbors to try it out, perhaps because of the obesity crisis. Major bicycle brands are now coming out with hybrid bikes, recognizing the trend of recreation AND functionality the average rider wants. Lastly, gas prices are still crazy and with our city set up with an alternative, not to mention bike prices decreasing, it's hard to complain when there is something you can do.

The Oregonian, Tuesday, August 21, 2007, Living pg B1 & B5

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Tigard Plaza

Tigard voters approved a Downtown Improvement Plan in May 2005 which includes improvements to Fanno Creek Park and a plaza for Tigard residents to call their own. The city council will soon be getting together to decide on a location for the new plaza. The possible locations include the carwash on Main Street directly across from Burnham Road, the Dolan property between Stevens Marine and the Tigard Liquor Store on Main Street, the liquor-store site on the southwest corner of Main Street and Burnham Road and the most likely choice which is the Stevens Marine property on Burnham Road. The council is leaning toward this last location because the opportunity for development nearby is greater. The adjacent areas could hold condominiums and shops.

The idea is for Tigard to have a visible, central location that all can go to. It will include an amphitheater, fountain, a public gathering spot and a farmers market. It is just in the idea stage right now so breaking-ground won't be for 2-5 years.

The Oregonian, Wednesday, August 22, 2007 pgE3

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Washington County Commuter Rail

TIGARD is getting a Washington County commuter rail which seems great for those who’d like to leave the SUV at home but for those who already live and work on the streets that it could possibly show up, it can mean a permanent commute out of Tigard.

One of the proposed stops on this line is 74^th/Bonita but because there is a train crossing near there already they are thinking banning left turns on Bonita, by way of a median to avoid traffic back-ups on the train tracks. The problem is that there are many long-standing, small businesses on these streets that would be negatively impacted by limiting the access to their buildings. Some of these businesses have large trucks that have to do regular deliveries, often during rush hour. The other street option is Durham and if you haven’t see Durham during rush hour, check it out and you’ll see why that is not an attractive option.

Some of the businesses are saying that they have paid thousands in traffic impact fees that could easily be put toward a light at the 74^th/Bonita intersection. The tempers certainly were not dampened by the fact that no one from ODOT showed up to the meeting to discuss possibilities.

Tigard City Engineer Gus Duenas suggested that the 74th property owners could form a local improvement district to pay for the signal. Some feel this would be unfair simply because the local business owners weren’t even asked if they would like to have a commuter train there. It’s is hard to feel that your voice is being heard when these issues aren’t even brought up till the very last minute, the line is scheduled to start running in a little more than a year.

Worse case scenario local businesses get driven out of Tigard, then where would these commuter trains be going?

http://www.tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=118722958772203800

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Wine For The Rest Of Us

For the first time in Oregon’s history, the amount of wine consumption is actually comparable to beer consumption. The wine industry in Oregon is growing in a big way and a lot of that has to do with getting the attention of the younger generation. It is certainly about time with all the great wines we have locally.

To help facilitate this new trend are a couple of national wine store franchises called WineStyles and Vino 100 going up in places like Beaverton and Hillsboro. Now even the casual drinker is wanting a little education and these stores are helping disperse the snobbishness that previously kept people away. They do this by streamlining the process of choosing a bottle of wine. If you group your wines by flavor description instead of region then the less educated buyer will actually have an idea of what they are looking for. Also, most bottles are priced lower for more accessibility.

The interior of the stores are fun and inviting and filled with comfortable stools and chairs. They don’t want you to just stop in, the idea is for you to stay for a tasting or a live band performance.

With all the new construction going up in Hillsboro and Beaverton there will be plenty of locals to lure.

http://www.examiner.com/a-877354~Wine_franchises_demystify_wine_drinking_and_buying.html

http://www.vino100portland.com/

http://www.winestyles.net/linkframe.asp?wt=+&l=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ewinestyles%2Enet%2Fbeaverton

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Home Prices Dropping Nationally

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Schiller, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, had a press release and it doesn't look good. The annual growth rate in prices of single-family homes has been declining since December of 2005. There seems to be no indication of slowdown or turnaround and the U.S. hasn't seen levels this low since 1991.

On a positive note, of the 20 markets included 8 of them showed monthly positive growth. That is huge when you compare it to winter and early spring where there was only one or two showing positive growth. The really good news is that Portland is one of the markets still showing growth. So while the whole country is in decline and people are complaining about the housing market remember, we don't have it nearly as bad as we could!

http://www2.standardandpoors.com/spf/pdf/index/CSHomePrice_Release_May1235.pdf

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