Portlandia

 

The Rose City, Portland, Oregon, has consistently achieved high ratings as a bicycle friendly city.  Recently, Adventure Cycling rated Massachusetts higher than Oregon.  Having ridden in both states, all I can say is "them ol' boys" over at AC need to spend more quality time with Boston drivers before reaching such a conclusion.  Before getting there, Portland (for me) was enlightened residents cruising blissfully around in a utopian bubble of bike lanes and coffee shops. The truth is that Portland is a lot like most cities... a busy place filled with people trying to make a living. However, it can be said that a significant number of them do bicycle and are a bit more considerate than are drivers in most other cities. 

If you talk to a Republican, riots are daily occurrences and the city of fruits, nuts, and flakes is still on fire. I saw no evidence to support either of those characterizations.

Pedestrian and bicycle only street in downtown Portland.

Outwardly, Portland looks like a typical American city with its share industry, decaying infrastructure, ubiquitous graffiti, people who don't bike, and a large homeless population seemingly camped all over town. The nice, tree lined, and  short dead end road, where our Air BNB was located, had its own homeless inhabitant.  He was a bearded fellow whose stake was under some tall Western Red Cedar trees between the sidewalk and the parked cars.  He kept a low profile and small footprint.  If prompted, he would pleasantly engage in conversation but did not attempt to pull anyone into a deeper dialog.  He has perfected the fine art of blending into the background so as not to even be noticed after a while.  I took a liking to the fellow during our time there.

Homeless encampments like this one can be seen all over Portland.  "Our" local neighborhood hobo was comparatively neat and compact.  He would "disappear" at times, leaving not a trace.  

The bicycling infrastructure is sophisticated in Portland.  Division of the city into quadrants (NW, NE, SE, SW) and a large grid pattern of streets has allowed for the creation of "Neighborways" that favor bicycle travel.  A typical "Neighborway" as they are called, is a relatively quiet residential street with Sharrows and signage indicating that bicycles belong.

Portland has quite a bit of automobile traffic.  Drivers seem largely to be aware of cyclists, deferring to them at most intersections.  Bicyclists seem less aggressive than they do back home.  I saw very few riders   blowing through intersections and/or disregarding the rules of the road.  Out in Portland, nearly everybody seems to be pretty laid back and careful on the roads.  

Exercising the same cautionary tactics required back in Pittsburgh, I initially was caught off guard by the frequently friendly waves of drivers beckoning me to go ahead as they politely waited to move on themselves.  I was pleasantly surprised and will have to refocus upon returning home.  After a few days, I came to the realization that it is the mindset of the people in Portland, not the looks of the place that differentiates it from other cities where bicycle infrastructure has been laid down.

1970s era helmet at the Oregon Historical Society Museum in Downtown Portland.

Oregon Historical Society Museum

1200 SW Park Ave.

Portland, OR 97205

Oregon, and Portland itself have been at the task of integrating alternative forms of getting around into the transportation system since 1970.  And, they went all in.  Most other areas of the country have only been at it for a decade or two and at varying degrees of commitment.  After more than 50 years, most people in Portland seem to take it for granted that bicycles belong on the roads and deserve an appropriate level of respect.

Biketown, Portland's Bike Share program, is convenient and easy to use for tooling around town.

Biketown, the city's bike share program, has a noticeable presence.  I used the service on my first day in town to ride from the Northwest District of Portland over to the Northeastern part of town to pick up my rental for the week.  A short walk from our home base led me to a docking area with a good selection of bikes at NW 24th & Thurman.  The process for unlocking a bike and getting rolling was as simple as scanning the QR Code on the bike and entering payment information.  For a sometimes technically challenged individual such as I, pleasant gratitude was the emotion felt, especially with onlooking people sitting in nearby sidewalk cafes. Getting the photo above might have been the most difficult part of the endeavor.

At the Broadway Bridge, you will want to bear left to continue over the bridge.

For someone who had never set foot in Portland before, navigating over to the Everybody's Bicycle Shop had a couple of challenges.  Even with the Garmin Lady calling out the turns, there are nuances in every city that locals know but the new guy can easily miss.  I made a couple of wrong turns but was able to regroup and get back on course. I picked up a rental bike and was ready to see Portland.