Civic Center and Millrace Park shared Designer with Failed Eugene Pedestrian Mall

Some readers here have objected to criticism of the landscaping at the Civic Center and along the Millrace, both earlier this month and also over the years.  The lack of activity in those spaces has over the years been a consistent theme.

In one sense they have a point, as it is not strictly speaking the landscaping itself that is only at issue.

It's grown in a lot (1974 & 2023)

Right now it's pretty lush and green. It could be a pleasant place; and if you like solitude, it might be a very inviting place.

The criticism is about context and edges, about the whole, and not necessarily about individual features in the landscape. It is about the way the area functions and the way the edges fail to supply users.

Here is an image from midday on Friday. It was gloriously sunny, and there was only one other person entering the area from the crosswalk at Trade and High.

Millrace Park on a weekday mid-afternoon

There was also one couple at an outside table at Gamberettis. So there were four of us total in the immediate area at that moment. Even at midafternoon on a weekday, there should be more activity!

How often do we see this level of activity?
March 12th, 1973

The designers certainly envisioned more activity.

More on Roundabouts: Eugene's Current Planning for Franklin Boulevard

The City of Eugene is in the middle of a planning process to redesign Franklin Boulevard along the University of Oregon campus. Tomorrow they have a formal Open House to discuss the latest proposal. As an absolutely current, up-to-date discussion of roundabouts, it's worth considering some.

In an ostensibly bike-friendly town, the proposal is still hampered by autoism, it turns out, perhaps even self-negating.

Franklin Boulevard at 13th and Matthew Knight Arena

The City of Eugene says:

We're spearheading a planning process for Franklin Boulevard from Alder Street to Interstate 5, including Garden Avenue. The purpose is to transform Franklin from an auto-focused state highway to a pleasant, multi-modal urban street that is safe for people walking, biking, riding the bus and driving.

Franklin Boulevard, with its wide lanes, can be an unsafe and uncomfortable street. For people who walk, bike, or ride the bus, Franklin Boulevard can be a significant barrier to getting from place to place. Because of that, fewer people choose to walk or bike to make connections between the University of Oregon, surrounding neighborhoods and Willamette River trails to the north, hindering the our long-term efforts to reach climate reduction goals. The project will also encourage new ways for businesses and neighborhoods near Franklin Boulevard to redevelop the boulevard into a more comfortable connector of places, rather than a divider.

That sounds pretty good!

The current proposal includes three primary roundabouts, at Onyx Street, 13th Avenue, and Walnut Street, staggered at every other intersection in the university district. (Nearer I-5 there are two other secondary roundabouts also, for a total of five in the current concept plan. The Glenwood area, nearer to Springfield, already has a couple in a compound intersection and weird figure eight.)

In the latest analysis and recommendations report, they talk about how people biking would us the roundabouts.

Eugene City Councilor Heading to Recall over Transit Expansion

Eugene's a funny, funny town. While the City of Eugene is moving towards eliminating new methane gas hook-ups for cooking and heat, they also have this NIMBY revolt against middle housing. The ostensible hippie progressivism has this real conservative streak.

Last night early returns on a recall effort that was specifically centered on planning for a bus rapid transit system expansion suggest the incumbent, who supported transit expansion, will be turned out of office.

Recall Petition centers transit and congestion
(Lane County Elections)

Climate advocates supported the incumbent
via Twitter

No growthers wanted her out
via Eugene Weekly

Syrett was broadly favored by climate advocates, but an old-guard no-growther, whom Salemites have sometimes cited with approval, echoed classic NIMBY arguments, hitting protecting trees, open space, and livability, and linked her to those evil developers, "a strident cabal." 

There are still votes to be counted, and further process in the courts. Former Secretary of State Bill Bradbury thinks there are problems with the petition's truthfulness and there is litigation to cancel the petition and annul the election. So this is far from concluded. 

Ordinarily we wouldn't comment here on a non-Salem election, but the themes of autoism and congestion and of anti-transit look like something people might shop in other communities, and are central interests here. We will likely check back in on this. Salem can learn from Eugene's missteps and difficulties, as well as their successes.

Previously, on an earlier stage in the disputed transit plan:

• "In Eugene, City and Transit District Collaborate on Analysis of Arterial Corridors" (2019)
• And more recently in a discussion of Our Salem, "Cherriots and Our Salem should give more Thought to Future BRT." (2022)
  

City Council, April 18th - Joint Work Session on Housing

Back in February, Eugene Weekly profiled an affordable middle housing project called the C Street Coop near downtown Springfield in the older, gridded close-in neighborhood.

Eugene Weekly, February 3rd

It's a sixplex with special sauce:

[The] home on C Street is a limited-equity cooperative (LEC), which means residents aren’t renters — they’re owners. Each of the six units has a private bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchenette, and each of its residents pays a set monthly fee to share ownership of the co-op and take on maintenance responsibilities.

Amid rising rents and an increasingly competitive housing market, the C Street Co-op offers an overlooked affordable housing model that could alter perceptions of what it means to be a homeowner. If implemented on a large scale, co-ops like C Street could provide a gateway to homeownership and wealth accumulation to people stuck at the bottom of the housing ladder, whose wages cannot keep up with rising rents.

McReynolds and the five other C Street residents share a backyard and have the freedom to landscape and renovate as they please, as long as they all agree on the details. After a $10,000 buy-in paid at move-in, each resident pays $788 a month. This covers all housing costs, including utilities, mortgage, insurance and maintenance. The six residents make up the co-op’s board and make collective decisions about everything from paying bills to security, landscaping and parking spaces.

C Street is the only affordable limited-equity co-op of its kind in the Eugene-Springfield area. But elsewhere in the country, LECs are a tried and true method for creating affordable homeownership opportunities in competitive housing markets.

The front fourplex (with duplex ADU in back)

Though it did not win an award, it was part of the recent AIA Oregon award submissions.

[T]he co-op creates six permanently affordable homeownership opportunities to folks earning just 60% of the area median income—an affordability threshold rarely achieved with ownership housing. Ownership is facilitated through a shared equity co-op, with stewardship by a community land trust which facilitates permanent affordability for the community.

The co-op is also Designed for Energy: built to a Net Zero energy standard with well-insulated 2x8 walls, triple-pane windows, and airtight construction. Add to this a ten-minute walk to downtown Springfield, and the stage has been set for a sustainable, low-carbon lifestyle.

The C Street Co-op was designed to be rigorously cost-efficient. The total project cost of $602,000 results in unit costs at less than half that of typical affordable rental housing. Further, the project required only about 10% of the subsidies of typical rental affordable housing.

On Monday, Council meets with Marion and Polk Counties, the Salem Area Mass Transit District, and the Salem-Keizer School District to talk about housing. 

Cherriots and Our Salem should give more Thought to Future BRT

Between the military ambitions of a petrostate autocrat, rising gas prices, and our need to reduce emissions, maybe it's the time we will finally reconsider our relation to petroleum.

Micro scale - via Twitter

And Macro scale - via Twitter

In a side conversation a few days ago, and speaking only personally, the person who is also Board Chair of Cherriots suggested an interest in planning for Bus Rapid Transit in Salem. That was great to see!

Surprising leading candidate - via Twitter

I had thought that Lancaster Drive was the most likely candidate as it had the highest ridership, but he suggested instead South Commercial Street might be the most promising, especially with the prospect of a forthcoming transit center in South Salem.

McGilchrist Corridor Shut Out Again

Today the Register-Guard has news that Eugene won a $19 million Federal RAISE grant for the Franklin Boulevard corridor.

Although the USDOT web page does not have a formal press release and list of winning projects, the google turns up many Senators and Representatives with local press releases on winning projects in the last two or three days. The Eugene news appears to come from Rep. DeFazio's office on the 16th. (Update: Here's the full list. It confirms Salem did not win a grant.)

There has been a roll-out and it seems clear that we would have seen a similar press release locally from our delegation if the McGilchrist project had been successful.

Phase 2 at the University

On the Eugene project, the grant appears to complete Phase 1, a section in the Glenwood neighborhood, and also to fund part of Phase 2.

Phase 2, the more interesting segment, is at the University of Oregon. You can see the oval of the new basketball arena in the lower center of the image.

You can also see the roundabouts. The project is full of them! They also propose to double-track lanes for EmX, the bus rapid transit system, which currently use one lane a little awkwardly for travel alternating in both directions. There are multiple crosswalk enhancements as well. 

Phase 1 also contains a couple of quasi-boulevard sections, with through-lanes separated by a median from a local access lane for parking and transit. (The concept picture of Phase 1 is lower resolution than the picture for Phase 2, and later a better photo/image might prompt another post as this boulevard element might be interesting. The reliance also on roundabouts might be excessive, and there might be some criticism to make also.)

The whole is a considerably more modern project design than vintage design rooted in late 20th century standards proposed for the McGilchrist project. In addition to the ongoing building projects adjacent to the University in Eugene, the Glenwood area of Phase 1 also has a lot of redevelopment planned.

In order to field a competitive application, the City likely needs to improve the concept for non-auto travel, not just for freight. The surrounding monoculture of industry may make McGilchrist less competitive also. (Our balky blue dog might also be an impediment.)

After TIGER, after BUILD, now RAISE

The City also keeps including a grant in the formal CIP, but in successive cycles, TIGER under Obama, BUILD under Trump, and now RAISE under Biden, the City has not been successful. Including funding sources like this in the CIP is excessively speculative and should be discontinued.

In a more general comment, keyed to the larger infrastructure bill, last week the City Manager seemed to indicate he knew the McGilchrist application had not been successful:

At this time, we are monitoring the national dialogue and in the coming weeks, as more details are made available, we will identify projects that could be funded by the new federal legislation. Any potential project would have to satisfy the funding parameters established in the legislation and direction from the City Council. Some potential projects that could be identified and considered quickly might come from our Capital Improvement Plan or community-generated project lists in Bike/Walk Salem, the Transportation Systems Plan, the Parks Master Plan, or other infrastructure plans. McGilchrist Street SE is our singular, federally permitted, shovel-ready project. We need about $20 million to complete it.

The City should consider modernizing the McGilchrist project so that it is more competitive and offers more safety and comfort for non-auto travel. The City should also consider modernizing the concept plans for other projects so they answer less to 20th century standards, but look forward to our 21st century needs, which include treating walking, biking, and busing not as fringey amenity but as primary mobility, with cars as increasingly secondary mobility of last resort.

See previous notes on the McGilchrist corridor here.

Movement on Bike Rental Systems; Induced Demand and Evaporation on Garbage - Bits

Here's an interesting tidbit a reader passed along from Eugene. There is movement on the statewide organization that may also be operating Salem's bike rental system in the future.

Cascadia/Forth hiring in Eugene - via FB

You may recall back in February a note about Cascadia Mobility taking over the systems in several cities. Here is concrete evidence it is happening. In Eugene, Cascadia/Forth is recruiting a mechanic and outreach manager.

Jobs for Eugene bike rental system

The jobs look to start early this summer.

Public information is still thin. Forth is all about the EV Mania and does not mention the bike systems yet on their website. So the bikes are very secondary and after-thought at the moment. Cascadia Mobility remains shadowy with no public website. 

But thing take time to ripen and mature.

In any case, this is something to watch and hopefully is a harbinger of a revival here in Salem.

Circuit Rider and Lumber King: Two Generations of Robert Booth at the Capitol

Early in January of 1921, R. A. Booth of Eugene proposed a statue to honor his father, Robert Booth, a minister who started preaching here as a Circuit Rider in 1855. Later in January on the 26th, the Legislature and Governor accepted the gift and started looking for a site.

Circuit Rider and old Capitol
April 1924 dedication program

You might recall Burt Brown Barker and his gift of the Pioneer Mother statue to the University of Oregon. The Circuit Rider is another instance of a benefactor using the personal story of a parent to figure myth as part of a more general origin story for the state. Even if it is not exactly a deliberate conflation of genealogy and history, it still valorizes one part of the story at the expense of others. It's not necessarily wrong, but it is one-sided.

R. A. Booth in Looters of the Public Domain, 1908
(composite image: page 237 and title page)

Robert A. Booth was a lumberman and civic leader with a large complex right on the edge of downtown Springfield.

Eugene's Pioneer Mother Statue, Burt Brown Barker, and the Problem of Genealogy

May 7th, 1932

The news last night from Eugene that protesters had toppled two Pioneer monuments on campus was unsurprising and also distressing. One of the statues has a Salem connection, it turns out.

On the toppling, UO gave a generally nuanced statement, albeit one certain to be dissatisfying to the protesters:

These are obviously turbulent times. While we support peaceful protest and vigorous expression of ideas, we do not condone acts of vandalism. Our country, state and campus are coming to terms with historic and pervasive racism that we must address, but it is unfortunate that someone chose to deface and tear down these statues. Decisions about the future of the Pioneer statues and other monuments should be made by the campus community through an inclusive and deliberative process, not a unilateral act of destruction. Just this week, President Michael Schill recommended that the Board of Trustees dename Deady Hall and announced to the University Senate that he was asking a campus committee to look at whether statues or monuments on campus, including two Pioneer statues, should be removed. The university will put the statues in safe storage and allow that process to play out.

The problem, which we see most directly on police brutality, is that civility has been of limited utility. The only way sometimes to get the powers to pay attention is to have a tantrum. This is a structural problem in the way formal process operates. Colin Kaepernick took a knee, and look how far it got him. Words and reason alone ought to be sufficient, but too often they are not. This is public process and civility as kitty litter: Attract dissent and critique, neutralize it, and clump it for easy disposal.

Putting the statues in storage for an analysis, debate, and negotiation is the right thing. They are not so heinous they should be destroyed or defaced, but they require something more like a museum setting, since they are monuments to a period and cultural order we no longer uncritically celebrate. Their display is certain to require more context and analysis. They don't work as bare proclamation and celebration any more.

The statue in 2007 - via wikipedia

The donor of the second statue in Eugene, the Pioneer Mother, grew up here and retained an interest in Salem history. Burt Brown Barker knew Bert Hoover as a youth. Later he was vice-president at University of Oregon.

City Council, April 27th - Pioneer Cemetery Connection

Council now operates without any in-person audience at Chambers, and they are taking written comment only. On Monday's agenda are restarting talk about a cemetery connection, considering accepting the Battlecreek Park Master Plan, and considering subsidy for affordable housing at the former State Hospital redevelopment.

These will be meandering notes, more about the way history threads through the three, and the ways we don't always do a good job honoring that history.

Capt. Chas. Bennett, died 1855, in the IOOF Pioneer Cemetery
The square in the wreath used to hold a daguerreotype.
(2014)

Council Nordyke has a motion to reintroduce study for a north-south connection through the IOOF Pioneer Cemetery. The motion does not itself take a position and merely asks for

a report to City Council that summarizes the background including but not limited to historical issues and outlines options regarding a pedestrian connection between the neighborhoods west of Commercial Street S that are divided by the City-owned Pioneer Cemetery and the adjoining privately-owned City View Cemetery.

I'm not sure I have anything new to say specifically the effort on that (see most recently here), but it does seem clear that the current effort to fence and protect the cemetery reduced, even walled off, opportunities for better public history. One writer who opposes a connection says:

Another supporting reason for the pathway is that it would provide an opportunity for families to walk through the graveyard and teach the children about people who lived in Salem in its early years. I maintain that such an opportunity already exists and I would wonder how many families are doing such a thing now. There is an easily accessible entrance to the cemetery, even if it means walking or driving a few extra blocks to reach it.

I would wonder how many families are doing such a thing now. Yes, they should wonder! Few families are doing such things now, and part of the reason is that the cemetery is fenced and uninviting, forbidding even. Any "opportunity" at the Cemetery is more theoretical than practical, not something actually used very often. If people aren't using it, then we should want to make it easier rather than to pile up the barriers like so much fencing and "a few extra blocks."

Crystal Lakes Cemetery in Corvallis, path entry
Signage:  Dogs on Leash, Closes at Dusk (2013)

In fact, many Pioneer Cemeteries in the valley are open. In Corvallis the Crystal Lakes Masonic Cemetery is open.

In Eugene, both the Pioneer Cemetery on campus and the Masonic Cemetery on a hill a little south of it are open.

Surveying Themes in Criticism of Missing Middle Housing

Next week Council will consider the first round of changes on the missing middle code reforms. (See notes for January 13th meeting on the preview. When the Staff Report comes out, there might be more to say.)

Aside from feelings and fears about change, there are some arguments that circulate, and it would be helpful perhaps to name them more explicitly. This will be very partial and fragmentary, and I do not expect to "prove" anything. My hope is that more of the debate could be empirically grounded and less emotional, and that there could be more text and less subtext. So here are some more-or-less substantive themes in criticism of missing middle housing. Maybe you will be able to extend the analysis or, if you remain a critic of missing middle housing, maybe you can sharpen your criticism. Housing is complicated, there are bits we don't understand, and it's probably not very wise to be too dogmatic about it.

Models of Change

One of the biggest themes is there seems to be two models of neighborhood change floating around:

• Abrupt and disruptive change linked to Big Developer
• Gradual change and filtering linked to smaller developers

If supporters for housing reform have an idea of markets and of neighborhoods with a more "natural" rate of replacement and transition, critics see more disruption with an "accelerated" rate of demolition, replacement, and transition. Crucially, they see Big Developers as primary agents of the disruption. They draw a line connecting missing middle housing and Big Business. By contrast, Strong Towns and other reformers have a kind of successor to the Jeffersonian "yeoman farmer," and see small scale developers as the agents of more gradual change.

Eugene criticism of HB 2001

A Salem FB discussion

A Portland twitter thread on HB 2001

On the gradual theory, an old house might occasionally get demolished, but if a fourplex is built to replace it, that means there are now three new households not trying to bid up the price on three other old homes nearby. This is a selective thinning that creates a more healthy total neighborhood ecosystem.

On the disruptive theory, Big Developer comes in and just clearcuts old homes.

If clear-cutting is really a significant threat, then policies could be adopted to incent more gradual change or to make clear-cutting more expensive. Legalizing missing middle housing isn't itself the problem; any problem would be the sudden, catastrophic change from clear-cutting. Policy could address that. (But see at bottom for some evidence from right here that the threat of clear-cutting is overstated.)

Framing on Ride Salem's Slow Start Misses Important Pieces

There's a piece today in Salem Reporter on the bike rental system, "Ride Salem leaders optimistic about bike sharing despite tepid start."

It gives some helpful context on reasons the rentals have been slow.

Using counts rather than rates is less helpful

But because the piece uses raw counts of rides, and focuses on what Ride Salem representatives themselves say, it does not illuminate as much as it might.

Industry and advocates often cite rides per bike per day as a key metric.* Earlier it had seemed that Salem had between one-third and one-half of a ride per bike per day. Industry standard right now is about one ride per bike per day. Portland's system operates right about there. Eugene's started at three rides per bike per day, and was an uncommon success by these measures.

Both Portland and Eugene's systems have not only more bikes but also more stations, and these make possible a larger number of trips. Rental bikes are especially useful when you can make one-way trips and do not have to make a loop to return the bike to your starting point.

Still, since Eugene is about the same size as Salem, even though it is a college town and has a stronger tradition of bicycling, it is an appropriate comparison.

The point about Salemites needing "time to learn" about the bike rental system and about biking points to culture and that tradition, as if it's our fault we aren't using the bikes. This appeal to the mysteries of culture is also a term less helpful in the comparison.

And it deflects from other factors.

A "virtual" hub and station on Ferry and Commercial
from late summer - but who will use it very often?
Essentially this is an ornament.

More than custom and culture, it's high quality bike lanes. The downtown stations are set on a downtown street system that remains very hostile to biking.

Eugene Sunday Streets Contended with Rain

Especially since Salem isn't doing an Open Streets event in 2019, it was interesting to check in on Eugene's Sunday Streets this year.

The full loop on 8th and Broadway in downtown Eugene
(Map and full schedule via FB)

They held it downtown. It duplicated the downtown route last year - and then they doubled the course. In 2018 it had been a simple out-and-back on Broadway, and this year they created a full loop with 8th street.

Perhaps because of funding or volunteer staffing levels, they only held one event this year, however. Previously they had had two events.

It was also shifted to September. Last year's downtown event had been the end of July. One advantage to September is that it was more accessible to UO students than something mid-summer.

But a disadvantage was on full display Sunday: Rain. It rained pretty hard in the morning, and even though it dried out some in the early afternoon, this certainly reduced attendance. (Another band of rain came in around 4pm at the end.)

There was a steady stream of people traveling the route; it was not empty. But it never seemed crowded anywhere either.

In one place car access created an interruption. The Washington/Jefferson couplet is a minor arterial and connects with the ramp system for the I-105 spur, and this was the one place where they did not do a full closure and needed flaggers to let car drivers cross the course. There are crosswalks striped on them, they've even bumped out the curb with striping and four or five wands on each side, and at least theoretically Oregon's crosswalk law is in force. But drivers zoom on Washington and Jefferson and rarely stop for people on foot in the crosswalks.

Still needed flaggers on Washington and Jefferson Streets

Broadway is a pretty well established lower-traffic bikeway, and it was not so very novel to be on it. 8th, however, is much busier, and though it has a bike lane on part of it, it's not nearly as comfortable as Broadway, and it was a little neat to be on it without cars.

WOW Hall at Lincon & 8th: Youth bands and Big Wheel course

But maybe the best moment was the hub at the Woodmen of the World Hall (more photos here at Waymarking). The hall hosts a lot of touring bands, is a home for other arts and culture, and is on the National Register. It was dedicated in 1933.

Rail History and Art in Salem and Eugene

The Downtown Advisory Board is meeting today - right now, in fact - but there wasn't a meeting packet to flesh out the agenda items. They are talking about congestion on Front Street and about the mid-block parklets pilot. There will be more to say later.

Buried a little in the minutes from May also is a note about "Handout: Capital Cornerstones – Outdoor History Panels." Unfortunately the handout itself is not bundled into the meeting packet. But it sounds like the utility wrap project that went in the SCAN SESNA neighborhood is being extended to the downtown area. That could be very nice!

So here's a couple of related notes not themselves on the DAB agenda. If you haven't been to the Train Depot lately, you might not have seen the new historical signage at it and the Baggage Depot next door.

Newish historical interpretive signage at the Train Depot

On one of them was a photo I hadn't seen before. Or, I had, but the scan from the photo in the Library's Historic Photo collection is terrible. Unfortunately the caption at the Depot is also a little thin. Without any compass direction, it's hard to orient yourself. If the photo dates from the 1870s, it must be from Waller Hall, though. Was there any other structure tall enough and early enough to give that view? The Capitol is another candidate, but it would have been a little more directly north of the Depot.

A rare image of the first Depot of 1870

Down in Eugene it was interesting to see the brand new mural (several more images in the painter's FB note) on the circa 1910 "trolley stairs" on Willamette Street at College Hill.

In Eugene, City and Transit District Collaborate on Analysis of Arterial Corridors

As City staff work on an implementation plan for the Congestion Relief Task Force recommendations, and the recommendations from the Public Transit Committee are also out there maybe a little dormant, coordinating policy and action between the City and Cherriots has seemed elusive. We resort to "sending letters" of request. This may blossom into something more, but it's also a sign of silos.

The City of Eugene and Lane Transit
collaborating on project
(Executive Summary, comment added)

Down in Eugene the City and Lane Transit may point the way to a better collaboration. Together they are working on a major plan for improving transit, reconfiguring the streets, and linking this to improved land use along the resulting transit corridor. Even if the project isn't exactly something to emulate, surely there are elements of both the process and the plan that Salemites should consider as we work on better transportation for the 21st century and to update the comprehensive plan.

Front page of the RG today

The project is evaluating expanding the existing bus rapid transit system. It's had three rounds of construction, resulting in essentially two main corridors, one on an east-west axis, the other in Springfield on a north-south axis.

EmX Bus Rapid Transit in Eugene
BRT has: Raised platform, dedicated bus lane,
bigger bus, all doors open for entry/exit,
frequent service (image via LTD)

Inside Eugene itself, the study is evaluating five big arterial stroady things for improvements. The high build alternative would be a full EmX line. A lower build alternative for improved conventional bus service is also included.

From White Oak to Blue Oak: Street Tree Transition in Eugene

Friends of Trees is cranking up for the season, and now's the time to start thinking about planting trees!

Beyond their environmental and aesthetic benefits, street trees have useful roles in traffic calming. They are full win all the way around.

This year's schedule

Friends of Trees have offices and staff in Portland and Eugene, and it was interesting to learn more about their work in Eugene recently. A recent tree walk on the southeast side of campus followed part of the Fairmount streetcar line from 1907.

Eugene's Fairmount Streetcar line 1907

On Moss Street between 17th and Fairmount tracks were still visible in much of the street.

Open Streets Salem and Eugene Sunday Streets this Weekend!

The weather for Open Streets Salem on Saturday the 22nd looks mostly good - sun, some clouds, maybe a passing shower. And if you wanted to make a full weekend of open streets fun, you could travel to Eugene for their Sunday Streets on the 23rd.

This is from 2017; there's one new center
on Norway and Winter at Jason Lee Church
(This year's map is a tiny image)

Here in Salem they've published the schedule of traveling events, and it's great to see more of them:

11 a.m. – Ride with the Mayor: Meet at the Highland Elementary School Activity Hub Info Booth for a ride with Salem Mayor Chuck Bennett and City Councilor Cara Kaser to Grant Community School!

11:30 a.m. – Nearby Nature Walk: Meet at the Straub Environmental Center booth at Grant Community School - Escuela Comunitaria Grant for a half-hour walk of nature highlights in the neighborhood!

12 p.m. – Choose Reuse, Salem Puppet Parade 2018: Meet at Grant Community School - Escuela Comunitaria Grant for a puppet extravaganza! Make a giant puppet, celebrate at the awards ceremony, and parade down Winter Street to the Salem Saturday Market. Puppet assembly will begin at the corner of Hood & Cottage.

1 p.m. – River Sangha Mindfulness/Peace Walk: Meet at the Highland Elementary School OSS Info Booth for a silent Mindfulness/Peace Walk to the Jason Lee Hispanic Resource Center!

1:30 p.m. – Meet at the Straub Environmental Center booth at Grant Community School for a half-hour walk of nature highlights in the neighborhood!

2 p.m. – Winter-Maple Bikeway Tour: Meet with Salem Bike Boulevard Advocates at the OSS Info Booth in the northwest corner of Salem Saturday Market for a bicycle tour of the Winter-Maple Bikeway route!

Eugene Sunday Streets Today, Salem Needs Volunteers for September

Though it's more "embrace the heat" than "escape the heat," if you were looking for a day trip, today Eugene is holding one of their two Sunday Streets events.

Map and schedule (click to enlarge)
via Facebook

Salem's event is later this summer - fall, technically - on September 22nd, and they're looking for volunteers. Click here for more information.

They need:

• People to distribute flyers in the neighborhood before the event
• Intersection monitors during the event
• Businesses to adopt an intersection
• Information booth staffing
• Setup and cleanup
• Water stations
• Photography

Migrating Vineyards as Climate Hedge, Eugene Steam Plant Project - Newsbits

A couple years ago there was a flurry of vineyard land sold to California buyers. The Kendall-Jackson empire was the most notable participant. There were others also.

in 2016

The article about the sales, as did the piece celebrating 50 years of local Pinot Noir in 2015, missed an important part of the story, however.

in 2015

Finally, a piece in the Sunday paper today addresses it a little. "Wineries seek hedge against climate change." It was off the AP wire, and was about a global trend, and not specifically about Oregon and the Willamette Valley.

Not Erasing the Driver, Public Bike Success - In the News

After more investigation and the results are made public, there may be more to say later about the shocking hit-and-run crash on a sidewalk in Portland near PSU.

It's certainly not "an accident." It takes too much intent and multiple decisions to drive fast and up on the sidewalk in that urban area, and then to compound things with the choice to drive off.

The rhetoric itself in the news stories, especially in the headlines, reflects this:

"Driver rams 3 women"

"Driver plows into people"

AP story on page A6 of the SJ