Question: How does a car dependent community such as West Linn become more 'sustainable'?
Part of becoming a more sustainable community depends on providing services that people need and want in places that do not require personal transportation. This is a serious challenge in West Linn due to our topography and our city “by-laws
All very excellent ideas Maureen. Just so you know however, Route 35 does go in to PDX without going through Oregon City. I don't know if you were aware of that or not.
As a side note, Metro is conducting a corridor study of Hwy 43, in an attempt to revive the Willamette Shore Trolley. Unfortunately, West Linn is not part of the process and if it goes through Tri-met will very likely discontinue bus service north of Lake Oswego. That will mean at least one, and possibly two transfers to get in to Downtown PDX. West Linn gets short shift again.
I have filed a request for an investigation by the FTA, but so far isn't getting much attention from the FTA. You might consider contacting Brian Newman to let him know we deserve better representation than this.
Thanks Curt, I was aware that Bus Route 35 goes into Portland but from Hidden Springs (top the hill) one would have to walk down & back up Hidden Springs to Rt 43 and while I've done that before, as I get older and bad weather, this does not make an attractive alternative. I believe there use to be a bus that went from Safeway Plaza area to Oregon City where one could transfer to the 35 bus. But, I believe that service is no longer offered because there weren't enough riders.
The Willamette Shore Trolley would be a nice alternative to driving or bussing into Portland, however, it still does not address the communities that are not directly on Rt. 43.
I'll see if I can contact Brian Newman as you suggest. Take it he's with FTA.
One thought that small businesses might adopt would be to fall back to the kind of 'scheduled neighbourhood delivery' that was common up through the 1950s.
Here in Victoria BC, vegetable farmers used to send a produce truck around to each neighbourhood either daily or on a regular schedule and do tailgate sales of fresh produce. This is much more energy efficient than either on-demand delivery or customers each driving to the store individually.
The same principle could be adopted by almost any retail goods business -- particularly if unemployment rises, and most households once again have someone home to do the tailgate transactions.
Ah the 50's! I remember back in Ohio, we had a milkman, a bread man and "The Fuller Brush man". We didn't, however, have "scheduled neighborhood delivery" from farmers but then most of our neighbors were farmers. Today, the closest thing we have to "tailgate sales" is grocery store delivery but as you say "on-demand delivery" is not as energy efficient. I'm looking into Co-housing as an alternative life style. In such a community, they will buy in bulk and resell to the members of the community. And, of course, they will have their own garden and orchard for most of the fresh produce. One does not have to belong to a Co-housing or commune to enjoy these benefits. Existing neighborhoods could plan and grow different foods and then share or trade with other neighbors. They could buy in bulk and resell to their neighbors on a weekly and monthly basis. However, until we educate people to turn the lawns into garden space, this is not a very viable solution.
West Linn is topographically challenged making it somewhat difficult for crosstown bicycle or pedestrian traffic. So what can the city/individuals do to enhance transportation options here in West Linn?
I'm trying to organize a Peak Oil group in West Linn (Portland, OR). I've screened End of Suburbia a couple times and I have given a brief presentation to a couple groups. I will be giving mroe presentations in the future, to local neighborhood associat