[tworivers]

This should be great> and it's free.
His blog is always worth checking out: http://pricetags.wordpress.com/

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The City of Portland Office of Transportation and Portland State University welcome

GORDON PRICE

Mr. Price is Director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University, a former five-term Vancouver, BC City Councillor and an entertaining speaker on land use and transportation.

He will speak on Wednesday, November 29, from 6:40 - 8:40 p.m. at the Portland Building Auditorium, 2nd floor, 1120 SW 5th Avenue, Portland.

Attendance is free, but arrive early, as his presentation is popular.

[SPOKANITE]

He was in Spokane last month to discuss how Vancouver is blending urban universities and compact growth to create more sustainable and vibrant neighborhoods. His presentation was fantastic. You won't regret hearing him speak.

[zilfondel]

Man, the libertarians are just not on the ball today!

People, this is Gordon Price, social engineer extroardinaire from Vancouver, Canada! Get with it - this guy is beyond being a mere pinkie, but one who is dedicated to destroying the very way of life for all Americans - those who drive and those who wish all they do is drive!

[cab]

Its funny because Mr. Price is actually part of the Pro-Business party in Canada.

[zilfondel]

I saw it tonight. Very good.

[PDX City-State]

Its funny because Mr. Price is actually part of the Pro-Business party in Canada.

Why is that funny?

[MitchE]

I went and it was excellent. His blog and magazine is a good read too.

http://pricetags.wordpress.com/

[zilfondel]

I chatted to Mr. Price for about 30 minutes afterward; some loon/blogger from portlandtransport (I believe) was arguing with him for at least 30 minutes prior to that... quite annoying.

He had a rather good presentation tying together urban design, peak oil, global warming, land use & high density towers, convenient mixed use neighborhoods, etc. Of course, his speech was generalized to make big impacts in backwards cities in the US, so he kept saying "but here in Portland, you guys are doing pretty good" all the time.

You could tell he realized he was preaching to the choir... and we're only one step behind Vancouver in terms of planning (and in fact our trains offer much greater coverage in our metro than does Vancouver). Their built environment has about 20+ years over us, tho.

[cab]

Because being pro-business and pro-urban development are one in the same in Canada. Here in US the liberatarians connect business growth with unregulated sprawl.

[tworivers]

I was there too. I thought the presentation was good, with some great questions afterward. Definitely the kind of thing more people need to be exposed to... but probably won't be.

[westsider]

I chatted to Mr. Price for about 30 minutes afterward; some loon/blogger from portlandtransport (I believe) was arguing with him for at least 30 minutes prior to that... quite annoying.







Do you mean Jim Karlock?

[zilfondel]

No, it wasn't him. Some other guy... I have seen pics of the almighty "JK," so I would know...

[tworivers]

That was Paul Edgar. He is a bit loony, but his criticisms of the Columbia Crossing bridge project process are right on IMO.

I saw Karlock strolling into the city building the other day and felt sorry for whoever was going to have to deal with him.

[westsider]

I don't know, he has some good points sometimes. Not to say he isnt a little abrasive.

[zilfondel]

Mr. Price's entire point of his presentation that if you don't apply congestion charging (aka tolling) to roads and highways, you're going to get unrestricted congestions. Infinite demand + limited supply.

Paul Edgar kept talking... not really arguing... against the idea, saying it wouldn't be politically acceptable in Portland, to which Mr. Price basically said "this is reality, this is what causes congestion, of course people will drive when the next trip is free! Charge for congestion or stop complaining about traffic." Which took about 30+ minutes for it to finally sink in for the poor guy... =\

[Drmyeyes]

Paul Edgar is the local guy, and he's pleading a case to not impose tolls in an attempt to counter congestion? That's the voice of reason. I don't know much else of what Gordon Price is about except what I've picked up here, but imposing tolls is a screwy notion for curing congestion unless you make them so high only a small percentage can afford them.

Also, tolls as an attempted cure for congestion would take more of the form of a penalty for having to travel to where you need to be rather than an incentive to use another less congestion producing mode of transportation to get there.

People have to get to where they need to go. Rising gas prices should be able to illustrate that routine expense doesn't really reduce driving.

Here's a more intelligent way to counter highway congestion: Make mass transit fares cheaper during peak commute hours.

But hey, maybe Mr. Price has some rock solid statistics to back up his theory.

[MarkDaMan]

Cheaper rush hour fares is brilliant. With a MAX extension to Vancouver, 10 min max waiting times between trains, and moderate tolls that increase during rush hour to pay for the new bridge, I think, would decrease congestion.

[tworivers]

His latest issue of Price Tags is mostly about the ongoing synergy between Vancouver and Portland. "Mutual Admirers: How Portland and Vancouver Exchanged Looks"

http://www.pricetags.ca/

Also covered by Brian Libby on his PDXarchitecture blog.