[IHEARTPDX]

Congrats to Sam Adams for winning the mayoral election (sans runoff)...I think it's awesome that Portland is the largest city in North America with an openly gay mayor (elect). Less than half a dozen cities (with over 100K people) in the world have openly gay mayors: Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Providence RI, and now Portland OR!

[MarkDaMan]

Sam will be GREAT for the city...time to dust off the I-405 capping project!!! Vera's back in da house! (or at least her influence)

Would be kinda funny if Sam made Vera his chief of staff.

[IHEARTPDX]

I was wondering what happened to the i405 capping...I would love to see that happen! Even if it was done piece-meal 1-2 blocks at a time.
Vera was a maverick! I would love to see her give her 2 cents every now and then...

[RED_PDXer]

The I-405 capping will happen sooner or later, but it shouldn't cost the public a dime when it happens. There's plenty of developable land in the central city available now. Eventually, land will be so valuable, that developers will come forward and pay for the right to develop over the freeway and in the process develop public infrastructure and a few parks over the freeway.

Oh, and congrats to Sam! I'm wildly optimistic that he'll be the finest mayor we've had in a long time and at the very least better than our current mayor. I guess I'll take my "I'm with Sam" yard sign off the lawn this weekend..

[rsbear]

The I-405 capping will happen sooner or later, but it shouldn't cost the public a dime when it happens. There's plenty of developable land in the central city available now. Eventually, land will be so valuable, that developers will come forward and pay for the right to develop over the freeway and in the process develop public infrastructure and a few parks over the freeway.

Oh, and congrats to Sam! I'm wildly optimistic that he'll be the finest mayor we've had in a long time and at the very least better than our current mayor. I guess I'll take my "I'm with Sam" yard sign off the lawn this weekend..

Well put, on both counts! :)

[tworivers]

I agree, I was relieved last night. I went to the victory party. Wasn't crazy about the band playing, though... Apparently Potter showed up for less than 5 minutes to shake Sam's hand, but somehow I missed that.

I'd like to see 405 capped too, of course, but I think burying (or, preferably, saying fuck you to the feds and simply removing it) Eastbank I-5 should take priority. The river should be our grand central boulevard, the lifeblood of the city. That was one of the things that Cloepfil talked about at Jimmy Mak's: how much our disconnection from the river denies PDX the chance to be a truly great city, and how we need to get rid of the riverbank freeway and get people living, working, and traveling on and between the river's edges.

But anyways... congrats to Sam.

What do you all think about the Council races?

[Holden West]

I see Councilor Robert Liberty won re-election. He is up here in Victoria right now for the Gaining Ground Summit (http://www.gaininggroundsummit.com/victoria/victoria_speakers.htm#Liberty) where he gave a presentation in front of our a large group of our city's leaders. The local paper did a feature (http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/sports/story.html?id=0fa80cd6-a2cb-4532-a43c-465b31f92c03&p=1) on him today. He seems like a pragmatic guy who knows how to get things done.

It was good to hear his dose of reality because Lord knows so many people in Victoria insist that Portland has solved homelessness and traffic problems (despite never actually visiting Portland). I think it's interesting as Portland and Victoria seem to be watching how the other will deal with its social problems.

[pdxskyline]

Congrats to Sam! He's done better than his predecessors, winning outright without a run-off and making history! I have met him once or twice, and he is certainly a great guy and the best suited to the job out of the whole lineup on the ballot. I am very happy, as that under Potter, big things were stalled under his lackluster leadership as he pushed his "big-mayor" plan. Vera got things rolling that mattered with the powers granted currently to a Portland Mayor, and now Sam will do the same with the existing rules, not go on a crusade to change the way the city is set up.

BTW, his election night party rocked. It was such a blowout that they ran out of plates for all the excellent food (best campaign party food, btw!).

Maybe we'll see I-405 capped, or I-5's eastbank monstrosity fixed. However, I prognosticate that he's going to get the Portland Streetcar expanded. It'd be nice to have all those things, but he'll have an easier time getting streetcars to more places and getting the Burnside/Couch couplet done. It's going to be tough to get the I-405 and I-5 issues toward a definite resolution. I feel, at the least, if he doesn't take the lead in getting one of those done, Sam will likely get the process started on one of 'em if enough people get passionate about doing something about the two biggest eyesores in town.

Transportation and development fans scored a big win (despite chris Smith losing the city council spot :( ) on the 20th! :cheers:

[alexjon]

He's made no effort to veil the fact that he's expanding the streetcar, which rocks.

Streetcar > Potholes

[RED_PDXer]

I'm not excited about about any of the council seats going the way they did. at least we still have a chance with sam's seat to get charles lewis in over amanda fritz. she doesn't excite me at all. she's ran on a platform of being a neighborhood organizer. that screams of NIMBYism to me. I'm going for Charles Lewis all the way.

As for Sam, I'm afraid streetcars may be his undoing if he doesn't approach them right. They're expensive and slow. How they're funded, where they go, and what bus service they replace is crucial to the public perception and the actual success of the lines. One thing is for sure... the current federal government has no intention of funding streetcars (which is fine by me).

[PacificNW]

⇑ A new administration begins in January. (Demo, I hope.) Funding criteria for mass transit projects could be in for a change...considering the price of fuel, and the great need to reinvest in our infrastructure. (Do I hear Blumenauer, or Hales, for Secretary of Transportation?)

I agree that the streetcar is slow but how many people really want to walk from the outer east side, or Lloyd Center, to downtown and back...?? I understand there are people who would rather walk, and more power to them, but some don't have that ability or will.

[westsider]

MAX already goes from Lloyd to downtown, and with the proposed Burnside streetcar crossing there are already a million buses that cross the river there. I don't think anyone walks across the river unless they want to.

[NJD]

Sam got a shout out at Streetsblog NY yesterday:
http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/05/22/portland-elects-cyclist-mayor-obama-draws-8k-supporters-on-bikes/#more-3956

[PacificNW]

I understand that MAX serves the Lloyd Center area but I doubt the proposed streetcar would use the same route....anyway, there still is the East side that could use the streetcar.

[seaskyfan]

Congrats Portland!

[Sioux612]

Potter was very anti-MLB to Portland. I have to wonder where Sam Adams stands on a possible pro baseball team moving to Portland.

[urbanlife]

Potter was very anti-MLB to Portland. I have to wonder where Sam Adams stands on a possible pro baseball team moving to Portland.

probably somewhere between vera and tom. I personally think streetcars should be running all over portland again. So more power to Sam getting elected mayor. It looks like portland is in a position to be well represented for its young population. I expect a stronger public transportation infrastructure, a stronger push to sustainable design, and a stronger push for affordable housing.

I think it is time to reshape the PDC, they helped rejuvenate this city, it is time for them to provide housing for the large amounts of young people that are flocking here.

[MarkDaMan]

probably somewhere between vera and tom

What makes you come to that conclusion? I see Sam as very favorable towards professional sports because it markets the city. Something Sam knows about. He needs accomplishments before he runs again in 2012, and MLS, NHL, or MLB will be a nice feather in the cap.

This guys is going to push streetcars, pro-sports, education, and neighborhood improvements at the same time. He'll be working 100 hours a week to improve Portland. He is kinda like a young Vera, or as one paper said, very similiar in ambition to Goldy (unbecoming personal actions aside, Goldy was a brilliant thinker when it comes to urban concepts. I believe without the rape, he could have become a two term Governor, brilliant Senator, maybe even POTUS)