Originally Posted by MightyAlweg (Post 7039249)

They are less likely to use public transit because public transit is dirty, inconvenient, unattractive, and slow. One look at the people waiting for a bus at a bus stop is usually all I need to remind me why I don't use public transit; they range from glum and slightly dangerous looking teens to boring lower-class worker drones to sketchy tweakers to stinky homeless men with obvious mental disorders.

Quite frankly, I don't want to have to wait 10 minutes for a bus for the privilege of sitting next to any one of those demographics for a bumpy, slow and uncomfortable ride to a stop three blocks from my actual destination.

Once most people advance beyond lower-middle class, they get a car and never look back. The last time I rode MAX downtown, on a lark in the summer of 2008 during my 20th high school reunion, I swore I'd never do it again. Between the stinky and scary homeless guys and the swearing degenerate teenagers screaming at people for looking too Gay (and as a Gay man, that wasn't too cool to live through), I really couldn't understand why anyone would want to live like that, subject to the whims and inefficient timetable of Tri-Met Supervisors and the social rejects their product attracts.

I'm quite happy in my own safe and comfortable car without the homophobic attacks, thank you. And after achieving middle class status in young adulthood, I can afford the parking fee when I drive downtown for whatever reason.

Originally Posted by MightyAlweg (Post 7039249)

They are less likely to use public transit because public transit is dirty, inconvenient, unattractive, and slow. One look at the people waiting for a bus at a bus stop is usually all I need to remind me why I don't use public transit; they range from glum and slightly dangerous looking teens to boring lower-class worker drones to sketchy tweakers to stinky homeless men with obvious mental disorders.

Originally Posted by soleri (Post 7039472)

Your post highlights my greatest worry about Portland. If you see yourself as so special and wonderful that you wouldn't even think about sitting next to "those people", you might as well be living in Scottsdale, Bellevue, or Pacific Palisades. I take transit everywhere and I'm seldom if ever bothered by the existence of my "lessers". Indeed, I think I would prefer their company to that of some junior Rush Limbaugh.

Want to ruin Portland? Make sure EVERYONE drives. Then you'll destroy the very quality of life that brought you here in the first place.

Originally Posted by 58rhodes (Post 7039823)

My son was robbed and beat up at the 162nd and Burnside stop

Originally Posted by 58rhodes (Post 7039823)

My son was robbed and beat up at the 162nd and Burnside stop

Originally Posted by soleri (Post 7039849)

Imagine Portland with 750,000 more entitled people who won't use transit because they heard about someone who got beat up and robbed at a bus stop.

Bad things DO happen, like people getting in car wrecks (over 30,000 die each year). Compare and contrast to stories like yours. We are an amazingly irrational nation.

Originally Posted by 58rhodes (Post 7039889)

Im not saying people should or shouldnt use public transpo, Im just saying that there are places --stops --routes that are more dangerous than others. Parts of Beaverton and Aloha are some of the worst as far as crime.

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan (Post 7039968)

I'm sure you must have factual data to back up that statement. Please pass that info along or refrain from making 'factual' statements that aren't based on anything but your perception.

Originally Posted by 58rhodes (Post 7039865)

Portland can be rough place

Originally Posted by soleri (Post 7039472)

Your post highlights my greatest worry about Portland. If you see yourself as so special and wonderful that you wouldn't even think about sitting next to "those people", you might as well be living in Scottsdale, Bellevue, or Pacific Palisades. I take transit everywhere and I'm seldom if ever bothered by the existence of my "lessers". Indeed, I think I would prefer their company to that of some junior Rush Limbaugh.

Want to ruin Portland? Make sure EVERYONE drives. Then you'll destroy the very quality of life that brought you here in the first place.

Originally Posted by cityscapes (Post 7040484)

I'm from the Miami area and have spent significant time in Atlanta and now live in Portland. The roughest parts of Portland can't even begin to compete with even the semi-bad parts of those cities. Whenever people in Oregon say things about a place being dangerous I just assume they have a pretty small frame of reference when it comes to crime, real personal danger, and impoverished crime ridden neighborhoods.

Originally Posted by 65MAX (Post 7040541)

This is SO true. Most locals have no concept of what a REAL ghetto/slum/barrio looks like. Rockwood, or Lents, or Old Town, or some of the rougher areas of Aloha or Vancouver are heaven compared to large swaths of major cities east of the Rockies and south of the Siskiyous.

Originally Posted by soleri (Post 7040539)

I see "interesting" things on the MAX from time to time. Say, a garrulous drunk, or a person wishing to share their music preferences with everyone else. But if you're freaked out by verbal altercations, you should probably not live in a city. I'm not sure what it is about mass transit that makes some people fear for their lives but it's not that bad. Just take a deep breath and pray to Aryan Jesus to deliver you from any unpleasantness. This, too, shall pass. And please: never go to Chicago, San Francisco, or New York City. You'll surely have a heart attack.

Originally Posted by cityscapes (Post 7040484)

I'm from the Miami area and have spent significant time in Atlanta and now live in Portland. The roughest parts of Portland can't even begin to compete with even the semi-bad parts of those cities. Whenever people in Oregon say things about a place being dangerous I just assume they have a pretty small frame of reference when it comes to crime, real personal danger, and impoverished crime ridden neighborhoods.

Originally Posted by soleri (Post 7040539)

I see "interesting" things on the MAX from time to time. Say, a garrulous drunk, or a person wishing to share their music preferences with everyone else. But if you're freaked out by verbal altercations, you should probably not live in a city. I'm not sure what it is about mass transit that makes some people fear for their lives but it's not that bad. Just take a deep breath and pray to Aryan Jesus to deliver you from any unpleasantness. This, too, shall pass. And please: never go to Chicago, San Francisco, or New York City. You'll surely have a heart attack.

Originally Posted by 58rhodes (Post 7040598)

you are right nobody in Oregon commits violent crimes--my bad:tup:
Have you ever heard of the underground tunnels in Portland???????
Do some research

Originally Posted by colganc (Post 7040594)

Spent plenty of time in San Francisco (BART, Muni, Caltrain, buses, walking, etc) and have visited Chicago (have only ridden the "L" blue and red lines, no buses). I haven't yet hit NYC, but hope to soon.

I've spent plenty of time on TriMet vehicles too. Even though I continue to use (by choice) public transit, that does not mean I will sugar coat or pretend away my bad experiences. Nor pretend psychological factors that to one degree or another effect all humans don't exist.

It sounds like you want to get as many people (including affluent persons) using public transit, biking, or walking as much as possible. Understanding what causes people to not use those methods would beneficial for you to achieve your aims.

Most of the time sticks are used to get people using public transit, biking, or walking (the option chosen is the best of multiple bad options). After better understanding what people do not like about public transit, biking, or walking it may give ideas as to how to provide them carrots (best of multiple good options) to use those methods.

When people actively choose those options over driving due to a carrot approach that is when transit ridership will be obscenely high and your goal of low car usage achieved.