You're The Dictator Of Portland And Have $20 Billion...

[jlousa]

I said it doesn't answer the question in my post, besides if I were the dictator of Portland and Had $20Billion that is what I'd do. Being a dictator I'd be free to do as I please, and that could include leaving with the money.

Besides this thread can't be taken too seriously I mean look at the scenario.

[nobody]

If I'm representing the city in some official capacity I'd spend it all on transportation. Bury the MAX downtown, add more streetcar lines, add a sexy bridge if I had the money. Things like that.

If I'm a private party with a ton of money I'd buy the central Eastside (say everything below 12th from Broadway to Salmon or so and convert what I could to living areas and build a ton of apartments/condos and office areas for small local businesses. Hopefully have a drag of nightlife type area as well.

Both of those would probably take more than $20B, I really don't know, and they're not very fleshed out ideas, but that's what I'd do.

[Okstate]

Wider sidewalks: I cannot count how many hood-rats I have had to literally step over while in Portland. I am specifically NOT talking about run of the mill homelessness either...(that is an issue that needs to be dealt with KINDLY) I am talking street-kids and you all know them...you know the ones that need to have a dog accompanying them and they are talking about why American corporations/government sucks all the while drinking their McDonalds drink and waiting for their welfare check. I understand a city has appeal with its grittyness but come on... when a group of people dressed in clothes made out of blankets while smoking their numerous packs of $4 cigarettes (hoping everyone catches the irony) blows smoke into my four year old child's face. Final point, I'd settle for wider sidewalks.

public school improvement: This world could use a lot less "Oh my gosh!" and "dude..dude man..man dude what do you want to do tonight dude" Case in point. If you ever have to give an interview in your life to a recent high school or dare I say college graduate, ask them if they consider themselves "tenacious". Chances are you'd get a "huh?" afterwards.

[philopdx]

I'd love to see 405 capped. More light rail, maybe down to Lake Oswego or out to SW somehow (Barbur?). A major expansion of that dedicated bike trail system (the one that goes along 205).

Somehow funnel some of that into PSU's budget to kick it up two notches on the pedigree scale - a few famous tenured profs perhaps? Set up an boutique alternative-energy engineering school, or create a department withing an existing school. Set up an Anazari X-prize type deal on an annual basis to give prizes for auto efficiency, or the most efficient solar panel, etc., etc.

Set up a fund so that any kid with a B+ average can get a scholarship to college, good teacher recruitment and retention program, a nationally renowned center for at-risk youth.

Also set up some type of indie endowment, so that one lucky prominent Portland band per year would get paid handsomely for creating music, and be the national representatives of our music scene.

And a dream of mine, to somehow, some way hook up a Portland urban trail to the Pacific Crest trail. I'm sure if we could get it to Troutdale, it could be done. Just think, being able to hike to Mexico and Canada from Pioneer Square.

A while we're at it, how bout some kind of subsidy and design competition for new Portland's tallest? Have our local guys go to the mattresses with Norman Foster - that would be cool. Oh yeah, and how bout a Norman foster treatment of the new development just north of South Waterfront?

And, how about getting the high-ish speed rail running between here, Seattle and Vancouver. Nothing too futuristic, just 130 mph or so, kind of like in England.

Getting the summer Olympics hosted here, that would be fantastic!

Finally putting in speed bumps or a footbridge or something so you can cross burnside in Forest Park without becoming road kill!!

[vjoe]

-Ban personal motorize automobile from downtown between Willamette and 405.
-Leave arterial roads for commercial vehicles and repave smaller streets with brick, cobble stones, or some other nice bike friendly surface.
-Put in moving sidewalks.
-Buy 25,000 Gingers - free to use downtown. Oh yeah, they are called Segways now. Maybe get some golf carts too.
-Build huge underground parking structures under East Bank and Goose Hollow.


Use left over money to attract green, creative, alternative energy, tech, bio, and other businesses to come to Portland.
Also figure out a way to utilize the River better. Look at this picture for example. Venice has a lot of boat traffic too.



Lastly, since I'm the dictator, I get to issue passports and ban anyone from my Portland utopia.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by vjoe

Buy 25,000 Gingers - free to use downtown.

LOL! That phrase reminds me of the South Park I watched one the other day where Cartman creates the 'ginger kids' (ie redheads) movement...episode had me rolling!

[Downtown_Gal]

Originally Posted by vjoe

-Leave arterial roads for commercial vehicles and repave smaller streets with brick, cobble stones, or some other nice bike friendly surface.

Oh please no cobble stones! Cobble stones + high heels = certain disaster!

[smendesPDX]

haha Gingers.

[edirp]

Has there been any recent talk of capping 405?


Dallas is about to embark on freeway capping project that will create a downtown park:
http://www.wrpproject.com/swf/main.htm

[urbanizer405]

Is this $20 billion for just the city of Portland or the entire Portland metropolitan area?

[MarkDaMan]

Apparently, whatever floats your boat.

[Joeplayer19]

I would give Sam full control off all the cash.

[zilfondel]

OP: bored much?

[Chicago3rd]

Cover 405 and dig a second level below it so there is a double decker underground Interstate
Eliminate I-5 downtown by moving it to the lower level of 405.
Take the Max down Grand between the Blueline and inner Milwaukee line
Create incentive to extend downtown over to Grand....highrises mixed-use of course.

[EastPDX]

... give us HSR for Vancouver to Eugene plus land purchases down to the CA border so we are ready to connect to the CA HSR system. HSR would stay on the East Side of the Willamette River to keep expenses down and have a straight shot through PDX. A Main Transit Station near the Rose Quarter and the new Hanna SMART Tower is all close together. I would put it all below grade under the Memorial Coliseum (might have to be rebuilt as a MLB Stadium).

COST for HSR: $5B
------------------
Stadium for MLB: .5 B at Memorial Coliseum or Blanchard
Stadium/parking/brewpubs for NFL: .5 B at Lents industrial land SE of Foster/I205
Natural Museum at OMSI: .25 B
Opera House near South Park Blocks: .25B
Amphitheater/Parking Structures/restuarants at Lents Park: .25B (supports NFL stadium parking requirements, amphitheater is conversion of AAA ballpark)
Water Park at Wilsonville: .25B
------------------
Move I-5 off of the Willamette and move rail freight below grade (I-5 tunnel under the Willamette; below grade along 8/9th to I-84 (or tunnels); then two tunnels under the Lloyd District to meet current I-5 alignment North of NE Broadway; on and off ramps to support freight movement in Lloyd District and CEID. Opens up land for development from OMSI to Lower Albina area.

Cost of I-5 Move and Rail Freight realignment: $4B
Cost of parks for Eastbank: $.10 B
(New development on former I-5 alignment: $4B of new tax base)
------------------
LightRail and Streetcar expansions and new lines:
LRT expansion to Forest Grove, Troutdale,
New line on 99W to Tigard with branches to Sherwood/Wilsonville
New line to Damascus on Powell/Foster

Streetcar lines on Burnside out to Mall 205, MLK/Lombard to St. Johns, 11th/12th from Lloyd Center to Powell, 39th from Hollywood to Reed College, Sandy Blvd from Hollywood to Parkrose, Hawthrone/Division out to 82nd
Cost: $5B
-------------------
Electric overhead Bus lines: SW 185th, 82nd, and 122nd
Cost: $.9B
-------------------
Light Rail/Commuter Rail in Willamette Valley to connect all major cities to HSR (in Salem/Albany/Corvallis/Eugene)
One Commuter line to Bend
One Commuter line to Lincoln City
Cost: $3B


Thats $20,000,000,000 to help get us over this latest recession/depression (New Deal II)


Ep

[zilfondel]

Originally Posted by bvpcvm

funny, i was just dreaming the other day of obama getting into office and redirecting all that war money to rebuilding infrastructure at home.

with $20 billion... here's the stuff everybody mentions:

replace the marquam with a tunnel, which of course means a tunnel under the central east side.

cap 405 as much as possible (btw, in your plan it goes up to lovejoy, but by that point it's actually quite high above the ground; glisan is, i think, the last street it passes under, but whatever).

cap i-84 from the river to at least ne 12th, with most of the room used for parks. more bridges across i-84, where possible.

max *and commuter rail, munich u-/s-bahn like* in tunnel thru downtown.

lrt out barbur (assuming transit projects currently in the pipeline are funded some other way).

electrified, or at least dual-mode, commuter rail to salem, scappoose and newberg/mcminnville, all the way thru to downtown.

max down powell, i suppose. oh, and take the parking lots/vacant space on the south side of powell from 50th to 205 and put high-density family housing/mixed use, commieblock style if necessary to keep the prices down (hey, i've lived in them, they have an undeserved bad rep). possibly try to do the same along inner sandy, parts of lower hawthorne that are semi-industrial anyway and probably some other streets, like mcloughlin.

streetcar throughout inner portland, though with more widely-spaced stops, especially along macadam, hawthorne, sandy, broadway, mlk, lombard, burnside (e and w), and of course nw 21st. 39th, too.

another bridge over the willamette, up by the fremont, for local traffic, bikes, transit. the fremont certainly gets you across the river quickly, but if you're not in a car it doesn't do any good at all. and there are times when i'd like to actually go from the pearl to mississippi but left the hummer in the garage.

money to relocate the community colleges to TOD developments - i want a bigger pcc campus at omsi and maybe on the pps property by broadway/weidler, move sylvania to downtown tigard, and rock creek --> quatama or somewhere else along the westside max line. mhcc to downtown gresham. oh, and ccc to near mcloughlin/205 so that lrt will eventually serve it. in fact, while we're at it, money to move all government services so that they're near transit.

initial subsidy, if needed, for a bike sharing program like paris's velib.

political will to make sure lufthansa and klm don't kill those flights to europe.

Wow, these are some great ideas that I agree on. Perhaps I'll come up with an expanded list of things too that I want...



*EDIT*

EASTPDX: Those are also some excellent ideas.

[RED_PDXer]

This is exactly why we no longer serve a King.. big, glamorous projects like stadiums and subways would be built while the less glamorous items that serve more immediate needs (like road and bridge maintenance and schools) get deferred.. I think we'd end up spending $20 billion just fixing existing infrastructure..