View of Portland taken winter 2006-7, during a lot of growth and development.I used to be a Big-city girl, or thought I was. Then I went to Middelburg, and now big cities... scare me a little.
My sister keeps laughing at me, for example, because I can't remember how to jaywalk. I encountered maybe .5 traffic lights on an average day in Middelburg. Actually, less, because they only time I had to cross a street that had a traffic light was on my way to the library or the train station, and I did that less than once a week last semester.I'm never used to traffic when I come home for vacation.
But it's even worse now, because Portland is bigger than ever.
I mean, really. Portland used to be a small-big city. Now that's changing, and it's becoming... a big city. According to wikipedia (not the most reliable resource, I know, but I'm too lazy to do the proper research right now), the city is closing in on 600,000 residents, and the metro area as over 2 million. It's the 23rd largest metro area in the United States. (Still wikipedia. Sorry.)
But the numbers wouldn't mean much if they weren't so apparent on the street.
Taking the interstate MAX home from Overlook Park to the Rose Quarter at 1 pm on a week day, the train was pretty full. I mean, there were places to sit, but far fewer than I would ever expect on that line.
Every time I've taken MAX downtown from NE 7th, it's been hard to find a seat. No matter if it is day or night, no matter if it's weekday or weekend, those things are packed.
Which is good. Portland is green. People take public transport.
But seriously! When I was in high school, you could take the MAX anytime outside of rush hour (and maybe weekends) and there would be plenty of free space.
And then, on Friday, my family drove out to Beaverton to meet my Dad at his work and have a picnic.
A lunch picnic, mind you. This was not Friday rush hour; this was Friday at about noon. And the freeway was already packed. It wasn't a traffic jam, but it felt like after the next corner... or the next one... it might slow to stop-and-go. It was insane.
The most concrete proof, however, of this population growth came yesterday. We drove out the Historic Columbia River Highway to Hood River, to show my second cousin Misa, visiting from the Czech Republic, the stunning natural beauty of the region. On the way back, we planned to stop at Multnomah Falls....
...and couldn't.
Because there were too many people.
As in, ZERO parking places.
A little further on, we were lucky to grab one of two available spaces at the lesser-known Wahkeena Falls instead, but really. There were only two.
Granted, it was a summer Saturday. But that never used to be a problem.
2 comments:
More people are taking public transportation now because of the economy. You should never jaywalk. I hardly ever do, because I know several people who have been fined a fuck-ton of money for jaywalking, even when there weren't any cars. These bored, anal cops are hiding somewhere ready to catch you!
As for more people taking public transportation because of the economy, I believe that, but there's still WAY MORE CARS everywhere than I ever remembered. As for jaywalking... well. I don't do it that much because I'm too scared :P
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