Month: September 2021
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Where we embrace socialism in the US: Parking Lots
How we embrace socialism for car storage in the public right of way Florida Senator Marco Rubio has denounced President Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending program as un-American socialism. Rubio claims: In the end, Americans will reject socialism because it fundamentally runs counter to our way of life. That’s not accurate, of course. Socialism is well-established…
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The Week Observed, September 24, 2021
What City Observatory did this week Freeway-widening grifters: Woke-washing, fraud and incompetence. The Oregon Department of Transportation has been trying to sell its $1.25 billion freeway widening project as a way of restoring the historically Black Albina neighborhood that was decimated by three highways the agency built in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. It’s absurd…
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Freeway-widening grifters: Woke-washing, fraud and incompetence
The Oregon Department of Transportation’s glossy mailer to sell its $1.25 billion I-5 Rose Quarter Freeway widening project is a cynical, error-ridden marketing ploy. ODOT doesn’t show or tell about its wider freeway and more traffic, but instead tries to sell the project based on buildings it won’t contribute any money for building. ODOT sent…
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The Week Observed, September 17, 2021
What City Observatory did this week The cost of Oregon DOT’s Rose Quarter project has nearly tripled to $1.25 billion. Just four years ago, the Oregon Department of transportation sold its mile-and-a-half long I-5 freeway widening project through Portland as costing a mere $450 million. Earlier this month, it revealed new cost estimates that show…
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Another exploding whale: ODOT’s freeway widening cost triples
It now looks like Oregon DOT’s I-5 Rose Quarter $450 million freeway widening project will cost more than $1.25 billion The project’s estimated cost has nearly tripled in just four years, and still has further cost overrun risk Even OTC commissioners question whether it’s worth more than a billion dollars to widen a 1.5 mile…
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The Week Observed, September 10, 2021
What City Observatory did this week Talkin’ ’bout my gentrification. Jerusalem Demsas of Vox has a thoughtful synthesis of what we know about gentrification. If we’re concerned about poverty and inequality, gentrification is far from the biggest problem we face. Gentrification is surprisingly rare, and while it brings inequality into sharp focus, there’s precious little evidence of widespread…
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Talkin’ ’bout my gentrification
Jerusalem Demsas of Vox has a thoughtful synthesis of what we know about gentrification. If we’re concerned about poverty and inequality, gentrification is far from the biggest problem we face. Gentrification is surprisingly rare, and while it brings inequality into sharp focus, there’s precious little evidence of widespread harms. The bright spotlight shining on a…
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The Week Observed, September 3, 2021
What City Observatory did this week Portland’s Clean Energy Fund needs accountability. Portland voters approved a ballot measure creating a $60 million annual fund to invest in community-based clean energy projects, particularly ones that promote equity. It’s a well-intended program, but in practice the review process that’s been developed does too little to establish measurable…
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Climate efforts must be cost effective
Portland’s $60 million a year clean energy fund needs climate accountability Any grant writer can spin a yarn that creates the illusion that a given project will have some sort of climate benefits, but if you’re actually investing real money, you should insist on a payback in the coin of the climate realm: a measurable…