-27,2015
C o m m e n ta ry
Page 11
Transportation partnerships can benefit all
BY GERIK KRANSKY
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
F | transportation, getting from point A to
J point B, is a simple part of people’s
daily lives, yet it has a complex impact
on our communities, physical health and
family budget The intersection of
transportation and poverty can be even
more complex.
Finding the best mix of public investment,
safe streets, affordable housing, economic
opportunity and
transportation choices
Gerik Kransky is the
to improve people’s
advocacy director fo r
lives could fill a
the Bicycle
graduate level
Transportation
Alliance.
curriculum in public
policy and community
development. While
people in Portland are living in poverty, our
public agency partners and community
leaders are actively trying to find solutions
to basic life challenges of creating affordable
housing and safe transportation choices.
As you read this issue of Street Roots,
one such effort is underway, the
development of a new high-capacity transit
project along Southeast Powell Boulevard
and Division Street. Our region’s leaders are
planning to develop new and improved
transit sendee between downtown Portland
and the city of Gresham. People living along
the improved transportation corridor will
receive more frequent and reliable transit
sendee and safer options for walking aiid
biking While Tdcfeg^ the threat oTbeirig " d
displaced by increasing property values.
Strategies exist to mitigate these types of
impacts, and now is the time to get serious
about building inclusive public process and
protecting our most vulnerable-populations.
For example, requiring community benefit
agreements among jurisdictions, contractors'
and developers as they invest public
resources can be ah effective way to reduce
potential community impacts by committing
resources to develop permanently affordable
housing and increasing access to good
paying jobs.
For example, if a private developer buys
land adjacent to the new high-capacity
transit line because they think it will provide
a good return on their investment, our
region’s leaders should ensure that a
portion of that private profit is returned to
the community. This can take the form of
permanent affordable housing as well as
guarantees that contractors provide living
wage jobs, locally sourced job training
programs and hire minority and women
employees. We can create economic
opportunities and community benefits
through policies that focus both public and
private investment. These benefits can
accrue in addition to the improved
transportation safety and options of the
original project
Many other tools will have to be used to
ensure that the benefits of public
investments are shared equitably and the
burdens are not disproportionally placed on
a select group of people. One challenge
developing this type of approach is building
enough power among affected residents to
counterbalance the self-interest of large-
scale homebuilders, some of whom push for
private profit over community benefits.
One place where we can find a
commitment to this type of work is found
page 19 of the 2012 Portland Plan: “Where
disparities in service delivery and
community development programs are
found, change policies arid priorities to
mitigate disparities ...” There are other
examples of policy direction to ensure that
we consider the benefits and burdens
development projects have on our
community’s most vulnerable populations.
Now is the time to put these policies into
action, before the earthmovers change the
landscape and pour new concrete into place.
Leaders are emerging in our community
to give voice to the systemic
disenfranchisement of our most vulnerable
populations. In the not-so-distant past
examples of improved transportation
About this series
This commentary is part of a series that
looks at the intersection of
transportation and poverty in Portland’s
metropolitan area. It examines where
we are and where we might be going
and poses questions for the future of
our communities.
infrastructure have resulted in
disproportionate impacts in certain
neighborhoods. These community-based
leaders are pushing government to do more
to protectipeople of color and low-income
families.
One such group is the Welcome Home
Coalition, a collection of people and
drganizations focused on finding solutions
for people experiencing homelessness and
preventing displacement. At the Bicycle
Transportation Alliance, we are thrilled to
be one of the newest members of the
coalition, even while we work to figure out
what that means for us as an organization.
We are working to understand the
relationship between advocating for safe and
convenient access to bicycling and
supporting affordable housing. Whether the
solutions exists in community benefits
agreements, bigger coalitions or a new
approach to meeting our shared5
transportation and housing needs, we will :
keep looking for solutions.
As the hew Powell/Division Transit
Project moves forward, we will continue to
learn from community leaders and engage
with professionals in government to help
develop safe and convenient transportation
choices while we work to protect permanent
affordable housing. The range of issues is
complex and the solutions can be politically
challenging, but the more we talk openly
about who benefits and who pays, the closer
we will get to finding equitable solutions.
MURALS, from page 7
of a mural because I think they either
thought of a community mural that’s a
historic sort of thing or they thought of
graffiti, which for them was just a nuisance,
so to show examples of what it could be
just creates an environment that’s more
friendly to it.
A.G.: Why is public art important?
G.H.: For me, I think it just makes the
city a better place to be. It just brings more
culture, interesting things out for people to
enjoy. You don’t really have to seek it out
in (your) every day. It’s just something you
can happen upon. I think visual art,
performance, music, theater, I think all
that stuff’s just what makes the city a
desirable place.
A.G.: Are there any locations you're super
excited about getting painted this year?
G.H.: Yeah, there’re a few more
downtown walls than we have in the past
There’s the corner of (Third) and Stark.
There are two walls that are adjacent to
each other that I think will really transform
that block. I’m painting out on 82nd this
year. I painted downtown last year, so I
think it will be cool to be in a different part
of town.
A.G.: Do you have a favorite FFTT mural
that’s been done so far?
G.H.: I really like the DALeast one
that’s over here at 840 Southeast Third. I
think5 that’s 'beep iriy favonjte one mosi ' 77
recently. I really like Spencer Keeton f f
Cunningham. He did the rattlesnake over
on ADX, and he also did the second one
over by the Rose Garden above the freeway
there. I like black and white work a lot, and
I like things that are maybe pushing the
edge a bit more or are kind of weird, which
is kind of reflected in my work a lot. You’d
think that everyone likes the same type of
thing, but that’s something I learned really
quickly is that I think oh, everyone’s going
to want this artist, but I just lay out all the
artists and there’s someone for everyone
really.
—
' s i s
!« » « » « i I ü I
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