Page AS
April 23. 2008
Drivers, Watch Out!
Increased awareness o f safety has also led to a
shift in term inology among local transportation o f­
Community Cycling Center employee
Nissy Cobb keeps up with demand, as
the spring rush for repairs and supplies
make it busy for the nonprofit northeast
Portland bike shop, advocacy site and
training center.
photos by
R aymond R endi . eman /
I'm P ortland O bserver
continued
from Front
crossings.
"The huge explosion in grow th o f bicyclists is a
good problem for Portland to have," says A lison H ill
G ra ve s, o u tre a ch c o o rd in a to r fo r n o rth e a st
Portland'sComm unity Cycling Center, which moved
its adm inistration to M artin Luther K ing Jr. B oule­
vard this month to make more room at its Alberta
Street location.
The nonprofit CCC, like many private bike shops
across the city, has begun drow ning in popularity
and often has a weeklong backlog fo r repairs.
Graves argues that the city is nearly through a
culture shift that w ill cause everyone to be aware o f
sharing the road and w ill lead to the necessary
infrastructure adjustments.
"In the m eantim e," she says, "w e need to do
everything we can as neighborly Portlanders, whether
w e're in cars or on a bike, to be constantly aware o f
w hat’ s ahead.”
To add to this consciousness, CCC programs
equip low-incom e commuters w ith free bikes com ­
plete w ith lights, helmet and lessons on safety.
ficials.
" It 's actually encouraging to me that they’ re not
calling them accidents, that they’ re ca llin g them
collisions, because they see there's room to make
these things preventable,” says Graves.
Other bike advocates tackle tra ffic safety issues
by prom oting citizen-initiated citations when police
officers determine a d rive r had reason to overlook
cyclists, as w ith the recent b icyclist deaths.
Local bike lawyer Christopher Heaps looks to a
P D O T study that shows a m ajority o f Portlanders
wanting to bike regularly but declining to do so
p rim a rily fo r safety concerns.
“ I f yo u 're allow ed not to yield, i t ’ s going to
discourage bicyclin g ." Heaps says. "W e ’ re going to
keep issuing citations until the laws are enforced by
city police.”
Graves argues that too much has been made o f the
bike-car c o n flict, and Portland has enough streets
fo r everyone to get around.
P ointing cyclists to side routes w ith a “ bike bou­
levard" designation, Graves gains hope from the
c ity ’ s plan to hold a Sunday Parkways event on
Sunday, June 22, in north Portland. The circular
route w ould close six miles o f local streets to vehicle
tra ffic from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., linking parks and places
to w alk and ride bicycles safely.
"Since not everyone can live next to the Espla­
nade, this w ill bring the Esplanade to the neighbor­
hoods," Graves says.
The activities w ill fo llo w an international Toward
Carfree Cities conference, w hich Portland w ill host
June 16 through 20 to promote practical alternatives
and transform ation o f urban infrastructure.
will meet from 7 to 9 p.m.,
Wednesdays. April 23 through
May 21. Cost is $125.
For more information, con­
clude:
Urban Riding: Get the knowl­ tact PCC’s Community Edu­
edge and confidence to ride your cation office at 503-978-5205.
bike as a commuter or longer
rider. Class gives you a basic
Bicyclists pack the
tool kit and maintenance instruc­
Eastbank Esplanade
tion. plus safety, bike maps and
during commuting hours.
more. The class will be offered
The growing numbers
from 7 to 9 p.m., Wednesdays,
often mean that 'Break­
May 28 through J une 25. Cost is
fast on the Bridges.' a
$125.?
monthly event by the
Women’s Urban Riding: All
biking organization Shift,
the information in the urban riding
runs out of supplies
class, but with a focus on
before 9 a.m.
women's concerns. The class
Bicycle Safety Classes
It’s time to dust off that bike
and get back on the road.
People can become savvy bike
riders this spring with Port­
land Community College and
the Community Cycling Cen­
ter.
Attendees will learn every­
thing they need to know to
become a master bike rider in
a few sh o rt w eek s. Both
classes will be held at the
Community Cycling Center,
1700 N.E. Alberta St.
The non-credit classes in-
PDC Expands Housing Effort
For minority, first-time homebuyers
Portland D evelopm ent C o m ­
m ission support fo r firs t-tim e
and m in o rity hom ebuyers took
a big leap fo rw a rd last week
w hen the PDC and the c ity o f
Portland were awarded $20 m il­
lio n in bond a u th o rity fro m the
state.
T h is a llo ca tio n w ill enable
PDC to create a M ortgage C redit
C ertificate program that w ill help
10 0 to 125 fa m ilie s become first-
tim e hom ebuyers in P ortland.
The program is expected to be­
com e operational on June I.
“ T h is award c o u ld n 't have
happened at a m ore c ritic a l
tim e ,” said P D C e xe cu tive d ire c-
to r Bruce W arner. "T h e recent
tig h te n in g o f the m ortgage cre d it
markets has made it more d iffic u lt
fo r fir s t- tim e h o m e b u y e rs to
q u a lify fo r a home loan. T h is p ro ­
gram provides the needed fin a n ­
cia l assistance to help these b u y ­
ers q u a lify .”
The program allows eligible buy­
ers to claim up to 20 percent o f their
first mortgage interest as a dollar-
fo r-d o lla r tax credit verses a tradi­
tional tax deduction, w hich can in ­
crease the amount o f a mortgage fo r
w hich a borrow er w ill qualify.
In o rder to p a rticip a te , a p p li­
cants must have an annual in ­
come at o r b e lo w $67,500 fo r a
fa m ily o f one o r tw o , o r $77.625
fo ra fa m ily o f three o r m ore, and
purchase a home in the c ity w ith
fin a n cing fro m PDC o ra p a rtic i­
pating lender.
The p a rticipants must also
be a first-tim e homebuyer, w hich
the Internal Revenue Service
defines as not having ow ned a
home in the past three years.
The program continues an in ­
creased co m m itm e n t to helping
firs t-tim e hom ebuyer programs
by PDC. In January, the agency
added $2.15 m illio n to its e x is t­
ing $900.000 hom ebuyer assis­
tance budget and added fiv e
new urban renewal areas to the
lis t o f areas e lig ib le fo r m o rt­
gage assistance.
For m ore in fo rm a tio n v is it
pdc.us/nhp o r ca ll a PDC loan
specialist at 503-823-3400.
Commission on New Course
continued
from Front
expansion o f the Lents urban-re­
newal area in outer-southeast Port­
land could generate $130 m illio n
extra fo r the area over the next
couple decades.
A n o th e r renewal area along In ­
terstate A venue foresees $200
m illio n in unobligated funds be­
tween 2013 and '2 4 . but the d o l­
lars must stay along that strip.
The agency is lo o k in g in to the
p o s s ib ility o f in co rp o ra tin g the
M a rtin L u th e r K in g Jr. B oulevard
p o rtio n o f the O regon C o n ve n ­
tio n C e n te rd is tric t in to the In te r­
it's causing a lot o f a ctivity around
them ," Rosenbaum says.
C itin g economic forces out o f its
control, the developers rely on
owner-occupied buildings and re­
gional partners, some o f w hich do
not yet exist, to help meet PDC 's
goals.
"O n some o f these big jobs, like
South Waterf ront and Pearl, there's
not even one firm in Oregon that's
either m in o rity- o r women-owned
that could do about 40 percent o f
that project,” W arner says.
He and Rosenbaum emphasize
that their organization doesn't be­
lieve in handouts but in making
smart change by b u ilding partner­
ships w ith other groups like Port­
land Public Schools to get a ffo rd ­
able housing in neighborhoods that
need it most by developing the
leftover empty lots.
The agency executives argue
that PDC 's approxim ately 200em-
ployees are energized to make posi­
tive changes w ith the help o f
P ortland's businesses and resi­
dents.
" It's slow -m oving; d o n 't get me
wrong, and what happened 20. 40
years ago is outrageous, but (PDC
is in) a different place than it was 20
years ago," W arner says.
state d is tric t.
"The buildings that PDC is sub­
sidizing (along M L K ) somehow
aren't leasing out like w e'd I ike. but
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