http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=33012
Look up for fixes to all our problems
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This is probably as good a time as any to say I’ve seen the error of my ways and have come to support the Portland aerial tram — which, as many of you probably know, I originally opposed, thinking it was nothing but an expensive ski lift for doctors between OHSU and a condo development on the river.
True, at $45 million, the projected cost is now triple the original estimate, and it gives every promise of going even higher.
But as I’ve come to realize, it’s clearly such a good idea for the city as a whole that serious consideration should be given to building not just this one, but many, many more.
For example, how about one from OHSU to City Hall, so the good doctors can drop by at discrete intervals to pay their respects to the City Council members who approved this excellent project?
And from there, perhaps to the Pearl — say, the front door of the armory, where the taxpayers are fronting a $10 million theater for former Mayor Vera Katz’s favorite musical comedy troupe.
Surely, our commissioners, no less than the doctors on the hill, deserve to get from point to point in this city without having to endure the indignity of a ride through traffic.
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And if even I can see the merits of this exciting 18th-century mode of transportation, imagine what the bright guys and gals who came up with the idea in the first place are thinking now.
Of course, we’ll need one to the convention center — and the new convention center hotel, which the visionaries over at the PDC would like to build with $800 million in public money.
And from there, by golly, how about an express tram straight to another well-known city money pit, PGE Park?
If you think those conventioneers are going to flock to Portland to just to stay in a hotel, think how crazy they’ll be to come here when they hear there’s an aerial tram link to a Triple-A baseball game.
And that’s just for starters. Once you really understand the concept, it’s not much to imagine the entire Rose City crisscrossed with a veritable network of aerial trams.
As former Mayor Katz once said: Why, it could be our picture postcard.
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Yes, I know what you’re thinking: This could probably get a little expensive.
That’s what I thought at first, too.
But once you really understand this thing, it’s easy to see that the guys over at the PDC had it figured out long ago when they created all those urban renewal districts.
When you set up an urban renewal district, all the new tax money generated by the increased values goes to PDC-picked projects, like the tram.
In fact, about the only drawback that I can see is that once that happens, then none of the money so generated can be used for less glamorous projects like schools or law enforcement.
But let us not quibble.
What we obviously need to do here, if we are to make this aerial tram network a reality, is declare the entire city an urban renewal district.
Of course, we’ll probably ending up having to pay the startup costs ourselves, as we already have with the doctors’ ski lift. And who knows how much more in infrastructure costs?
But what’s a few more million when it comes to progress like this?
Contact Phil Stanford by phone at 503-546-5166 or by e-mail at Email Phil Stanford
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