Sunday, October 24, 2010

Rail~Volution 2010

I’ve just returned from Portland and four wonderful days of Rail~Volution, a conference that brings transportation professionals together once a year to “Create a national movement to develop livable communities with transit.”  Two thumbs up to the organizers – it was an excellent event.  I learned a lot and met some good people.  The folks from Pittsburgh, Vancouver, and Portland were my favorites (other than the Denver crew that is).

So I’m going to share a few photos from a few jaunts around Portland.

As always, I love the random and sometimes silly stickers and paintings on signs, cars, and walls. Denver seems to be lacking in this area and I know because I’m on the lookout.

This was taped to the greeter stand at Kenny & Zuke’s deli.  I enjoy stick figures and have been pondering the drawing’s origin – a small-breasted (and lop-sided), wild-haired woman throwing the horns with a seemingly complacent dog. It’s amusing.

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These three were in various spots:

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This is from the back of a Prius, obviously.  I was unusually delighted by it’s lighthearted nature.

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There were also some less-random bits of art that I noted – tile work on a wall surrounding a park and a mural:

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I ate at some of the food carts near Pioneer Square.  The weather was moist and chilly in the mornings until just after noon and I was drawn to the soup and grilled cheese cart.  The day I visited it was serving a Hungarian mushroom soup and a cheddar, gruyere, and goat cheese grilled cheese. So, so tasty and satisfying.

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A few days later, Lacy (a friend and now co-worker) and I got a similar lunch at a food cart on Williams in Northeast Portland.  No food pic, but here’s a photo of the “cart.”

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Right across from this cart was a walk-up window for ordering coffee.  It was aptly named a “ped-thru” as opposed to a drive-thru.

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On Monday I took a mobile tour by bike of Portland’s green streets and bikeways.  The weather was amazing, the company was great (can’t go wrong with those that want to get on a bike!), and we saw some interesting and innovative stuff.  Near the end we took a break at a park and the tour guides had arranged for coffee and pastries.  The coffee was served by a coffee-by-bike sort of thing – Trailhead Coffee Roasters.  Quite good coffee but I did burn my tongue (user error). 

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Walking around Portland in general was such a treat, especially this time of year.  The trees were turning and leaves were falling. We were so impressed by the size of some leaves we got these photos.

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We also came across this huge elephant-on-elephant art in one park:

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Finally, we rode and ogled at the streetcar:

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Portland, I love you.

1 comment:

  1. I too enjoy random street art, especially that which is intricately placed for viewing by pedestrians. I think the key to the presence of such things in a city is a certain threshold of pedestrian activity. After all, artists want their work to be seen.

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