The Portland Peace and Justice Center's Sustainable Energy in Motion Bike Tours

Eric Fredericks • Tuesday February 21, 2006

Mark Retzlaff of the Portland Peace and Justice Center asked me if I would post an announcement about their upcoming bike tours throughout Oregon. I took a look at their website and it sounds incredible – I wish that I could go. Anyone willing to work unpaid in my place for a few weeks this summer? In all seriousness, here is a little more information about their program:

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY IN MOTION BIKE TOUR

Bike hundreds of miles. Meet incredible people. Participate in amazing service projects. Stay on organic farms and work to promote sustainable food growth practices. Study and work with Native American communities. Live with the land and camp under the stars. Change your world, one mile at a time.

web: www.portlandpeace.org
phone: 503-239-8426

WE ARE GIVING ONE OF OUR TOURS AWAY – VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO WIN!

This summer, you can take an extraordinary journey. Tune up your bike, pack your bags, and join fellow riders from all over the world for an incredible excursion across Oregon, utilizing the most sustainable method of transportation available: your own bike.

-Study and apply the philosophies of permaculture, alternative building, appropriate technology and sustainable energy.
-Spend time with Native American communities, work with salmon restoration and indigenous building practices.
-Gain a deeper understanding of how organic food is grown and distributed.
-Explore some of the most beautiful places in Oregon while learning about natural history, deep ecology, and environmental ethics.
-Observe local economics projects and grassroots democracy struggles in places through which you travel.
-Participate in a traveling community of cyclists coming from all over North America with a variety of backgrounds but with a shared longing for a better world.
-Discover consensus decision-making and use it to make collective decisions within your community.
-Learn about nutrition, health and fitness through long-distance cycling.

Visit our website for more information and to enter to win one of our one-week tours!

 

Category: Bicycling •• Region: Portland •• Comments

Portland's Innovative Residents Reclaim the Streets

Eric Fredericks • Tuesday October 18, 2005

This is one of the most interesting projects I have ever come across, and I cannot wait to visit Portland someday and see it. The idea is for citizens to reclaim the streets as public places and not just auto-zones. The project, called Intersection Repair, is best explained by their website:

How do you create a public square out of an intersection?

The community works together to make the place special. They make it a place where people want to go to, where they feel safe and welcome. They make it beautiful and interesting. They make it meaningful, an expression of their own local culture.

Is it just painting the street, or something more?

Each Intersection Repair project is the work of neighborhood residents. It is the people who live in the neighborhood who decide that they want the public square, what it will look like, how it will function and how it will develop. One neighborhood may paint a giant mural on the intersection and stop there. Another may go through many phases: painting the street, installing a community bulletin board, building a mini-cafe on a corner, reconstructing the intersection with brick and cobblestones, opening businesses to make it a village center… and on and on!

Does this close the street to cars?

No. Many public squares throughout the world are in fact shared by cars and pedestrians. These spaces are designed in ways that make drivers move more slowly and expect pedestrians. Such design is one of the goals of an Intersection Repair.

Why would a neighborhood want an Intersection Repair?

It depends – each one is different. Maybe people want a focal point for their neighborhood, a place for community interaction and seasonal celebrations. Maybe they want to slow down traffic, and let pedestrians share the public space of the road equally with cars.

Check out the website and the photos of some of the projects happening in Portland. Unfortunately, there are not many places where this would fly with local NIMBIES... I mean residents, engineers, elected officials, and even planners. I guess all of us hippies need to move to Portland.

Read how it all got started with the Moon-Day T-Hows (Monday Tea House). Also, read the brochure and model city ordinance.

 

Category: Public Art •• Region: Portland •• Comments

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