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TechnoratiPortland, Oregon: Cultivating a Culture of Two Wheels
PORTLAND, Ore. - Susan Peithman did not have a job lined up when she moved here in September to pursue a career in "nonmotorized transportation." No worries, she figured; the market here is strong.
"In so many ways, it's the center," Ms. Peithman, 26, explained. "Bike City, U.S.A."
Cyclists have long revered Portland for its bicycle-friendly culture and infrastructure, including the network of bike lanes that the city began planning in the early 1970s. Now, riders are helping the city build a cycling economy.
There are, of course, huge national companies like Nike and Columbia Sportswear that have headquarters here and sell some cycling-related products, and there are well-known brands like Team Estrogen, which sells cycling clothing for women online from a Portland suburb.
Yet in a city often uncomfortable with corporate gloss, what is most distinctive about the emerging cycling industry here is the growing number of smaller businesses, whether bike frame builders or clothing makers, that often extol recycling as much as cycling, sustainability as much as success.
Like the local indie rock bands that insist they are apathetic about fame, many of the smaller local companies say craft, not money, is what drives them.
"All the frame builders I know got into this because they love bikes," said Tony Pereira, a bike builder whose one-man operation has a 10-month waiting list, "not because they wanted to start a business."
Mia Birk, a former city employee who helped lead Portland's efforts to expand cycling in the 1990s, said the original goals were rooted in environmental and public health, not the economy.
"That wasn't our driving force," Ms. Birk said. "But it has been a result, and we're comfortable saying it is a positive result."
Ms. Birk now helps run a consulting firm, Alta Planning and Design, which advises other cities on how to become more bicycle-friendly. In a report for the City of Portland last year, the firm estimated that 600 to 800 people worked in the cycling industry in some form. A decade earlier, Ms. Birk said in an interview, the number would have been more like 200 and made up almost entirely of employees at retail bike stores.
Now, Ms. Birk said, the city is nurturing the cycling industry, and there are about 125 bike-related businesses in Portland, including companies that make bike racks, high-end components for racing bikes and aluminum for bikes mass-produced elsewhere. There are small operations that make cycling hats out of recycled fabric. Track, road and cyclo-cross races are held year-round, and state tourism groups promote cycling packages. There is Ms. Birk's firm, which had two employees in Portland in 1999 and now has 14. There are nonprofit advocacy groups and Web sites, including www.bikeportland.org, that are devoted to cycling issues and events in Portland.
And then there is the growing, high-end handmade bike industry, which was made up of just one or two businesses a decade ago but now has more than 10. The Portland Development Commission is working with a handful of the bike builders to improve their business and accounting skills and help them network with one another.
This month, the city will be the host of a trade show featuring bike builders from Oregon, which locals say has more makers than any other state. And early next year, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show will bring its fourth annual event to Portland for the first time. It is expected to be the largest national show so far.
Sam Adams, a city commissioner in charge of transportation, joined development officials to help lure the show to Portland. It seemed a natural fit. The city regularly ranks at the top of Bicycling Magazine's list of the best cycling cities and has the nation's highest percentage of workers who commute by bike, about 3.5 percent, according to the Census Bureau. Drivers here are largely respectful of riders, and some businesses give up parking spaces to make way for bike racks.
"Our intentions are to be as sustainable a city as possible," Mr. Adams said. "That means socially, that means environmentally and that means economically. The bike is great on all three of those factors. You just can't get a better transportation return on your investment than you get with promoting bicycling."
Although the city has worked to help drivers and riders share roadways, two cyclists were killed in October when they were hit by trucks, and questions persist over whether enough is being done to protect cyclists.
Mr. Adams said he was preparing a budget proposal that would spend $24 million to add 110 miles to the city's existing 20-mile network of bike boulevards, which are meant to get cyclists away from streets busy with cars. Doing so could "double or triple ridership," he said.
The streets were not always so crowded with cyclists. Andy Newlands, by most accounts the first person in Portland to start making bikes by hand, got into the business in the 1970s. Back then, he said, young men would come to him for help piecing together racing bikes. Now, he said, "More and more it's some guy with a wife and kids and a BMW and all that, and he wants a handmade bike."
Thirty years ago Mr. Newlands sold frames for under $300. Now a new bike might cost the buyer well over $5,000.
"There's so much mass-produced stuff out there that there's just kind of a little bit of a backlash," he said. "People like a handmade product."
Sacha White, who was a bike messenger before he started Vanilla Bicycles, one of the most prominent bike makers in Portland, said city officials embraced not only cycling but also the niche industry that has grown out of it, something he considered striking given the size of most operations. His company, among the largest of its kind, has six employees including himself.
"I think the biggest thing that's come from the effort the city has put into this is the vote of confidence," Mr. White said, speaking of bike riders and bike makers. "They want us here."
Ms. Peithman, the recent Portland arrival, had lived in Chicago until September, where she worked for the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, a nonprofit advocacy group. She decided to move here on her own without any job prospects based "90 percent on the bike thing," she said.
"I'm a long-term-thinking, spreadsheet kind of girl," Ms. Peithman said. "This is the most rash thing I've ever done."
© 2007 The New York Times
31 Comments so far
Show AllYes, bicycles are a major means of transport in lots of the world. I was remembering Nigeria and the young man who delivered a large wooden trunk to us riding through rain on his Raleigh, balancing the trunk on his head! Luckily, the trunk was a new empty one, but then I also remember a man who delivered a small refrigerator to the flat upstairs from us, balancing the rerigerator on his head as he went up the stairs!
Drivers of cars there didn't pay much attention to stop signs, etc. but cyclists are always very aware of the dumb things drivers of cars will do, no matter the culture or the traffic laws (or lack thereof)
Is it just me or is the NY Times waging war on Portland with a shameless series of articles spouting glorified half-truths and propaganda designed to flood the city with soon-to-be-jobless peeps...? Uncool, NYT, uncool.
I love to ride my bike here in NW PA, but is's scary sometimes. A couple of weeks ago, about a hundred Harleys passed me, a few of them came as close to me as they could laying on their horns, like they were trying to rattle me or intimidate me. Most people here hate bicyclists almost as much as they environmentalists. I wish I could go to Portland, too!
Alrighty.. I should mention that the bike thing (plus public transit) is just one reason I am moving there. Any decent sized city is going to be better than where I live now in that department.
Currently I reside in Traverse City, MI. While it has its perks, it is controlled by right wing Christian nut jobs. There is activism here, but it is mainly comprised of burnouts from the 60s who won't actually do anything besides hold up signs on street corners. We have no culture scene that doesn't involve white kids pretending to be black (shitty rap and reggae, with a few exceptions), blues-based rock cover bands, and landscape paintings of Lake Michigan. Oh yeah, and stuff made out of Cherries. There is a good folk music scene, but I wanna see some rock sometimes too.
The only thing that has happened in this town lately is the addition of Michael Moore's Film Festival. That's pretty fun. But that's only one week out of the year. You wanna talk yuppie? Come to Traverse City. Wanna discuss high cost of living? Come to Traverse City.
So, I really don't think Portland could be anything but an improvement on this. I can't find a graphic design job here. Those of you in the Portland area... What do you think my odds are at finding a design/publishing job out there? I am very experienced, so it's not like I'm fresh out of college or something.
But yeah, I understand everyone trying to balance out the overstated optimism about Portland. But my decision isn't based on bikes alone. It's a beautiful area, with destinations such as Seattle, Vancouver, mountains, ocean, and rainforest nearby. I want to use it as a springboard to explore the Pacific Northwest.
I have also read "Fugitives and Refugees" by Chuck Palahniuk who is a Portland native. Makes it seem like there's enough freaks there to me...
I also am keeping Eugene and Seattle in mind as potential options. What are folks feelings here about a place for a Graphic Designer to settle in the Pacific Northwest?
Cars ought to be taxed to pay for bike programs, bike lanes, and better public transport... Of course, most of the budget is wasted on war, so if we lived in a rational world, that would end... At one time, the bicycle was the primary form of transportation in China... petroleum has been a scourge... first well, 1849.
Thanks geoff29, fortheloveoflife.net, and others who have talked about the NONyuppie joys (and challenges) of biking.
Those who have only seen yuppies cycling in racing gear, it is time to grab an old beater bike (rescue one from a dumpster if you can) and start riding it. There's more to biking than spandex and $2000 frames. Or should I say there's less to it.
To me Portland is a great example of how doable biking is. Cold, rainy climate with hills. And yet it's one of the most bike-centric towns around. Sends a strong message to anybody in any town, that it is not only doable, it can be beneficial and enjoyable as well. Better health, less environmental impact.
If that's not incentive enough, next time you're getting gas in your car, think of all the blood of innocent Iraqis in that fuel. Then get on your bike and ride!
Don't forget about Boulder, Colorado. Bike lane galore, bike shops are plentiful
Lest any of us get too rightous here are my purely selfish reasons for going car(e)free. For us riding a bike is like hopping on a time machine.
1) It costs the average working stiff three months wages to support his car. The bike is good for that.
2) As I get older (just turned 50) I realize that many seniors have problems with mobility because they loose their balance. The bike is good for that.
3) Being dreanched to the bone and cold makes me feel alive and appreciate the simple pleasures of life like a hot shower or a warm snuggle. The bike is good for that.
4) The environmental cost of manufacturing a bike is 2% of manufacturing a car. I like that!
5) Keeping up my muscle mass helps me to prevent diabetes and heart desease. My bike is good for that.
6) Getting a regular cardio workout keeps my lung capacity high. My bike is good for that.
All these things either save me time or extend my active and vibrant days. Its like adding quality years to my life. And with the money I save I can easily rent a car for those rare times when it actually makes sense to have one.
I've only ever bought one bike new. After 6 years car(e)free my Love and I own eight bikes, two trailers and all the accessories we need. Bikes don't have to be expensive and they represent human ingenuity at its finest.
Mass transit is good too and so is walking but trading our car in for a bike is one of the best things any of us can do to win the human race against extinction.
But you already know that...
Yeah, one other thing to consider: Per calorie expended (either natural or non), the bicycle is the most efficient mode of transportation known to humans. Bar none!
Carbon trading credits may suck, but bicycling is one of the noblest activities there is, yuppies or not.
geoff29, well said, you took the wind out of my sails after getting annoyed with some of the above comments. You said it better than I would have.
Thomas Albright and also PJD,
I don't mean to make you fellas any less fearful of the bike, that's your baggage. and generally I think you're cool, but today, speaking from experience, your way outta your realm on some talking points. You're just being contrary for it's own sake.
as far as manual labor and commuting are concerned, I have slung mud and humped rock and commuted by bike here in nyc for many years a few years ago.
As far as "yuppies" AND physical labor I have also been a messenger along with several other unrelated occupations lest out of prejudice I lose your respect, for many years too, riding home at the end of the long days and exhausting weeks. I have messengered in point of fact longer in consecutive years than I have done any other kind of work - working for the ultra-wealthy people who dim wittedly mistook me for their ally, and in assorted educational institutions of all sorts until the great budget cuts.
that means riding the bike in any kind of weather going back in history to when it used to get cold, being out of doors proving that it's getting warmer every year at least here. five degrees cold, in the winters and be blizzards and sitch. Soaked through and through by the torrential rains and freezing wet feet and hands like a sailor on the open oceans, clothes that don't dry out by the end of a week.
if anything, such work secured my fellowship, admiration, and compassion, not for "yuppies," but for the Poor of the Earth - as much as I could secure their fellowship, as much as they were inclined to give freely of it.
And such work made me curse a great part of the privileges which have been bestowed upon me by the fates by an easier fortune, because I don't think it's necessarily a "real" experience a good deal of the time. A "real" experience based on living on this earth out in the open under the open sky.
This experiment with the world has allowed me to know that the ability of the human to endure goes far further and deeper and more aged than I was able to make it. With no loss of pride or wavering of self-esteem because they are outcasts of american society, and I am in awe of that.
When I go out on the street and see the spineless quality of pampered soft people that we have become, shopping organically at Whole Foods and so forth like it's a right bestowed upon us for some virtue that we think is owed to us, I have the petite mal sometimes, and loath the species.
I will remember my time on the streets, as rigorous and unforgiving a classroom as it has been - the lost teeth, the scars, the close calls, the people I met, what I thought about, what this culture looks like from the perspective of the earth - I will remember it all to the end of my time as one of the greatest gifts bestowed upon me in this life so far.
But hey, I'm here to live. not to hide under a bushel.
Thomas Albright,
Your points are well taken.
I'm proud to say that Pittsburgh probably now rivals Eugene in it's anarcho-bicyclist population.
And, our asinine boy-mayor notwithstanding, very few yuppies too. And, there are plenty of old abandoned houses for squats, or, if you insist on are a wage-slaving, fixer-uppers and even ones in move in condition for $15,000 to $60,000.
The west isn't always best. C'mon out to Pittsburgh, the best of the Rust Belt and Appalachia all in one town - but unfortunately not nearly as sunny a climate as Portland....but Cleveland is worse!
dagchina,
I understand that battery-electric motor scooters are becoming quite big in Shanghai and other big Chinese cities - is that correct?
Since my job moved to a location with poor bus service, I've been using a Chinese electric scooter myself - one for my wife too. They are the only electric motorcycles in the western two thirds of Pennsylvania. Workmanship and performance were bad out of the box, but with some fixing up and electronic tinkering it handles the suburban traffic speeds and hills well, and is very reliable.
Bicycles just aren't for everyone. Personally, I've never had the psychological makeup for bicycling in car traffic. Get rid of cars, and I'll reconsider. For now, whatever I ride needs to at least keep up with 35 to 45 mph (60-75kph) traffic, the electric scooter fits the bill and gets the energy equivalent of about 400 miles per gallon - the food needed to fuel a bike ride probably costs more per unit distance.
Thomas Albright
You are totally correct. If anyone thinks that merely by moving to the new "hip" city they're going to change, they should think again. Of course, newness in and of itself does provoke some change (normally in the form of novelty), but fundamental sustainable change comes from within.
By the way, I live in China. My 7 high rise building apartment complex houses about 3000 people. There's probably more bicycle riders in my apartment complex (one of perhaps thousands in Shanghai) than in a medium sized city in the U.S.
You wanna see bicycles? Where I live grannies ride, salarymen ride, workers ride, kids ride, etc., etc.
The thought has been proposed that manual laborers will be reluctant to use bicycles because they will be too tired after work to ride them. That may be the case, but it doesn't have to be. Here in Mexico lots of manual laborers ride bikes to and from work with no problem other than jerks in four wheeled vehicles with motors.
There is a booming yuppie riding movement here with the well-to-do riding their fancy bicycles in groups with a car driving behind for protection. A friend of mine told me about one of his friends who indulges in that kind of activity and once met a common laborer riding home on his bike, definitely not top of the line. It seems that this guy made a 40 km round trip every day and the ride home was decidedly up hill. Even so, after chatting for a while with the guy on his Italian racing bike, the laborer said, "Well, I gotta go now." And just pulled away like the guy was sitting still.
Don't sell working people short.
Thomas Albright...the Portland spirit is strong in you!
That article and the bike mag stuff is a bit over-fluffed. There aren't that many bike lanes here--there are a lot of riders to be sure, but not that many lanes. Often cars have to drive into oncoming traffic lanes to avoid bike riders, which in turn turns traffic into a dangerous cluster f. Sam Adams has the right idea. Bike lanes will make car and bike people happy.
But still, in reality, biking remains dangerous and public transit in Portland, while nice, will still take you an hour out of your way in each direction, unless you live smack dab in the middle of downtown, where the rents are now preposterous due to rampant san-fran style yuppification. And it does rain 9 months out of the year.
So for those who want to move here...it is indeed a great place but don't get stars in your eyes. And just make sure you have a job before you pack. There are a lot of Phds here working at Starbucks, if you know what I mean (which is why a lot of folks have simply given up and started their own ventures).
Hmmm, I found 3, 10 speed bike frames at the dump. All were constructed of Chrome Molybdenum steel tubing. This was (and still is) the lightest/strongest frame material before aluminum(and alloys) became the thing to get. They cost me nothing except to by some wheels/tires.
What do you get for a $5,000 bike? a fancy name, graphics, more fancily named bolt on parts. Don't need all that.
"I am going to stick my neck out and say this bike thing is mostly for yuppies and young "creative class types". People I refer to as "assholes"."
Perhaps, Thomas, but has is occurred to you that in many other parts of the world the bike is still the only way they have of commuting? It's only in the rich industrialized countries where we even have the extravagance of a choice.
Of course, China is becoming more industrialized and the bike is giving way to the car. China is also the most polluted country in the world. Go figure.
The critical mass rides are a hoot......last fri of every month.
Simmer down kids. Portland is just another city. Biking here ain't that great. I think Eugene is far better as far as biking goes. And they have been doing it since the seventies. All this hoopla about Portland biking is capitalist hype. And yes, I do drag my working class ass to work on my vintage Peugeot. Not every day, of course. The busses in portland have bike racks. It's nice for those days I just don't feel like riding home.
I am going to stick my neck out and say this bike thing is mostly for yuppies and young "creative class types". People I refer to as "assholes". My funtion is to be someone the yuppies can fly past wearing their skin tight biker gear. I have never understood that biker gear. Anyway, I'm sure the wanna be bike racers feel great flying past old farts like me. What really bugs me is that a lot of the flashy dudes are also middle aged.
For those that want to move here. Has it occured to any of you that the more people that move here because it's cool, the less cool Portland will be? I suggest you stay home and make your own place cool. It's a bad idea to concentrate all of us of like mind in a few places. We need to spread out.
Which I would add andersl that the symbiotic relationship between cyclists and public transportation works out especially well for old guys like me who would rather ride my bike to the transit stop and load it on the bus than to fight rush-hour downtown traffic.
Although I concur with PJD that many people who do manual labor would have a hard time mustering additional energy to bicycle commute, I don't agree that cold and hilly conditions are a deal breaker. I have been riding 15 miles round trip to work in cold, hilly terrain for twenty years,
ascending and descending 18% grades. Half of my trips are in the dark. I take the bus on heavy rain days or when ice or snow are on the road. A bicycle that would last 30 years on the flatlands of the sunbelt is a basket case after six years on my route. That is still cheaper than buying a $400 per year bus pass and a lot cheaper than paying $2,000-$3,000 per year to park a car. Not to mention the gym membership fees I don't pay.
I also disagree with PJD that public transit should be pitted against bicycle infrastructure. The two modes are complementary. Most of the transit systems west of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Washington now have bicycle racks that hold two bikes and many systems are now ordering racks that hold three bikes. Many commuters bike part way and take transit part way.
"And if the trend continues maybe asthma rates will go down!"
..and obesity, heart disease, and a myriad of other dysfunctions and diseases.
Combined with obvious higher fossil fuel prices on the horizon (see other article today, titled "New 'Disaster' Movie Warns World of Oil Apocalypse"), we may have no choice but to bike.
It's great to see an article about bikes. They're a great way to get out of the energy rut we're in. It's also fantastic to see the spotlight on handmade products instead of the mass produced crap we're used to. The shout-out about the recycled caps really made me grin because I make handmade clothing out of recycled and eco-friendly fabrics, and it's nice to let people know there are people out there who are making alternatives to the stuff we love to hate (sweatshop goods, exploitation of the environment, etc).
If you are interested in buying handmade you can check out (and quickly get addicted to) http://www.ETSY.com
And if you make bicycles, consider signing up!
I continue to ride my bike as a means of transportation, on the streets of my midwestern town. I'm happy to see that in the past year more and more people are biking. A year ago I would be the only one peddling or skating around, but just today on my way to the post office I saw 4 people on bikes. Makes me happy. And if the trend continues maybe asthma rates will go down!
portland is held up as the perfect green city. it is the cookie cutter being used where i live. boy, does it suck. bikes create more danger on the roads with riders going every direction. i have been grid locked in traffic due to one biker. how is that a good thing?
Bicycles are fine, but for a lot of poeple, they just aren't practical -expecially in wet or cold climates (like Portland, Maine perhaps?) and hilly areas. Also, I have trouble seeing people who do manual labor for a living being attracted to bicycle commuting. The tired poor people riding home on the 86B bus at 10PM to Homewood aren't going to ride a bicycle to work.
So, If the choice is devoting resources to bike path or public transit, I'd pick public transit. Fortunately, Portland, OR hs done well in both departments.
Meanwhile my home town resolutely marches backward in cutting it's public transit.
it's not that great, it's cloudy and rainy all the time. You don't have to move to Portland to ride bikes more, do it where you live now. I live in Los Angeles and ride a bike and I don't own a car, so if someone could live here w/o a car and bike it then, you could do it anywhere cause there R no bike lanes here only selfish A-holes in cars and big SUV's and trucks who all drive like maniacs. But I still bike it here and it is easier than driving actually because I don't get stuck in the overwhelming, growing, and incessant traffic, and I get exercise while doing it. there are bike groups here too like Midnight Ridazz. So it's all cool wherever you are as long as you are on a bike.
One of the many reasons I'll be moving to Portland in March.
Portland, baby, here I come!
I can't wait...
In Portland and other cities that have above-average bike trails and other bicycle infrastructure city governments in most cases have not been driving the trend. Bicycle clubs with strong advocacy groups have fought and continue to fight hard to make these changes. City governments continue to be an obstacle while taking credit for the changes that the clubs forced them to make.
You can make a difference by forming or joining a local bicycle club (or other organization promoting bicycle infrastructure) and pushing for more advocacy. This includes you folks who, after reading this article are moving to the west coast where the battle for bicycle infrastructure is far from over.
"Thirty years ago Mr. Newlands sold frames for under $300. Now a new bike might cost the buyer well over $5,000."
So, is it yuppie snob appeal that is driving the Portland bicycling boom - and the NYT's attention to it?
Here in Pittsburgh, bicycles-as-everyday-transportation is largely promoted by the anarchist community. We have an organization called "Free Ride", that repairs old bicycles and maintains a large pool of bicycles available at no cost to whoever need one. I don't expect the NYT to write a piece this approach to promoting bicycling anytime soon.
But, Portland certainly shines among mid-sized cities for it's public transit system.
I'm moving to Portland,OR that is. Mainers haven't "got it" yet - never will. the Bicycle is the most efficient transport vehicle ever developed by Humans. Let's Go Riding.