Pacific Northwest - Portland - visiting... Advocacy and Infrastructure

I'm going to be in Portland for a week for worky work.
I'm hopefully renting a folder from CleverCycles - and I'll be using it to get about and to explore town a bit in the mornings (before 11am).

I volunteer on our local bike and ped council here in Burlington, VT and I'm hoping to get some first hand experience of the wonders of Portland to bring back to our next meeting. I'm also an architecture / urban planning fanboy (previous archi and planning grad student until I discovered woodworking...) - so anything of interest on this front is also good.

I'm staying downtown at a hotel at the convention center and have work all week at the expo center. Hoping the weather is decent and I can sneak in some morning rides and a casual commute to to the show we are working.


Can I get a list of highlights? Bike BLVDs? neighborhoods to cruise, particular streets, intersections, bridges, etc. etc.? Any cool places to hang out... shops, coffee, etc.?

Whats the weather been like?

And - what is the best way to connect the dots in my map? (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=1250696017909396929,45.530237,-122.660693&saddr=1021+NE+Grand+Avenue,+Portland,+OR+97232+(Red+Lion+Hotel+Portland+-+Convention+Center)&daddr=2060+N+Marine+Dr,+Portland,+OR+97217&mra=cc&dirflg=h&sll=45.569355,-122.67492&sspn=0.096978,0.147457&ie=UTF8&ll=45.571154,-122.674885&spn=0.096975,0.147457&z=13)


Last time I was in town was in 2000, sans bike - but with a rental car and plenty of walking time.

Thanks... - bmike

I'm going to be in Portland for a week for worky work.
I'm hopefully renting a folder from CleverCycles - and I'll be using it to get about and to explore town a bit in the mornings (before 11am).

I volunteer on our local bike and ped council here in Burlington, VT and I'm hoping to get some first hand experience of the wonders of Portland to bring back to our next meeting. I'm also an architecture / urban planning fanboy (previous archi and planning grad student until I discovered woodworking...) - so anything of interest on this front is also good.

I'm staying downtown at a hotel at the convention center and have work all week at the expo center. Hoping the weather is decent and I can sneak in some morning rides and a casual commute to to the show we are working.


Can I get a list of highlights? Bike BLVDs? neighborhoods to cruise, particular streets, intersections, bridges, etc. etc.? Any cool places to hang out... shops, coffee, etc.?

Whats the weather been like?

And - what is the best way to connect the dots in my map? (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=1250696017909396929,45.530237,-122.660693&saddr=1021+NE+Grand+Avenue,+Portland,+OR+97232+(Red+Lion+Hotel+Portland+-+Convention+Center)&daddr=2060+N+Marine+Dr,+Portland,+OR+97217&mra=cc&dirflg=h&sll=45.569355,-122.67492&sspn=0.096978,0.147457&ie=UTF8&ll=45.571154,-122.674885&spn=0.096975,0.147457&z=13)


Last time I was in town was in 2000, sans bike - but with a rental car and plenty of walking time.

Thanks... - bmike

Bicycle Transportation Alliance and BikePortland.org (especially) are two great local resources.
http://www.bta4bikes.org/
http://bikeportland.org/

Here's a bike map for the expo area. (Marine Drive)
http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=70243

If you go 6-7 blocks west from your hotel to the Steel bridge you can get on the East Side Esplanade. The Hawthorne Bridge and Steel bridge both offer easy bike crossings to the west side (down town). Or stay on the East side and travel south about 7 miles along the river to the Sellwood neighborhood for a taste of one of Portland's best riverside commutes/multi use paths.

Portland is generally divided into NW, NE, SE, and SW. With Burnside dividing the North and south and the Willamette river dividing East and West. The Northern most part by the Expo is called North Portland (between the river and MLK Blvd).

The weather forecast here is usually only good for one or two days. Lately it's been nice, but the rain is supposed to come back Tuesday...

Have fun, I hope you enjoy Portland's bike offerings.

Check out the Springwater Trail and the Espenade, Also the SE Bike street Clinton.

Also the SE Bike street Clinton.
That's my neighborhood, Mike. PM sent. :)

thanks. just arrive - took the train into town from the airport. very pleasant way to arrive. now to find a bike and get my legs moving.

what wonderful weather! we had 18" of snow on the ground melting from the rain / freezing rain.

-bmike

brompton is had. enjoyed a few hours riding around downtown along the water.
work to do today - but hopefully a good ride later in the day.

enjoyed queuing up at a bridge crossing with some commuters last night.
bikes bikes bikes.
truly impressive - i don't remember this many from june of 2000 - the last time i spent any time here.


and the brompton is such a cool little machine. if i lived in a place with lots of transit options i'd have one - very very handy. i read somewhere about it being called a personal 'jet pack'.

-bmike