Originally Posted by
Loose Chain
Does the theft rate reflect a greater population of bikes or a different populace?
One of if not the greatest deterrents to widespread use of bicycles to augment or replace fuel powered transport is the nonchalance that bicycle theft is provided. Bicycle theft is no more taken seriously than is using "toys" for transport. As long as that attitude persists transport via bicycle will remain fringe.
Both
I'm not a native Portlander so I have to go on general characteristics of the map. The map does exclude some of the big suburbs that are other cities that have merged with Portland.
Most of the big red hotspots appear to be around major commercial districts. The large red spot just west of the river is downtown Portland where all the highrise buildings are, although even that varies, with most of the highrise buildings south of Burnside, and more mixed wealth north of Burnside (is that changing?). Both parts of downtown are marked "well above average".
Much of the white area in West Portland is residential, although there are some commercial areas that apparently didn't make he cut.
East Portland has some large commercial areas too, many of which have red spots, but quite a few more yellow (average) areas too, which West Portland doesn't have. In the East, between I-205 and the river there are some good neighborhoods, and some impoverished neighborhoods.
The East is also a lot flatter than the West. So perhaps lower incomes and flatter land would mean more bicycles, as well as more desperate low income people.
I'd have to look at schools. PSU is also included in the downtown hotspot. OHSU is in a white area but serves a much different student body, and is on a big hill. I think Portland Community College is also marked white. Reed College appears red.
Anyway, more commercial means more bikes locked outside, and visible.
More residential means crimes are either opportunistic (bikes left on the porch), or the theft is burglary from inside the house which steps up the game a bit.