Category Commentary

What about reparations for people?

ODOT proudly spends road funds on mitigating the impact of its highways:  if you’re an invertebrate. The highway department mitigates noise pollution, rebuilds jails, and even compensates neighborhoods But if we repeatedly pushed highways through your neighborhood, all you’ll get…

For a grand bargain, think bigger and bolder

Right diagnosis, weak medicine, wrong metaphor In a far ranging thought piece for James Fallows’ Our Towns Civic Foundation—”Learning from Eisenhower and Lincoln:  A Grand Bargain for Transportation,” Patrick Doherty and  Chris Leinberger invoke Abe Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower as…

The Week Observed, May 14, 2021

What City Observatory this week Don’t be fooled again.  The Oregon and Washington state highway departments are up to their old tricks in trying to push a multi-billion dollar highway building boondoggle in the POrtland area.  A guest editorial from…