GOOD Ideas for Cities

Some interesting ideas emerged from the work of not-for profit group THINK.urban, co-founded by terra.fluxus Principal Landscape Architect Jason King, along with his fellow PSU Urban Studies students Allison Duncan and Katrina Johnston.  The group recently completed the presentation of our various concepts for GOOD Ideas for Cities Portland.  The team was one of six, which included Wieden+Kennedy, Ziba, Sincerely Interested, OMFGco, and ADXPortland, all tackling tough ideas.

The THINK.urban concepts were developed alongside working alongside our urban leader,  BikePortland.org founder Jonathan Maus, who presented the challenge:

“Now it’s time to do the big projects that present a challenge to politicians and the status quo, but that also present an exciting opportunity for the health of our city. But what we’re missing is a a truly game-changing bikeway that connects a Portland neighborhood to the city center. How might we create a major new bikeway that helps make bicycling as visible, safe, convenient, and pleasant for as many people as possible?”

One aspect of the system design included branding and system graphics, which were envisioned as a chain which evoked the idea of links – the system became a noun and a verb – PDX LINK – seen with the ‘green’ paint inside as well, which reflected the plans for the concept to increase wayfinding of bike routes.

Another aspect was to incorporate the existing quadrant system, each acting as a link in the chain of PDX LINK.  The radiating graphic below depicts the 5 quadrants, a play on geography that makes Portland a unique place to live.  Each quad, including North, gets a unique color scheme, along with a simple 2 letter designation that is also incorporated into signage and other graphics.

There was a conceptual mapping component as well including our proposal for two-way cycletracks on main routes, connected by the wayfinding based on quadrants – which is seen above.  Each of these ‘highways’ would be located within 1 miles of all residents and businesses, and fed by a system of local streets.

Starting with these major roadways, the further development of a hierarchy of bike routes, from major Highways and Boulevards, to less traveled Corridors and Greenways – nested inside one another for a complete system.  A snapshot of a portion of downtown shows these designations.

The final piece was conceptual sketches – simple before and after graphics to showcase the new idea, on the street.  We did a number of them connecting the Cully Neighborhood in Northeast Portland to the Downtown core, using no ‘back street solutions’.

The first starts on NE 57th, with a heavily vegetated buffer providing necessary separation from the traffic to ensure safety for riders.

    Before

The second is located along East Burnside – where we are recoupling the one-way to include a two way bike route connected across to downtown.

   Before

Another option is downtown, along SW Broadway, where the existing cycle-track was expanded near Portland State University.  Note wayfinding and access to multiple modes of transportation throughout.

   Before

We did many more graphics, which will get shared down the line.   A few more ‘after’ shots include Sandy Boulevard and the Burnside Bridge.  The opportunity to make ‘cycling an everyday thing’ offers the ability to go for a ride with your favorite dog, or stop by for some roadside bike-powered gelato, and take the whole family for a ride to the Saturday Market.  A safe, connected and legible system can make Portland a world-class bike city.

Hopefully these images help in that effort.