WashCo Commuter Rail

Curious about the new Washington County commuter rail line? Me too. They describe it here.

I don't know what I would use these trains for. It will be all too interesting to see whether people ride them. The problem is that -- unlike light rail to downtown -- your destination is relatively unlikely to be within walking distance of the station. You can't use park & ride on both ends, unless your employer runs a shuttle!

So the key question is: where are the stations going to be? See here.

Another problem: the trains will run only every 30 minutes, and only during commuter rush hours. We're all counting on everyone that is able to use these trains to commute to work. Because it sounds like few of us will be able to use them for anything!

Suburban mass transit is really tough. To get people to use it, it has to be really frequent. But it's not very frequent, because too few people use it. Smart people have been trying to figure this out for a long time. We HAVE to figure it out.

Beaverton Chamber Symphony

There is a Beaverton Chamber Symphony. It seems their season ends this weekend, but there's still time to go catch them if you're into that sort of thing. They're playing Brahms, Rossini, and Glazunov. (Don't ask me about Glazunov - I'm way out of my element here).

Here are the coordinates, because I know you're short on time:

8pm Saturday, 3pm Sunday
Oak Hills Christian Reformed Church
2815 N. W. Forest Avenue
Beaverton, Oregon 97006
Cost: $5 (general), $1 (students & seniors)

This is an amateur symphony. Look at it this way: even if they're really bad, you get to hear a bit of LIVE music, support your local musicians, and maybe even meet some of your neighbors. All for only $5.

Beaverton city hall

The story of the speeding Beaverton police officer is one of those that just cries out for backstory. What are the factions at City Hall? Why is this teensy case getting so much airtime?

And should I be driving more slowly? The officer was going 40 mph in a 30 mph zone! Don't most people?

I'm full of questions today.

Turns out there WAS an issue in play in last Tuesday's Washington County election. If you have kids in the Beaverton schools, you may be interested to know that opponents of the "math curriculum and administration" may have been elected to the school board. The Oregonian story is here.

What's this all about?

Monty's

I guess there is nightlife in Beaverton: http://localcut.wweek.com/2007/05/03/friendly-friendly-world-the-big-package-at-montys/. No idea where this place is. Ever been there?

Groceries

Just a quick thought here. You probably know this, but it seems that if you want to buy local and organic in Washington County your choices are limited to the Farmer's markets, New Seasons and Wild Oats. Yes, the other grocery chains are adding to their organic lines, but the named outlets provide more organic choices and also a lot of locally-sourced items.

I don't know of any co-ops or other such things out here.

Thoughts?

Surprise! Washington County Election May 15!

Who knew we were having an election May 15, until the ballots showed up in the mail a week or two ago? Not me, even though I follow at least four local newspapers plus a local blog or two. Odds are you didn't know about this election either.

Unless you happen to know one of the candidates, the Voter's Pamphlet is probably the only thing you have to go on. (That is, if you care to vote at all. More on that later.)

This is lousy. First, you can't always tell from the Voters Pamphlet if there are controversial issues on which the candidates differ. Second, after eliminating candidates who can't even write a decent statement, you can't tell which candidate has more ability to get things done. For example, an incumbent can usually write a decent statement. But a given incumbent might turn out to be a knave who isn't even on speaking terms with anyone else on the commission. Or a laughing stock. Or whatever. No way to know! Endorsements are only somewhat helpful.

In this day and age, there just has to be a way to inform people about upcoming elections. First of all, the media (TV and print) should be held responsible for reporting them. Second, why not offer a way to get elections information via the Internet?

Everybody pitches and moans about low voter turnout. Well, what do they expect?

Hazardous Waste in Beaverton

I wondered how many hazardous waste sites there are in Washington County. There is just one, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

The former View-Master factory supply well, at 8585 SW Hall Boulevard, is contaminated with a carcinogen called TCE and other toxic substances. This is next to (and/or under) Cascade Plaza, across 217 from Washington Square where Powell's Books is. Supposedly they cleaned up the site, which had contaminated groundwater. I don't know.

Those of a certain age will remember they used to make ViewMaster toys there, which we thought was pretty cool. Well, they used some bad stuff making those toys, and they didn't behave well. It's all detailed here and on Wikipedia. They don't know how this stuff may have affected people who worked at the site, but it seems there's been a lot of cancer.

So that's it. Just a bit of local history, unless someone knows of a continuing story here.

Cedar Mill

The place to be in Cedar Mill -- when the Farmer's Market isn't running -- is the library block, on Saltzman just off Cornell. For starters, the Cedar Mill Library is a great community hub. In addition to books, they have tons of CDs and DVDs. And meeting rooms. My favorite area is the entrance, where they sell surplus books, and there are lots and lots of free flyers and magazines so you can see what's up.

Next door is the Village Gallery, which I understand is actually a community of artists. Even if you're a bit of an art snob like me (enough with the pastels and landscapes!) you can find something to like here. It's a nice place for gift shopping.

Next door to that is the Second Edition Resale Shop. This is one of those great little thrift stores where excellent ladies (mostly) volunteer to raise funds -- in this case for the library. They have lots of clothes, and a few shoes, housewares and knick-knacks. Always worth checking out.

Being able to walk or bike to this spot is a saving grace of living in Cedar Mill!

Walking is good. When the days lengthen and the weather gets nicer, it's lots easier to get out there for five minutes or for hours. Can you go out your front door for a reasonably pleasant walk, or is your neighborhood designed for cars and not people? My neighborhood is a little on the hilly side for me, and there are too many no-shoulder thoroughfares and dead-end cul de sacs. But I've found a couple of routes that work even for a short walk.

They say its the best exercise for everything from mental health to preventing osteoporosis. I love seeing pedestrians in Washington County. I dream of walkers controlling the streets instead of cars!

Poverty in the Suburbs

I read an interesting article about suburban poverty the other day.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070423/press.

In Washington County, 2003 census figures say we had 8.7% of persons living below the poverty line, which is over 42,000 people. The median household income was around $54,000. I don't know if there is a trend here one way or the other.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/41/41067.html

Keep in mind that the "poverty line" is very low. As an example, the poverty threshold is $10,160 for a person under 65 years of age with no related children under 18 years of age. For a three-person household, it's between $14,000-15,000.

What always strikes me about the suburbs is how shielded many of us are from "how the other half lives."

The News - a newsletter, a report, a new park

Cedar Mill residents are lucky to have a monthly newsletter that provides all kinds of local news. You can sign up for it at http://www.cedarmill.org.

Who knew that there is a "State of the County" report for Washington County? I found out about it through the Cedar Mill newsletter. You can find it here: http://www.co.washington.or.us/deptmts/cao/st_cty07.htm. It worth reading, if you like to know what's going on around you.

The most surprising thing in the report is that Washington County is getting a huge new state park this summer. It's called Stewart Memorial State Park. The Park is on the east side of Highway 47 between Highway 26 and Vernonia, four miles north of the U.S. 26-Hwy. 47 junction. So that's pretty nice. I've been meaning to check out the long trailway they've been developing out there, too.

Geography

Do you know where you are? I've been trying to find a good watershed map showing the streams in the Beaverton area and what they drain into. Beaverton is in the Tualatin River watershed. Major creeks flowing through Beaverton include Fanno Creek and Beaverton Creek. The hills throughout the area are lined with smaller creeks that feed into larger ones. The maps I've been able to find are unreadable.

However, I did find a good page on Beaverton at Answers.com. I'm adding it to the links.

Reducing consumption and carbon emissions

Given the choice, I think more and more people would like to reduce their consumption, make purchasing decisions that support local businesses, and reduce their impact on the environment.

But we are all time-starved, and there is a lot of confusing information out there. On this site, I hope to present suggestions that people can actually use. Some of the collected links are a start.

Most of us could make the biggest difference by reducing our trips that use gasoline and jet fuel. As for plane travel, we can question the need to fly to that business meeting, and we can consider a vacation closer to home. If we still need -- or want -- to fly, there are several programs selling carbon offsets that will purportedly make our travel "carbon neutral".

For example, my round-trip flight from Portland to Bend will apparently create 435 lbs of greenhouse gases. For a few dollars, I can purchase a "green tag" from Bonneville Environmental Foundation (the local option, see link at left), which will invest the money in renewable energy sources. Or I can buy a "ski green tag" at Mt. Bachelor.