20 minute lifestyles and eBikes

Photo by Brian Libby 

In the latest issue of Atlantic Monthly, writer Lisa Camner talks to Portland mayor Sam Adams about the creation of the creation of "20-minute neighborhoods", in which residents can access places and services (shopping, schools, parks, entertainment) by walking or bike within 20 minutes.

"The 20-minute neighborhood plan is a part of Portland's long-term strategy to manage the challenges that face many urban environments across the country, including rising energy costs, population growth, roadway congestion, and demand for expensive public transit to connect more and more distant suburbs," Camner writes. "This contrasts with our conventional notion of the American cityscape, where large residential communities are connected via highways to large shopping centers, which in turn stand miles from large office parks."

Camner also tapped Mayor Adams for a Q&A about the 20-minute neighborhood strategy:

How do 20-minute neighborhoods create more camaraderie than drivable neighborhoods?

Well, if you're going to the same place repeatedly, you're more likely to meet people. If you see the same people, you're going to feel more comfortable introducing yourself and striking up a conversation. And when you look at ratings on "sense of satisfaction," it's that sense of belonging, of being noticed, of hearing what the latest news is. I don't know if you have a favorite coffee shop or restaurant where, even if they do not know you by name, it's clear they like to have you back. It's that sense of belonging, that informal exchange. Your neighborhood becomes an extended family.

So people tend to visit the same places over and over again when everything is nearby.

Exactly. If you're going to the same neighborhood grocery store, you're going to get to know the people at that grocery store. You have a connection because you live there, and they work there, and hopefully, a good percentage of them will also live there You've got something in common, more than if you drive across town to the big box stores in the suburbs, where you're overwhelmed with people from all over the region. And when you go to the neighborhood store, you might ask, "Hey, can you carry this?" There is a positive cycle. Each grocery store, let's say, will begin to reflect the needs of the surrounding neighborhood because of a sort of mutual dependency. They're going to be very reliant on neighborhood business.

For the city, the benefits are multiple. We'll more readily meet our climate change goals because there will be less driving. On the individual side, households save energy costs and fuel. And, people who are walking and biking are going to be more fit. People healthier and insurance premiums go down. There's less pollution. CEOs for Cities did a study and we already drive 20% less than comparably sized cities. We don't have car companies here, we don't have oil wells here, we don't have car insurance companies here, so every dollar we don't spend on something we don't produce here is a dollar that stays in the economy. For us, based on 2005 figures, that's about $800 million that stays in Portlanders' pockets

How does the city go about converting "regular" neighborhoods into 20-minute neighborhoods? I know Portland has a number of these neighborhoods already, but the project is not complete yet.

Right. About 11% of our city is what we would characterize as 20-minute complete neighborhoods. That is sort of the platinum standard. One key factor is walk quality. Some of our neighborhoods lack sidewalks. You might have an inexpensive grocery store that really meets the specific and unique needs of an area of town, but if you don't have sidewalks to get there, you can't very well call it walkable. The other key piece here is getting clear what the market is. What do people want?

How do you determine that?

We're doing market surveys to figure out what the economic profile is of a potential 20-minute neighborhood. We want to not only meet people's basic needs but also find out where they'll go for play and recreation and entertainment. This kind of research is a relatively new area for government. We're used to being "sticks and bricks." What we are trying to do now is figure out information. Where do you want a neighborhood park? How many school-aged kids within a proposed boundary are going to the local public school? A local business does not have the resources to go out and do a market analysis of the mile that surrounds it. But we can do that for 30 businesses on a main street.

What are the biggest challenges for converting to 20-minute neighborhoods?

Well, the challenge of money is long lasting and universal. After that, it's lack of insight, lack of research. I hate to say it, I'm a nerd--but it's data. Not data in and of itself, but insight. The notion of what can we do better with the resources that we have, is really, really key. In a lot of cases, it's the matchmaking of needs and wants that comes with analysis and insight. And that's not free, but it doesn't cost the kind of money it costs to expand arterial streets and freeways and other things.

I think the other big challenge, on the federal level especially, has been the lack of valuation of the trip not taken. The 20-minute complete neighborhood concept puts a very high value on the trip not taken, the mile not driven. It's changing now, because this administration gets it. But the biggest challenge has been getting federal funding for investments that prevent trips.

And how many bicycles do you own?

Well, Sanyo donated to the mayor's office an electric bike. You pedal, and there's a little bit of extra juice behind it, a little electric motor. And then I just have one bike, a Trek bike.

Do you think there's something about Portland that makes it uniquely suited for 20-minute neighborhoods? Or do you think this can be replicated in other cities?

I absolutely think it can be replicated in other cities. I do not think it's anything in our water, as wonderful as our Portland water is. I don't think it's partisan, I don't think it's ideological. In fact, in many ways it's a conservative pitch. You want to get the most out of the infrastructure you've already invested in. You want to be a more self-reliant city that isn't as vulnerable to the vagaries of energy costs--most cities don't have oil wells or gas wells. These are the kind of self-reliant things you should do anyway. In the process, you actually make more of your business owners' money, and save more of your residents' household costs. It's radical common sense.

Meanwhile, Oregonian commuting columnist Joseph Rose has a story that may be partially related, about the efforts of entrepreneurs like local blogger PDXebiker to promote the idea of electric bicycles in Portland - the kind that kick in with a little electric motor when you're too tired to pedal, or unable to pedal on the way to your big meeting without breaking a major sweat.

Rose talks a little about how electric bicycles are frowned upon by the city's purist cyclists. They have called PDXebiker "traitor" and "cheater" when he whizzes through bike lanes. But electronic bicycles could be a key component of the 20-minute neighborhood.

"The city's new bicycle plan calls for 25 percent of all trips to be made by bike in 20 years," Rose writes. "Now, I think we have a better chance of going to war with zombies than meeting that goal. But a lot of Portlanders say they would love to ditch their cars, if only the transition to bicycling wasn't so extreme."

"With the motorized assist, riders can pedal in work or symphony-going clothes without breaking a sweat."

If we're really going to get to a point where most Portlanders live in a 20-minute neighborhood, and where residents make 25 percent of their trips by bicycle, this is the way to do it. And as Rose adds at the end of his column, "I don't get it. eBike. o(ld)bike. Either way: one less car."

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Comments

[PD]

Great stuff, Brian. What I don't understand is that all of this banter about "20-minute" neighborhoods is pretty useless if your job requires a commute to Tualatin as mine does...and many of my neighbors commute to Lake O., Gresham, Hillsboro, Airport Way, etc.

Adams has a great little science project in all of us where he can describe how forward-thinking Portland is with planning, but if he fails on the job growth front (as he and City Council have repeatedly done), then most of us will continue to rely on our cars as we commute to the burbs. Adams' lack of job creation is generating more vehicle trips, not less...let's give credit where credit is due.

[Michael M.]

+1@PD above. I realize the 20-minute neighborhood concept isn't necessarily supposed to mean you never ever need leave your neighborhood, but the increasing number of Portland residents who have to commute out-of-town for work wipes out whatever gains might be made by making grocery store trips by bike. Until the City Council figures out a strategy to keep and build employment opportunities in the central city, Adams's plans sound more like turning Portland into a bedroom community for the suburbs.

Regarding eBikes, I think one thing we need is a uniform understanding of what defines an "eBike" vs., say, an electric scooter. These bikes are supposed to provide an electric assist, but they aren't supposed to take the place of pedaling and there is supposed to be some upper limit to speeds you can achieve with these assists. There's been a lot of sloppy journalism in mainstream media that doesn't seem to recognize (or spell out) the differences. Most of the concern about eBikes I've seen isn't motivated by pedal-power puritanism, it's motivated by fear that people are going to be blowing through bike lanes at 35-40mph on vehicles on electric Vespas they refer to as eBikes.

[gerrrg]

I appreciate that the Portland Plan is looking forward to create such livable neighborhoods, but I have 3 criticisms:

1. The Pearl did just fine without some theoretical 20 minute neighborhood plan in place. The secret appears to be high density mixed use and proper open space.

2. Is the City going to change course and require each 20-minute neighborhood to host its own homeless shelters, SROs, low-income housing, section-8 and related human services, or will they continue to force them into a cluster into Old Town/Pearl? Will SOWA be seeing an SRO and a homeless shelter (I'm not talking about "affordable housing")? I think homeless people should be allowed to expand their living options into these other 20 minute neighborhoods, don't you?

3. I quote from Paul Krugman from 2005: "In the Zoned Zone, which lies along the coasts, a combination of high population density and land-use restrictions – hence “zoned” – makes it hard to build new houses. So when people become willing to spend more on houses, say because of a fall in mortgage rates, some houses get built, but the prices of existing houses also go up. And if people think that prices will continue to rise, they become willing to spend even more, driving prices still higher, and so on. In other words, the Zoned Zone is prone to housing bubbles."-- We're already a highly zoned city, that I fear that we may be only exacerbating the cost of living within these 20 minute neighborhoods as well as setting ourselves up for larger bubbles. I'm not saying that we shouldn't have livable neighborhoods where you can access services within a 20 minute walk, but gentrification is not without a downside. Can the planners find a balance?

[Lyle]

The concept does work ... my wife and I began this lifestyle about 4 years ago. Our 20-minute neighborhood (more like 15 minutes) works great since we have all the prerequisites: walkability, transit and lots of services nearby. We have one car that we put between 4-5K on a year. Portland has a number of neighborhoods that are very successful in this regard and many that partially work (i.e. the jobs aren't as close but other amenities are).

Sure, not all neighborhoods can even begin to offer the full mix of items needed to have them become successful 20-minute neighborhoods. Also, some people will commute no matter what is in their neighborhood. The other thing that factors in is people's ability to downsize. If you haven't done it already, try it, it feels great to be free of the extra junk.

[Linder]

During the elementary school closures by Vicki Phillips, lost in the turmoil were Phillips' efforts to make Portland's elementary schools larger, from 300 to 500 student schools to 500 to 700 student schools. Schools like Rieke Elementary were given a “grow or die” ultimatum and so they started to recruit from neighboring catchment areas and added trailer classrooms. Now PPS wants to re-build Marysville School with a student capacity larger than the schools historic peak in the 70s.

Because of this push by Phillips and her cohorts, more children are bused to elementary school than can walk or bike. I hope the city and PPS change directions before we spend a billion (plus) on re-sizing our elementary schools to larger than what a 20-minute neighborhood could support.

[Stephen]

The 20 minute neighborhood is just logic. It is a problem if you live in Portland and have to commute to Tualatin. If you use logic, you should move to Tualatin and have your 20 min. neighborhood there.
As far as e-bikes go...you know you want one you militant pedal people! It is funny to see grandma casually pedalling and singin a tune as she smokes you on a hill.
If I have an electric "scooter" that can do 30-40, I am going to be out in traffic where cars can see me and I won't get tagged by some right turning SUV.
Get over it and let's get more cars off the road.

[Stephen]

Sorry, don't move to Tualatin. If you must work there may I suggest an electric motorcycle like the Enertia(or scooter - Vetrix) that will go 40 miles at 60 mph.
Or there are good gas powered ones that gets 50 mpg or better.

[PD]

Stephen, with all due respect...you need to pull your head out of your back-side.

Telling someone who has lived in Portland proper for 25 years that they should move to Tualatin just because their job (of 3 years) is there is just asinine.

Instead of creating jobs in the core part of the city (which would aid in the 20-minute concept), our elected elite in Poorland ignore the fact that if people are going to live here, shop here, dine here, etc...it would be best if the political and business climates were conducive to....wait for it...working here!

Instead, those of us that actually like Porltand are told by stuck up Greenie folks like you to move to the suburbs and to "Get over it" and get more cars off the road.

What a bunch of horse-hockey.

[billb]

Oh jeez PD , you want your cake and eat it too. If you work somewhere , then move nearby. Your
selfishness in insisting on SOV commuting across the region , polluting the air everyone shares is so 20th century. Your apparent grumpiness is probably from spending hours stuck in your car going 12 MPH commuting. {-:

[PD]

Billb -

So when a taxpayer (in Portland) is dissatisfied that his employer relocated from Portland to Tualatin to avoid the unfriendly business environment he all of the sudden becomes "selfish" because he must relay on a car to get to work? Are you kidding me? These failures to keep employment within Portland at the city government level are what prompts more reliance on SOV's than anything.

But Greenie elites like you don't care about how Average Joe has to live...you just want your bike lanes. You are the blind voter that keeps Adams, Leonard, and Saltzman at the helm -- ten bucks says you're blogging from a taxpayer funded computer at City Hall. Heck, you're probably Amy Ruiz herself, aren't you "billb"?

[Brian Libby]

You're kidding I think, PD, but billb is not Amy Ruiz.

[Sara King]

I have to laugh when I hear folks like the Mayor talk about the 20-minute neighborhood like it is a brand new thing. Frankly, this has been the planning vogue for at least 20 years now, especially in Portland. Over the years, mixed-use, higher densities, transportation choices and work, live, play convenience has been part of "Neo-traditional planning", "new-urbanism", "complete neighborhoods", etc. Remember about 15 years ago when Charlie Hales said that every child ought to be able to walk to a store for a quart of milk?

Same concept, new name.

[Rob]

It may be the same concept with a new name, but I live it and I love it. I feel bad for people whose lives are so wrapped around their cars. They spend so much time and money figuring out what to do with their cars... where to park it when they get where they're going. Where to park it when they get to the next place. Where to get gas. Waiting in lines of cars. Stuck on the freeway. Traffic in the city. How's that I5 bridge treating ya?

I walk out my front door and have the best of the city at my feet. It's bliss. I walk everywhere, and when I'm feeling lazy I hop on the streetcar or MAX. It's a good life.

[billb]

PD , send that 10 bucks to Sister's Of The Road for me. I write from my tiny design studio in NW PDX which I walk to everyday, and YES I do want bike lanes , streetcars , MAX , and anything else that will make the city breathable and pleasant."Greenie Elite" , do I get to wear a funny hat with that title?
I do not simplistically blame City Hall for the macro - economic condition we are in.
[that keeps me from getting that 100 mil building design project I am so ready to do]
Maybe Amy can put in a good word....

[Jeff Joslin]

A tiny historic footnote correction. Sarah: Charlie coined the phrase "the orange juice test".

I'm sure you're all enthralled I straightened that out.

[eric cantona]

PD calling others the "greenie elites" makes me assume that he/she is a "real american".

that said - I would agree that the city of Portland has done a pretty crappy job of attracting/keeping businesses here, which runs counter to the notion of 20 min. neighborhood. I also think that is beginning to change, albeit slowly.

[Sara King]

Yep, you're right, Jeff. It was the orange juice test.