All together now, we go, too.

The vanity license plate on the convertible caught my eye--I GO TO. I picked up the camera from beside me on the bus seat and snapped away Friday afternoon on my way home from work.

Later that night when I downloaded the photo I realized straight away that I had captured something that I've grown to dearly love about Portland. Look out the windshield of the bus with me. You see a MAX light rail train turning from left to right, heading towards the eastbound PGE Park MAX Station on SW Yamhill, Stop ID 9758. You see the Mercedes convertible. You see a bicyclist. I'm on the #18 bus. It's 5:25 p.m., and the car, bike and bus waited calmly as the MAX glided through the corner. With the MAX out of sight, the traffic signal changed to green. We three continued our progress.

Within a quarter of a block, four types of transportation side by side. I love this coexistence, the sort of application of the multi-use concept that I believe to be one of the aspects that makes Portland a healthy city.

Below I included a Google map of the area for your enjoyment. If you zoom in and move the map around, you can get close enough to see the MAX tracks as they make the curve. The red A is pointed at PGE Park. The intersection is immediately to the right of it, SW 18th at SW Yamhill.




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My favorite neighborhood neon sign, from a new perspective

There it is--the brilliant Volvo sign at Jim Fisher, on the corner of NW 21st and West Burnside. We're looking at if from the front window of a 15 bus, heading west on SW Morrison, last Friday night. Another great neon sign hides in the tree limbs to the left--the red letters of PGE Park at SW 18th and Morrison.

Do you have any of these in your city?

I've noticed several of these lately. This on is on SW 18th Avenue, beside PGE Park, a sports venue a few blocks from our apartment. Some days I walk by it on my way to SW 3rd and Salmon, to catch the bus that takes me across the Willamette River. I walk or ride by another one down NW Everett, at NW 4th Avenue, I think.

Right now I don't know one thing about these signs, other than that they're intriguing. I don't recall seeing a bicycle chained to one, but surely that could be a use for them. I don't know if they designate some sort of trail, an idea that seems implausible at best. If they were to call attention to something specific, why isn't there more information there?

I'm curious. If I learn more, I'll update you.