Disney Planning Trumps Portland Planning

[spredelectric]

What's interesting is how Portland claims how wonderful it has planned its own city; and yet Portland is extremely automobile centric - even if the streets are a little narrower than others.

Portland had a chance with both the Pearl and with SoWa to create a true pedestrian centric neighborhood and it failed at both by extended the same old automobile street grid system in both. And in SoWa, the local businesses are complaining about car access. Go figure!

[deezynar]

I read a book on urban planning that said everywhere people enjoy going, cars are not allowed. True? IDK. Cars have succeded at making us need cars by inflating our cities w/ car-scaled streets. Think how cities would reshape themselves if personal car ownership was outlawed today. To increase density, houses would be built in the middle of streets & shopping center parking lots. Miles of arcades would be built to shelter pedestrians & all the car subsidies would go to mass transit.

[jeffsandychelsea]

The reason that Disney has such a good transit system and walkable areas is because passenger cars and buses are not allowed inside an amusement park. So they had no other alternative. In places where cars are allowed, like actual cities, it's much more difficult to get a walkable community that can still viably accommodate motor vehicles.

[hedablinka]

The sad thing is that the monorail somehow got caught up in the idea that it was an amusement park ride when it could have been a useful system in an appropriate setting (in the middle of freeways or wide boulevards, as opposed to narrow urban streets).

Still, Disney Parks are not cities, and whatever Portland got wrong, it has managed to do so much more right. No American city would go wrong looking to Portland, Oregon. Think of all the cities with parking lots where buildings stood...

[st932253]

Is this video a parody/joke? I hope so. Every non-Disney employee in that photo most likely drove a car into the "city" and will drive one out.

If you want to see Disney's commitment, keep an eye on their involvement with the hi-speed rail spanning from Tampa to Orlando, FL over the next few years. Disney is a major player in the region and can/will influence the future of a young area.

[ilwi1]

not comparable

[spredelectric]

No, it's not a city. But it's where the entire place is planned for its purpose. Clearly, a city wouldn't have amusement rides all over the place (it would have affordable housing, however) - something that Portland, and especially the central city - lacks.

[Spokker]

In California Adventure there are few places to sit. When you're sitting you're not shopping.

[mbtaphotographer]

This is at once true and not true. Disney is in many ways a well-planned park, but it is not truly a city. The same can be said about many college campuses; highly walkable, and with few cars. Large numbers of people live in a small area, yet there is still lot's of green space.

However, Disney is not a "livable" place. There is no affordable housing that is spacious enough to live in long term and there is no office or business space. It would be impractical as a model for urban planning.