Article on the Portland Tram in NY Times

Thanks to Arthur for sending this over.

City That Loves Mass Transit Looks to the Sky for More

By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: January 29, 2007 in the New York Times

PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 28 — The view from the new silver spheres strung across the sky here will not always be as stunning as it was on this sunbeam weekend: Mount Hood regal in the late light, Mount St. Helens a mystery in the distance, the downtown skyline sharp but self-effacing, smart enough to know its place amid mightier peaks.

Yet even if the opening of the city’s newest and most exotic form of public transportation — the $57 million Portland Aerial Tram — had been met with the more customary drizzle and drear of winter here, the ride would still have been a thrill.

“We’re running at full speed,” said Art Pearce, the project manager for the Portland Office of Transportation, as one of the tram’s two 78-passenger cabins neared the 197-foot tower that supports the 7,000-foot cable tugging the tram along at up to 22 miles per hour. “So there’s going to be a bit of a swing.”

Sure enough, as each cabin cleared the tower that helps lift it along its 3,300-foot route from the banks of the Willamette River up to the campus of the Oregon Health and Science University on top of Marquam Hill, it rocked forward, giving riders up front a sudden and strong sense of just how close they were to the traffic rushing below on Interstate 5.

“Whoa!” passengers whooped in unison each time. Then they laughed.

Portland, after all, loves to ride.

So enamored with public transportation is this city of 560,000 (the population of the metropolitan region is almost two million) that it is laced with electric streetcars, light rail and buses. TriMet, the regionwide system that unites most of the various modes, boasts that it has more riders than public transit systems in bigger cities like Seattle, Denver and Miami. It says ridership over the last decade has risen faster than both the population and the average number of miles people drive. More than one-fourth of afternoon commuters on some major routes out of Portland use light rail.

Still, some critics have called the tram a folly. As its construction budget soared from early projections of $15 million to nearly four times as much as that, disputes between the city and the university arose amid calls to rethink the whole idea. The fare announced last week — $4 round-trip unless riders are visiting the hospital, work there or have a transit pass — is more than twice initial estimates.

Some residents beneath the tram route are not pleased to have people floating past their back decks and bathroom windows. The tram cabins have few handholds, and at the open-air waiting platform on Marquam Hill, only modest barriers protect passengers from foul weather and a steep drop. Mr. Pearce said such concerns would be addressed.

For all the fuss, however, the tram is accompanied by no shortage of optimism. Some say it will give eminently livable Portland an aesthetic exclamation point it lacks, something like the Golden Gate Bridge or the Space Needle in Seattle.

More tangibly, the tram is supposed to help develop former industrial land along the Willamette long hemmed in by highways. It is meant to be a critical link between the university and the South Waterfront, now home to condominium projects and the university’s Center for Health and Healing.

The tram makes the trip from the main university campus in less than 5 minutes, while driving can take 15 minutes or longer. Though the tram opened to the public this weekend, doctors and hospital staff members have been using it since late last year to travel between the main campus on the hill and clinics and a gym at the waterfront, where the university hopes one day to move its medical schools.

The city managed the construction and owns the tram, but the university is paying all but $8.5 million of the building costs and is contracting with the manufacturer, the Swiss firm Dopplemayr, to operate it. Dopplemayr hired cabin attendants after posting the jobs last fall on Monster.com.

The only other “commuter tram” in this country, officials here say, is the Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York City, the one that got stuck last April and required a daring rescue by firefighters. Portland tram officials say they have multiple backup motors to avoid such a fate.

Small plaques in each cabin note that one is named Walt, for Walt Reynolds, the first African-American to graduate from medical school at the university. The other is named Jean, for Jean Richardson, the first woman to earn a civil engineering degree in Oregon. Both are now in their 80s and rode the tram for the first time last week. The alternative newspaper Willamette Week, dutifully jaded, noted the political correctness of the choices, and suggested that the politician who pushed the idea should have gone instead with “Pan” and “Dering.”

But few riders seemed jaded this weekend.

Kaitlyn Ni Donovan, 37, and Jonathan Drews, 38, rode a scooter to the tram on Saturday. The couple, both musicians, stood at the front of one cabin as it descended, with snow-clad Mount Hood at sunset.

“It’s so futuristic for a city that’s so green,” Ms. Ni Donovan said. “I’d like it even more if it was 20 times slower and they served cocktails.”

Ken, the cook

We had Sunday dinner for the dodgeball team again. People were coming at 6; I got home from the store at 3 and hadn't started anything yet. I knew I was making Chuck's Pad Thai noodles, which are great, so that left an appetizer and a dessert to make. I asked Ken what he wanted -- cake. I flipped through my recipe/idea binder and saw carrot cake with cream cheese frosting that Linda used to make at Janos. I pulled out the recipe and handed it to Ken.

"Want to make this for me?"
"Um...."
"Please?"
"OK" (insert hesitation but commitment)

Ken is a great cook; he just doesn't do it very often. He gets nervous when he hasn't made the thing before, so carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for a dinner party in 3 hours was that scenario. But he did it and it turned out awesome. Very moist, two tiered cake with an awesome icing. Everybody ate all of theirs and raved about it, which made Ken very happy. The recipe's at home, else I'd post it.

The appetizer was a play on crab dip with ritz crackers. I didn't have any crab but had some calamari left from the squid disaster. So I made a calamari dip which got demolished. I thought it tasted very much like a clam dip:

Calamari Dip
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 cup calamari (cleaned squid, cut into 1/2" pieces)
1 block cream cheese
1/2 T Sriracha or other hot sauce.

Cut up onion and garlic and saute in a bit of fat until almost soft. (Fat can be oil/butter/bacon grease, I used 1/2 T of the latter that I keep in the freezer). Add cleaned and drained squid and cook about 2 min, until squid are cooked but not tough. Transfer onion/squid mixture to a food processor and pulse until squid are in small pieces. Add cream cheese and mix well. Put into an oven proof bowl and bake at 375 for 10 min. Serve hot with crackers.

The pad thai also worked out well, although cooking pad thai for 10+ people was too much. Even with a 6 quart saucepan, it was hard to turn the noodles and get the ingredients well mixed. We had to move it to two pans, which just isn't the same to me. I think I'll just make smaller groups next time.

Also made some irish coffees, like my dad does, for fun. They turned out well, but just not the same as his. He is the master at them.

Ken Update: 2 Weeks Post-Op

Ken played dodgeball the other night to mark his 2+ weeks of recovery. Made me a nervous wreck, but it was fine. He's still feeling pressure, which is very frustrating for him. He had a doctor's appt this morning:

me: what'd the doctor say?
Kenneth: everything in there looked like it was healing up nicely. He said the pressure I'm feeling is due to the turbinates and other stuff in there being inflammed post-surgery and just natural inflammation. He prescribed Flonase with the idea that now the flonase can actually get to where it needs to to be effective. before the surgery it could get up my nasal cavity. I have another appointment in 2 months

Cervical Cancer

A friend of mine was just diagnosed with the early stages of cervical cancer. They're doing a cone biopsy today to see how deep the cancer goes but REGARDLESS of the results, they're doing a hysterectomy.

A hysterectomy? Seriously?

No mention of chemo or radiation. Apparently this is the way they treat it. I find it completely mind-boggling. She's 29 and found out two weeks ago. Ugh. She's doing well with it so far and her boyfriend is being very supportive. I am not doing so well with it. It bothers me quite a bit. I work on hormones and cancer cells yet she's the one with cancer. I also want to have children at some point but have put it off until we're ready. Hearing that having children is no longer an option would be crushing.

She's a strong girl and will likely handle this all very quietly. We'll be here to give support, but I doubt she'll take much help. I will bring them food tonight since I don't know what else to do. I still can't believe the only treatment for early cervical cancer is a hysterectomy.

This exists in Portland?!!! Are you kidding me!?!!

I am so excited. This place has me written all over it. Charcuterie series, here I come.

A Week Already? Sheesh

Time flies. Here's what's been going on:

Ken's Health
Ken is feeling better although he's definitely not 100%. He has intermittent pressure and pain which subsides ~90% of the time if he rinses out his sinuses. (Note: the sinus rinse tends to dislodge blood clots. You can hear him moan a sigh of relief when one comes out, which seems to be followed by him showing me what came out of his face. Marriage is awesome.)

Relaxing and Pancetta
This weekend was very low key. We stayed in Friday and Saturday nights and relaxed. I rolled and hung my cured pancetta in the basement to dry on Friday night. I got a rope burn on my finger in the process from trying to get the kitchen twine tight around the rolled meat. Retarded. I am very excited yet concerned that I have raw meat just hanging down there. I know it's fine and they used to do that all the time 'back then', but still.

Hawkins' Dinner and Jana's Dessert
We had Sunday dinner for our dodgeball team again. I like cooking on Sundays. Hawkins always used to do it for us when we were in grad school and it made me so happy to go into the week that way. It was so relaxing. This time I made baked potato soup (with goose stock, but that's another story), grilled cheese sandwiches with carmelized onions, and a salad. But the part that I was most excited for was the Baked Alaska I made for dessert. Jana always told me it was easy but I've never tried to make it. I didn't have enough time to make a big one, so I decided to make individual ones:

Individual Baked Alaskas

Angel Food cake
Ice cream (used vanilla, but can be anything according to jana)
meringue (make 2 batches; egg whites, cream of tartar, sugar)

Cut angel food cake into 1/2 inch slices and lay flat on a cookie sheet covered in foil. Put a scoop of ice cream on top of each piece of cake. Slice remaining cake into 1/8-1/4" thick slivers. Use this cake to cover the ice cream. Push into the ice cream, if necessary. Put in freezer until hard (1 hr+). Cover each with meringue, ~3/4" thick, being careful to cover all the way to the bottom. Put in freezer another hour (or overnight). When ready, bake at 500 degrees for 5 minutes.

I tried on Sunday to use a blowtorch instead, but that was just a mess (took too long, burned the top and didn't cook the meringue to get it crunchy). The 500 degree over is WAAAYY easier and looks/tastes better.

Portland Snow
We got around 2-3 inches, which effectively shut down the town. Busses were all over the roads and work called me on Tuesday to tell me not to come in. I played in the snow with Kinley and took him to the park. He LOVES to sniff the snow like cocaine. It gives him a similar euphoria, too. I find it hilarious. Wednesday brought no new snow, so I biked to/from work yesterday. It was a mess. Things are back to normal today and the snow is just slushy. It should be all cleared up by the weekend. I am giving a talk next week and have a fellowship application due in three weeks, so I'm going to be a bit busy coming up. I don't know if I'm excited or nervous that tomorrow's Friday.

Ken Update #3

Ken's stents are out. (Note: "Wow, Rob wasn't kidding when he said I'd be surprised that something so large can be in my nose. those things are huge!!! each is a white plastic disk that is thin (a little thicker than a business card) and about 2" in diameter". He also said he felt like Arnold Schwarzennegger in Total Recall.) Ken's doc said everything in there looked very good and that he'll start to notice a reduction in the pressure when the swelling goes down. Ken says he's already noticed a small drop with those stents out although he did have a headache afterwards. They also used a suction tube and pulled out a huge blood clot along with some other mucous. That really cleared things up but it's stuffed up again and he has some more bleeding.

Other things he said:
"although, when it was clear (after the suction) I took a deep breath and said "Wow, is that what breathing is supposed to feel like?""

"I also mentioned to them the sensitivity that I was feeling yesterday in the colder weather. Seemed to hurt a little bit when I breathed in colder air. Dr. X said that that's normal since the mucosa is still a little raw and also some of my tissue is seeing air for the very first time. it'll be better once the mucosa toughens up"

So Ken's doing great. He hasn't taken a vicodin since yesterday morning. He's only had minor discomfort since. So far, so good!

Bike Accident Update

Short version: Everything is fine.

I took my bike to the shop yesterday since I could feel something was rubbing. Turns out the fender lost a support. They fixed it while I waited for no charge. Sweet. Healthwise, I iced my elbow all day yesterday while I typed at work. It was sore yesterday evening but is mostly fine today. I also noticed a nice 2 inch bruise on my upper thigh last night that is going away without a problem. Looks like I lucked out the whole way around. Wear your helmets, kids.

Pain for Two

Ken's feeling better. He had a lot of pressure the first couple of days as things were sorting themselves out. The doctor told him to take 1-2 vicodin every 4 hours. The first day was the worst, but we found that a vicodin every three hours keeps him at a nice steady level with minimal discomfort. He's able to move around pretty well and has left the house a couple times (not driving). He gets tired sooner than usual (not surprising) and also needs to wash out his sinuses pretty often, so we're not out for very long stretches. But at least he's mobile. That's great. He has a follow-up doctor's appointment tomorrow and is working from home and taking it easy today.

To make sure Ken's not the only one in pain today, I went over the handlebars of my bike this morning on my way to work. A car ran a red light right in front of me but he was just far enough away where it didn't affect me. I did scream "you just ran a red light!" which made him slow down to apologize. He then stayed right next to me as I rode in the bike lane -- rather than speeding up or slowing down. Weird, but whatever. As I was crossing the last set of streetcar tracks in the south waterfront (about a block from the tram), I saw a guidewire hanging down. I decided to swerve to miss it, but there was that damn car on my left and curb/rocks on my right. I thought I'd just squeak by, but it wrapped around my pedals and stopped my bike, sending me flying into the asphalt. I landed on my right side and elbow. Shaken and a bit teary, but fine. Some construction guys rushed over to make sure I was OK. Turns out a crane just went through before I got there and knocked the wires down from the traffic light above. My bike is a bit tweaked. The seat was turned 90 degrees and my brakes are sticking a bit. I'm going to get that fixed after work -- annoying because I just had them fixed on Friday and my bike was riding beautifully before the accident. Oh well. I've been icing my elbow all day since I could feel a couple of bumps and see it starting to bruise. I also took some ibuprofen this morning. Like I said, I'm fine.

Just got this update from Ken via email: "I haven't had a vicodin since 9:30 this morning. mild pressure is all I feel right now. we'll see how long this lasts. i'm still fearful that the surgery did nothing but it's still too early"

Good afternoon, sweet wuz

Ken's surgery was a success. He went under anesthesia at 10:30 and I got a call from the doctor at 1 saying the surgery went "just as [they] expected" and that Ken was in the recovery room. The doctor did have to put in a stent or two, which get removed next week during Ken's follow up appointment.

They wheeled in a groggy Ken around 1:25 where he immediately wanted something to drink. Apparently intubation combined with all sorts of nasal fluids draining make a person quite thirsty and uncomfortable. It took him a while to eat some crackers. That kid loves his saltines. He also drank 3 glasses of sprite and a glass of water. He was able to stand around 2:30 and went to the bathroom. Overall, he felt quite groggy and was a bit upset that he had a lot of pain/pressure around his sinuses and turbinates. "As much, if not more, than before." That bothered him, but he knew he would get a bit worse before he got better. The nurse gave him some vicodin, I helped him get dressed and we left the clinic around 3.

Doctor's rules:
1. He's not allowed to lean forward -- else he gets a rush of blood out of his nose. This happened when he got into the car and he looked like a drugged-up coke addict.
2. Vicodin every 4 hours. "Set an alarm at night to take it or you'll be in a world of hurt by the time you wake up".
3. No lifting anything over 15 lbs.
4. No exercise, even light exercise, for a week.
5. Continue the meds, do the nasal rinses, etc. starting tomorrow.
6. Sleep with his head elevated.

He's now sleeping soundly on the couch. Plenty of saltines within arm's reach and Kinley's right by his feet.

So far, so good.

Good night, sweet wuz

They called Ken this morning to tell him their second appointment cancelled and that he can come in early, if he was free. So he woke me up and we headed down to South Waterfront for his surgery. The building is beautiful; I hadn't been inside before. He filled out his forms and took him back (they even let me go back, too! I was very happy about that). They asked him all sorts of questions and reviewed the procedure:

Surgery is about 1.5-3 hours. General anesthesia, not local like we thought. They'll be reducing his turbinates bilaterally and fixing his deviated septum. He will be a beauty model after his nosejob. Or at least feel like one. The doctor said they won't be packing the nose with gauze or any materials; however, they may need to put in a stint for a couple days. They will determine that in the OR. Post-op recovery is about an 1-1.5h. The nose is likely to bleed and drip tonight, which is common. They gave him a prescription for vicodin that I am supposed to pick up for him. Complications that may arise are internal scarring and infection. To prevent this, he's been on pre-op medication for a week now. Predinose to reduce the swelling and limit any scar tissue that may form in the nose. And Avelox, an antibiotic, to limit infection.

They started to sedate him and I gave him a kiss before he went in. Ken is now in surgery. I couldn't sit there for two hours, so I came to work to pace here. Just a 3 minute tram ride away. OK, back I go! See you soon wuz!

Ken's Surgery

Is tomorrow.

I have to be there at 10:30 for some pre-op thing. Surgery is around noon, takes 2 hours then an hour and a half for post-op

What surgery, you ask? Ken has enlarged turbinates which means he's been having a lot of pressure in his head. You know how your sinuses feel in your upper nose and forehead when you have the flu? Well, that's how he's been feeling for the past year. They're going in tomorrow to shave them down. He is so excited, he can hardly stand it.

Christmas Surprise

Like many other couples, Ken and I have to split holiday time between our parents' houses -- not easy when one set lives in Pennsylvania and the other set lives in New Hampshire. We decided to have this year with my folks, next year with Ken's folks and the following year at our house. We left last Saturday morning for six days.

My folks live right next to a ski resort about an hour SW of Pittsburgh. We spent many winters up there when my brother and I were growing up. Lots of skiing and lots of friends. And now my folks live there permanently and are retired so they have all the time in the world to enjoy it. Needless to say, they love it there.

Saturday
We arrived on Saturday afternoon and my dad came to pick us up from the airport. Andrew was delayed about 2.5 hours but, seeing as he was coming from Denver, we were just happy that he could make it. My mom had a party waiting for us when we arrived. 27 people. 5 sets of my parents' friends and all their kids who we knew growing up and are now adults. Weird that they always tried to keep us away from the beer, now they're actually having a party for us to drink it.


Sunday
Christmas Eve. My dad called earlier that week to tell us that there was no snow so we shouldn't bring our skis (shocker that he said that, for anyone who knows him). In light of these events, I did not get out of my pajamas until 4 pm. It was a good day. I took a shower and then helped mom prep our family tradition for Christmas Eve dinner -- seafood fondue and twice baked potatoes. Seafood fondue is a whole platter of raw seafood (scallops, shrimp, lobster, tuna) that we cook in a fondue pot using chicken broth. Pretty fun. She also made a plate of sauteed mussels in a garlic white wine sauce and also some clams cooked the same way. Yum.

Monday
Christmas! A lazy but wonderful day. Ken and I got each other snowshoes as did my parents for each other. There were also all sorts of other wonderful gifts exchanged (including my beloved 6 quart all clad saute pan that was procurred by my folks at the All Clad Seconds sale. So excited). My other best was the book that Ken got me all about making, curing and smoking my own foods. I spent Christmas night making a seafood terrine -- very fun. I thinly sliced scallops and used them to wrap some tuna which enveloped a puree of lobster and shrimp mixed with an egg white to hold it all together when cooked. I poached it in some shrimp stock that I made two nights before. (Sidenote: I am now making pancetta from the book -- a week of salt curing followed by 2-3 weeks of drying by hanging in the basement.)

My brother, Andrew


We stayed up late and watched movies and relaxed. I went to bed around 1 that night. Ken came to bed about an hour later. Not 10 minutes after he came to bed, there was a knock on our bedroom door. He opened it to find his parents standing there. They had coordinated with my folks and flew down from NH to suprise us for Christmas. Mission accomplished. Ken was very very excited. We all chatted for a bit and then went to bed. It was 3 AM by then.



Tuesday

We all slept in and then lounged around the house. Around 2, we decided to go see Frank Lloyd Wright's "Falling Water" since it is about 15 minutes from my folks' place. Very cool to see. When we got back, I made a seafood stromboli to take with us to another family's party. The stromboli was a hit. (Used frozen bread dough for the stromboli dough (thanks Dave!) and then mixed the raw seafood with some cream cheese, mozzarella and hot sauce. It was devoured. )


Wednesday
We lounged around most of the morning and early afternoon. Ken's folks said they'd like to take us all out for dinner that night and we made our way down to the Black Dog Pub. Sadly, they were closed so we drove another 15 minutes to Laurel Mountain Inn. We had a great dinner, but the highlight was when we were leaving and a black stray kitten rubbed up against Ann and Randy. We pet her for a bit and my mom picked her up to hold her. (Note: my mom has been wanting a cat for a while. In an equal but opposite direction, that's how much my dad didn't want a cat.) A waitress walked by and said that the kitten was a stray, declawed, very sweet, but that the family couldn't keep her. My mom put the cat down since my dad said no and we all walked to the car. The kitten followed. That was when my mom pulled my dad to the side and must have whispered sweet nothings wrapped in bacon and gold because my dad said the cat could come home with us... "on a trial basis". By the night's end, my dad was holding Laurel in his arms. (Sidenote: Laurel went to the vet and is in great health. She knows how to use the litter box and likes to follow people around the house. My dad says the first thing he hears when he comes in the door is her little bell running towards him. Yes, they are keeping her.)


Thursday
Ken's folks left early in the morning. Sad, but what a great trip. Andrew was leaving that afternoon, so we packed up and went into Pittsburgh since there was the Louis Comfort Tiffany exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art that we wanted to see. We got to see all sorts of stained glass and other pieces. They were gorgeous. Dropped Andrew off at the airport, checked in at our hotel (we weren't leaving until the next morning), and then went to the Strip District in Pittsburgh. Got lunch at Primanti Brothers and then walked around. I wish that place existed in Portland.... went to an Italian market with all sorts of killer meats and cheeses behind counters, plus tons of olives, oils, vinegars and even Kristen's beloved lupini/lupine beans.

Hey Lisa,

When we were in Philly I got these amazing marinated lupine beans from the deli counter of a grocer in “Little Italy”. I recently found canned lupine beans at 17th St Market but I can’t find any recipes for a marinade. Ever had anything like that?

K

The next place we stopped was a spice store (I picked up some juniper berries for my pancetta) followed by the best meat and fish store I've ever seen. I love you Wholey's. Note: this is where I had to be dragged out of the store by my loving family. This is also where I saw that they had home-cured bacon for prices cheaper than what I paid per pound for raw pork bellies. Sad.

We went up the Duquesne Incline and went to dinner overlooking Pittsburgh. We had an amazing time. Here's an old picture that shows what it looks like from the bottom (we had dinner at the top of the skyrise on the right):


And looking from the top towards downtown Pittsburgh:


Friday
We had an early flight, a free airport shuttle and few lines through security. We also found out that we got upgraded to first class (for free) for both legs of our trip. I guess Ken's flying all the time for work does have some perks. I enjoyed my two bloody marys and read my book We landed at 11 AM on Friday (awesome) which is the perfect time to arrive after a long trip... still have the whole day AND your weekend. Kinley and Hughes were very happy to see us. Thanks to Adam and Alyson/FanEric for watching them while we were gone.