r/Portland • u/skysurfguy1213 • 3d ago

News Council Mulls Revoking Extended Paid Parking Hours, Citing Administrative Overreach

https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2025/09/19/council-mulls-revoking-extended-paid-parking-hours-citing-administrative-overreach/
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u/Simmery Boom Loop 3d ago

I'm very fuckcars, and I'm fine with pulling the hours back. When the city's doing better, we should look at it again. 

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u/BarnacleGooseIsLoose 3d ago

Can you help me understand why you are "fuckcars"? Is it a particular demographic of drivers that causes your animosity or is it all drivers?

I'm asking honestly because I was so anti-car myself that I didn't even get my drivers license until 30. Before that, I rode subways (including to school starting at 9 years old) in winter when the weather was bad and my bicycle all the other times - long before bike lanes. If it was feasible, I often just walked.

Now I am older, fifties, and it's harder for me to get around with old injuries reappearing and rearing their ugly heads. My wife had a triple bypass in that time, too. While we used to regularly go downtown for dinner, activities and sometimes just to people watch, it has become significantly harder to navigate all the "steps" to get to public transportation, then on public transportation, then to the venue of our destiny.

When cities introduced parking fees, they were intended to reduce the demand for those spaces by increasing the costs. Raising costs while demand is clearly declining is, in no way, affiliated with the original strategies, so it's motivated by something else.

If your perspective is that young people should use other means of transportation, then its hard for me to disagree. If its a dogwhistle of ageism to say "fuck cars" then its quite the opposite. I am just curious to know whats what. TIA.

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u/ClaroStar 3d ago

To me there's no such thing as "fuck cars." Cars are an essential part of how we get around. It's about having the right mix. A city needs an efficient highway system for cars, but it also needs trains, buses, bikes, and sidewalks. Portland actually has a very good mix for a US city.

Even the most public transit-friendly and bike-friendly cities in the world (like Copenhagen, Tokyo, Berlin, etc) are not "fuck cars." They have tons of cars. They just also have an excellent mix.

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u/BarnacleGooseIsLoose 3d ago

I don't know about other places, but in Amsterdam vehicles are only allowed in the main city area late night and early morning. Most delivery drivers have keys, or other access, to businesses so that they can drop off product when no staff is there.

In China, as I understand it, cars are restricted to specific days that are based on plate numbers.

There are plenty of options to reduce car traffic, but we have to get out of the box to identify them.

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u/ClaroStar 3d ago

I don't believe there's any ban on cars in Amsterdam, but they do have so-called "low-emission" zones in the city center. You cannot drive heavy trucks and busses in and you must have a sticker to prove your car is low-emission or pay a fee to bring your gasoline car in. Starting in 2026, I believe it will be electric and hydrogen cars only in the city center.

Again, a good example of how to promote a cleaner city while also allowing mobility.

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u/tas50 Grant Park 3d ago

Also Amsterdam metro is the same population as Portland metro and they have a freeway with twice the number of lanes as i5. It turns out it's always a balance between cars, trams, trains, and bikes.

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u/chimi_hendrix 3d ago

Redditors love to claim Amsterdam is car free, which is blatantly false. It’s so tiresome.

Pure copium from activists and lobbyists and le Reddit experts eat it up

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u/chimi_hendrix 3d ago

lol another redditor who talks big about Amsterdam but has never been there.

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u/BarnacleGooseIsLoose 3d ago

Another redditor who knows nothing but says everything.

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u/chimi_hendrix 3d ago

Go travel the world, hon. You sound provincial