Back on the Track!

Hey folks. I am sorry that I have not been writing much lately. The job I am working is moving closer to a finish date and I have been a little busier then I have in the past. So I have been reading on the train rather then writing about my adventures.

I just noticed a strange thing today. Two guys in a truck with a covered canopy drove into the Wilsonville Transit Center parting lot and pulled a bicycle out of the back of it. I watched one walk away while the other climbed on the bike and rode off in the same direction. Hmm, I thought they must be heading for the train. But they just came back minus the bicycle and drove off in the truck. I must admit to being confused by this. I can only assume that they were dropping the bike of for someone but it would have not occured to me at first look. Now that I think about it I recall seeing the same truck in the past I am going to have to pay more attention to it to see if it is dropping off the same bike or what is going on.

I know it probably gets old me continuing to trumpet the horn of public transit. But, I am going to do it anyway, in the last month or so as I have ridden the train and taken the MAX in Portland I really have say that I enjoy it. I enjoy the peace of mind it brings me. I enjoy that it allows me to have a relativly short drive to the station. I like that it allows me to follow my own personal thoughts on how much driving I am doing and lets me take my car off of the freeway.

I just hope that Woodburn and Salem are seeing what good the WES is doing and are beginning to realize that it would benefit both of those communities to look toward a rail system of some sort. A rail system that at the very least would connect the WES to Woodburn and Salem for transit purposes. That being said I want to lay out my idea for Salem to make the downtown a more viable place for shopping and for people to live. Because right now the downtown core of Salem is dying a slow death and putting in overpriced Condos is not solving the problem.

This is the plan. North of Salem is Keizer Station a shopping center that is really an eyesore as far as I am concerned but imagine if there was a train or trolley running from the station and down River Road into downtown. There used to be street cars in Salem. I say we bring them back. What if we took a 6 block square or bigger around downtown and made it car free. Only trolleys and people walking perhaps a few of those ricshaw things. We could bypass around the downtown using Front St on one side and something else on the East. But in one fell swoop downtone becomes a place where people go to walk and to shop to sit outside in the summer and eat and have coffee. Because right now it is a place that people sail through. I am sure there are obstacles to my idea but I really think that this could make Salem a more liveable place for all of us.

Please tell me your thoughts. I would love to hear them.