Passenger Rights

There is an article in today's Province about passenger rights along the Interurban corridor. You can check it out on their website. It also mentioned our upcoming sustainability event.

Farming in the City

Back in the 1960's, people starting exiting the the core of Detroit, Michigan due to suburbanization and "White Flight". This left a devastated city core.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/detroitderek/4055001771/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arrrika/1573455477/

Well it appears that some Investors are looking to convert all this underused land in the middle of the city into a large scale commercial farm. According to the LA Times:

Cottonwood trees grow through the collapsed roofs of homes stripped clean for scrap metal. Wild grasses carpet the rusty shells of empty factories, now home to pheasants and wild turkeys.

This green veil is proof of how far this city has fallen from its industrial heyday and, to a small group of investors, a clear sign. Detroit, they say, needs to get back to what it was before Henry Ford moved to town: farmland.

"There's so much land available and it's begging to be used," said Michael Score, president of the Hantz Farms, which is buying up abandoned sections of the city's 139-square-mile landscape and plans to transform them into a large-scale commercial farm enterprise.

"Farming is how Detroit started," Score said, "and farming is how Detroit can be saved."

Interesting Transit News in Portland

Since 1975 people in Portland could take all forms of transit for free in the city’s downtown core in what was called the Fareless Square. This came to an end on January 3rd and now only rail transit is free in their downtown core. This was changed because now 95% of all trip downtown can be taken on streetcar or light rail. That’s pretty impressive. Providing free transit in the downtown core is meant to give people in the downtown core incentive to move around the downtown without using a car. Also, it helps with “air quality issues—specifically, reducing carbon monoxide.”

New Free Rail Area

South Fraser OnTrax Presents Sustainability on the Edge

South Fraser OnTrax presents Sustainability on the Edge, an event combining the knowledge and expertise of professionals in a number of areas including Translink, Metro Portland, the Township of Langley, and The City Program at SFU. This is a rare opportunity to come and see this many experts on transportation and sustainability in one place, presenting on cutting edge ideas and answering questions.

South Fraser OnTrax is proud to present an opportunity for everyone interested in sustainable communities and transportation options to hear from a number of experts in these fields, including representatives from Metro Portland, Simon Fraser University, the Township of Langley, and Translink. Residents of the Fraser Valley will find this event to be particularly enlightening as presenters will focus on issues relating to communities on the edge of Metro Vancouver.

South Fraser OnTrax advocates for the growth and improvement of communities through sustainable transportation and transit oriented development. In this spirit with the help of a grant from the Township of Langley, OnTrax will be hosting Sustainability on the Edge at the Fraser River Presentation Theatre at the Township Municipal Hall on Tuesday, January 12th, from 7-9pm. On hand for presentations and a question and answer session will be representatives from Metro Portland, Translink, the Township of Langley, and Simon Fraser University, with Councillor Jordan Bateman moderating.

Councilor Collette, keynote speaker from Metro Portland, chairs Metro's Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation, which determines priorities and projects slated for funding with federal transportation dollars in the region. Collette also is council lead on the High Capacity Transit System Plan, planning for the region's next 30 years of investments in light rail, commuter rail, regional streetcars and bus rapid transit. She serves on the Lake Oswego to Portland Transit Project Steering Committee, the Sunrise Project Policy Review Committee, and previously served on the Portland to Milwaukie Light Rail Project Steering Committee.

Mr. Gordon Price, Director of The City Program at Simon Fraser University, is also a regular lecturer on transportation and land use for the City of Portland, Oregon and Portland State University. In 2003, he received the Plan Canada Award for Article of the Year - "Land Use and Transportation: The View from '56" - from the Canadian Institute of Planners. In 2007, he was the winner of the “Smartie” People Award from Smart Growth B.C. In 2009 he was made an honorary member of the Planning Institute of B.C. He sits on the Boards of the Sightline Institute and the International Centre for Sustainable Cities.

Translink will also be participating, providing a planner with expertise in Transit Oriented Development to speak and to sit on the panel for questions.

Councillor Jordan Bateman from Langley Township will be moderating the events. Councillor Bateman has served on Langley Township Council since 2005.

South Fraser OnTrax (SFOT) is a non-partisan group of local people who have a passion for making great communities even better with the introduction of sustainable transportation options that are made available to all. SFOT is particularly excited about this event, and the effects that the presentations will have on local development and sustainability initiatives in areas such as the 200th Street Corridor and the Interurban.