Portland Learning from Los Angeles

An interdisciplinary team of urban designers, architects, and analysts have proposed a neo-retro-futurist scenario for making downtown Portland nearly car-free by 2050.

2 minute read

January 18, 2010, 12:00 PM PST

By dcutler5640


Portland may be taking a nod from Los Angeles' 70's-era planning history to make future development in their downtown area car-free, or almost car-free by 2050. Yesterday, the urban planning and policy blog Hugeasscity reported on a GGLO proposal to repurpose the city's historic Memorial Coliseum building, located at the perimeter of the downtown core, into a colossal automated park and ride.

In typical Portland fashion, however, there is a Green-ish twist. Instead of cementing a future of auto-dominated travel, the building will become the opening salvo in the car's ultimate retreat from the City. At first, the park and ride (called a "mobility hub") will serve as a redevelopment catalyst – freeing most new construction in the downtown core from the financial and spatial burden of providing parking, thereby enabling increased overall density and affordability. Very much like a giganto-scaled version the "Park Once" garages that supported the recent revitalization of the 3rd Street area in Santa Monica and East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, or a modern reinterpretation of LA City's 1970 plan that located massive parking structures on the 101, 110, 5, 10 loop around downtown. The big difference here is threefold: Portland's garage will be 500 feet from high-quality regional rapid rail and bus transit, it's 5200-car capacity would be a civic spectacle in and of itself, and it's use as a garage that facilitates auto travel would sunset. After 40 years, when urban density and vibrancy have increased to the point that cars as we know them are obsolete, the building will become a car memorial museum. With the push of a button, visitors could "order up" any one of the 5200 cars stored in the collection, and it would be delivered to their feet for viewing.

The Coliseum "mobility hub" would be one of a series, whose modular automated parking units could be disassembled or repurposed when density near the core increases, and reassembled farther out to catalyze compact development elsewhere.

The proposal is an audacious response to the 2010 Rose Quarter "Call for Concepts" and to Portland's bold 2009 Climate Action Plan, which requires an 80% reduction of GHG emissions by 2050, when population is forecast to have grown by 90%.

Thursday, January 14, 2010 in Hugeasscity

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 11, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Rendering of Shirley Chisholm Village four-story housing development with person biking in front.

San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning

SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.

June 8, 2025 - Fast Company

Yellow single-seat Japanese electric vehicle drivign down road.

The Tiny, Adorable $7,000 Car Turning Japan Onto EVs

The single seat Mibot charges from a regular plug as quickly as an iPad, and is about half the price of an average EV.

June 6, 2025 - PC Magazine

Two small wooden one-story homes in Florida with floodwaters at their doors.

As Trump Phases Out FEMA, Is It Time to Flee the Floodplains?

With less federal funding available for disaster relief efforts, the need to relocate at-risk communities is more urgent than ever.

1 hour ago - Governing

People riding bicycles on separated bike trail.

With Protected Lanes, 460% More People Commute by Bike

For those needing more ammo, more data proving what we already knew is here.

3 hours ago - UNM News

Bird's eye view of half-circle suburban street with large homes.

In More Metros Than You’d Think, Suburbs are Now More Expensive Than the City

If you're moving to the burbs to save on square footage, data shows you should think again.

5 hours ago - Investopedia