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What would you do if you got a call from the mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, asking you to make his city green? If you're David Bragdon you jump at the opportunity. Bragdon announced his resignation as the president of Metro in mid-August — after almost eight years on the job and four months before the conclusion of his term. His last day will be September 7th. His position in New York City will be director of long-term planning and sustainability. Bragdon says:
I leave wistfully. Though I was born in New York City – and return there now with excitement – I have been “Oregonian by choice” for nearly four decades. I chose to stay here because I believed it was a place where an individual could make a difference and make the place’s natural gifts even better.
Has Bragdon succeeded at that? How have land-use planning and transportation issues been affected by his leadership? What questions do you have for him about his time in Oregon and, specifically, his time at Metro? What does he consider his greatest success and his biggest failure? What does New York have to learn from Portland about being green?
GUESTS:
- David Bragdon: out-going Metro Council president and up-coming director of Mayor Bloomberg’s Office of Long-Term Planning & Sustainability in New York City
- Nate Gronewold: New York City Bureau Chief for Environment and Energy Publishing and a reporter for Greenwire
- Joan Byron: Director of the Sustainability and Environmental Justice Initiative for New York City's Pratt Center
Tagged as: metro · new york city · sustainability
Photo credit: Photo Courtesy of Metro
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Eco-roofs! Green roofs! We don't have enough here in Portland yet, but we have some, and the Central Library has one. I'm sure NYC has a few, but Chicago has rocketed past them in the green roof movement. Time for the Big Apple to catch up with the Second City!
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In Portland, we are sometimes accused of thinking we're ahead of the curve in terms of sustainability - are there things you've seen New York or other cities doing that are more forward thinking than what we're doing here?
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Sustainability seems very chic at the moment. I see lots of organizations jumping on the bandwagon but not really taking sustainability to heart. For example, Portland Community College is doing a big building project and making sure all the new buildings are "green" while doing nothing about the thousands and thousands of cars they attract at all of their campuses. Don't organizations like PCC have a responsibility to be green in ALL of their impacts, not just the "chic" ones?
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Anyone who has ever walked past a dumpster in NYC, especially in the summer, has been able to smell all of the rotting food that is thrown out. It seems like putting composting dumpsters around the neighborhoods would create a large amount of fertilizer for all of the parks and gardens in the city. Street vendors could be given incentives for using compostable packaging. Good luck in NY Mr. Bragdon.
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How do we fix the CRC?
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How is that this Region's public investment for the future is a $4 billion, 5-mile superhighway to sprawling Clark County? That is, the CRC a project more expensive than the entire 50-mile light rail system that will add tens of thousands of additional car trips along with pollution, greenhouse gases, while chewing up rural land.
How did this happen?
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David Bragdon is absolutely correct about his characterization of Portland’s lack of commitment to transportation. Oregonians in general and Portlanders included still think they can live on remote hobby farms and large lot suburbs and drive cars into the city to work. That model is over, it’s time to take urban form seriously and transition to mass transit and increased density. We shouldn’t reward irresponsible people that want to live in Washington and work in Portland by building a 5 billion dollar facility for single occupant vehicles. Invest in transit, invest in Portland, invest in Oregon, let Washington continue to sprawl and reap the appropriate rewards.
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This conversation about sustainability has not addressed one of the three pillars of the concept - equity. A recent study by Portland State University and the Communities of Color Coalition illustrates grave disparities in, for instance, health, income, and access to transportation for people of color in Multnomah County. By ignoring this and only focusing on the Portland Metro Area's environmental success we do a major disservice to the most rapidly increasing populations in the region. What could Portland learn from New York as far as addressing inequity and inequality between white folks and people of color?
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Is it normal that taking TriMet takes 2 to 3 times as long to get anywhere than driving? Is that normal? Is it that way in other metro areas?
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The problem with the bus system in Portland is that it runs on the same street system as all other vehicles. Eugene has some limited dedicated streets just for the green line I think it’s called. Portland needs to do two things, dedicate more space for busses and quit stopping every 2 blocks to pick people up, can’t people walk 4 blocks?
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There are hot marketing catch phrases that draw on the concerns of consumers like "Organically Grown" , Locavore Produce, Low Carbon Footprint, Green Power, Carbon Offsets, Green Building, Water Runoff Recycling, Many of these while well intentioned, have dubious claims.
We consume a lot of coffee; there is no such thing as LOCALLY grown, fair trade, shade grown organic coffee since PDX cannot grow a coffee bean. Those beans are shipped 3000 miles--try that for a low carbon footprint. Famers markets have a lot of midddleman traders who 'pose' to be organic farmers. Look at their hands: Zero Calluses. Green roofs do not insulate better than 36 inches of pink fiberglass. A bike rack and water runoff garden is on a checklist for a LEED Green building, reguardless of the fact that glass building perform far worse than efficiency promises. Everything is now Organic as Walmart has taken up the marketing term. People think solar panels can generate power from a full moon, when efficiency is far from perfect.
We are suffering from a Green Marketing Campaign that and we are self complicit. Try moving closer to work. Live in a smaller apartment. Buy a small city car instead of a SUV. Be a New Yorker, reguardless of buying locavore shade grown fair trade coffee. I predict a Green Bubble just like Real Estate.
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Jacob raises an interesting question for David-
(though I think most of Jacob's comments focus on small inconsitencies and jump to the wrong conslusions) -
How do we respond to a "green backlash" from people who only see corporate greenwashing, and misplaced effort?
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I guess Oregon/Portland just isn't cool enough for Mr Bragdon. We have a problem with Oregon-based companies cashing out once they get to a certain size, and moving on to something "bigger and better." Mr. Bragdon is just another example. After a very mediocre track record at Metro, he's moving on to something he thinks is bigger and cooler. How can we get someone who will stay and see things through, as his replacement, without running to the next cool opportunity that comes along. Good riddance Mr. Bragdon.
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After Mr. Bragdon discovers he's in over his head and comes back to Oregon to poach someone else's job here, I hope there isn't a job for him here any longer.
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Lame show today, Emily. This guy has gone a long, long way on very little. Amazing that on the day he's leaving TriMet is increasing fares and decreasing service. I look forward to hearing how his nonstop talking and talking and talking without saying anything plays in New York. I support the mission and concept of Metro, by the way, but hopefully someone qualified will step in and prioritize something other than his conference schedule.
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Metro's a hard job. I think David Bragdon has done pretty well and wish him luck in NYC. I also think his parting words on KGW (wish that were covered) about growth for the Portland area - mainly jobs - is excellent advice. I'm nervous about the state of Oregon, particularly the state of Portland.
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I am very excited about this news as I myself just moved to New York City from Portland. I really hope that Mr. Bragdon will bring Portland's sustainability spirit to New York.
As he mentioned, New York's politics is more complicated with very diversed culture in 5 borough, but I think he will do great here with his experience as the president of Metro who has experience to promote sustainability at the grassroots level.
I am looking forward to have a chance working with Mr. Bragdon and to greening the City.
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Comments are now closed.
The NY senate just imposed a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the watershed that provides much of NY with its drinking water. Will Mr Bragdon be working on the hydraulic fracturing issue? In 2009 NYC Mayor Bloomberg didn't take a stance. What are Mr Bragdon's thoughts about hydraulic fracturing and how it could affect the 16 million people that rely on that watershed for their drinking water?
http://wccny.org/2010/08/05/new-york-state-senate-passes-moratorium-on-hydraulic-fracturing/