Poll Shows Most Don't Want New Streetcar
The proposed Lake Oswego to Portland streetcar has been a hot topic in the Portland area recently. The Oregonian recently published a front page story, pinning the cost at $458 million and saying that city leadership at both ends of the line are ready to green light the project.
It appears that the most vocal opposition to the project comes from the Dunthorpe community where the streetcar will pass through. Outside of that group, we haven’t heard much about whether or not Portlanders or Lake Oswegans want the project. So ThePortlander decided to ask.
We took a different approach than most polls. We didn’t ask respondents supported the streetcar or agreed with the price tag. We simply asked “Do you want a streetcar between Lake Oswego and Portland?” We also asked 1 other question: “where do you live?” Now keep in mind that this is an unscientific poll with a relatively low number of responses: 341 as of April 5th.
The verdict? Fifty seven percent (57%) say they DO NOT want the Streetcar between Lake Oswego and Portland. Nearly 50% of the respondents live in Lake Oswego and just 16% in downtown Portland or the South Waterfront. The rest live elsewhere.
It was important to find out where folks live. Our thought is that the target audience for the streetcar are those people living in Lake Oswego or downtown Portland/South Waterfront. A streetcar linking those two places is useless for the majority of us living elsewhere.
That is where it starts to get interesting. Not surprisingly, 73% of Lake Oswego residents in our poll say the do not want the streetcar. Looking at residents of downtown Portland and the South Waterfront, 54% said they do not want the streetcar. Together, 68% of the poll respondents living in the areas connected by the proposed streetcar DO NOT want it.
Only 1 of our groups wants the streetcar: those that do not live in Lake Oswego or downtown Portland/South Waterfront. Fifty five percent (55%) of them said they want a Lake Oswego to Portland streetcar. Only 8% were unsure or didn’t care. Too bad we didn’t ask them why they want this streetcar, seeing as it likely won’t impact them much.
So there you have it. Most people we surveyed don’t want the streetcar. If you have not yet taken the survey, it is available by clicking here. Chime in using the comment section below and tell us why you do or don’t want the Lake Oswego to Portland streetcar.
Editors note: we made the mistake of taking the poll using a web site that wont allow us to download and share the data unless we pay at least $200/yr. Otherwise, we would have shared everything with you.
If, as you admit, your poll is unscientific, then why feature it in an article? For that matter, why even call it a "poll"? A carefully-formulated survey of a representative sample of Portlanders would have news value. But what you've published–based as it is on a wholly unrepresentative, self-selected group of respondents–tells us nothing about the public's actual attitudes toward the proposed Lake Oswego to Portland streetcar. Disgraceful journalism.
Thanks for reading!
Your comment makes it clear that your concern is for reader numbers rather than journalistic integrity or intellectual honesty.
what happen to asking for a vote by the voters if they want it or not what happened to our rights as citizens in this city . They do just what they want and when they want . Ask the citizens of north portland . They voted on line rail and voted it down and the city and who ever put it in anyway and no one challenged in a court of law . Just now we are finding out it is illigal to take money out of sewer and water rates and pay for something else . All these rat bastards should have to pay it all back to the tax payers by working there job for free and community service to boot
Not even close to statistically valid: Sample size too small. Uses self-selected population.
Fails on all accounts. Shame on you. Take a statistics class and stay off the internet until you pass.
I never claimed it to be scientific or statistically solid. We also come right out and say how many respondents are included. Not hiding anything or claiming anything it is not.
Simply a polll, not a survey or a study. A poll.
If you would like to see a streetcar line replace the most-traveled East Side Tri-Met bus line: 15 Belmont.
Your "useless to the rest of us" statement is absurd. Investments that create neighborhoods where people can walk, bike and take transit to get where they want are critical to our region's ability to prevent urban sprawl and control the costs of public structures like water, sewer and road projects. It's like saying, "I'll never be arrested so investments in police are useless to me."