Five or ten years in the making, depending on how you count it, the Bayside Trail is now a reality. There will be a public Ribbon Cutting on Thursday, August  19th,  4-6  pm at the Elm Street Plaza to celebrate the event. Mayor Nicholas M. Mavodones and US Congresswoman Chellie Pingree will be in attendance along with other community leaders that have been working to make Bayside one of Portland’s up and coming neighborhoods. According to the Munjoy Hill News, “The one mile trail has transformed a 13.2 acre corridor that runs parallel to Marginal Way through the Bayside Neighborhood into a ribbon of green that will connect the Eastern Prom with Deering Oaks Park.” This may be overstating it a bit, because although the trail has been completed (hence the ribbon cutting) there is still $1.6 million more fund raising to be done so the landscaping phase of the project can be completed next year. The Portland Public Arts Committee (PPAC) has just posted an RFP for an artist to design benches for the trail, due on August 26th31st. In the meantime, enjoy a walk, run or bike ride through the new public space.

Rights of Way, a blog devoted to “better streets and public spaces in Portland, Maine,” has discovered a schematic map of Portland, Maine’s streetcar network, as it was in 1916, beautifully rendered by a German Wikipedia contributor. The Straßenbahns (streetcar lines in German) trace the familiar traffic patterns that still flow through Portland: Congress Street from the Old Union Station to Monument Square, north on Forest Avenue to Woodfords Corner and south across the bridge to Knightsville, in South Portland. Rights of Way covers all the local politics surrounding public transport in Portland and beyond, including the development of the Franklin Street “Boulevard”. Their homepage links to a definitive Google Map of Greater Portland Bike Routes, and a recent post offered a really useful map showing how to bike from Portland to all of the beaches within an hour’s ride in South Portland, Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough. Portland Green Streets shares the mission by “giving people the nudge, the incentive, and the experience to develop new green commuting habits.” If you see a lot of people walking, biking, carpooling and taking public transportation, wearing something green and enjoying “freebies” and discounts from local business on the last Friday of each month in Portland, chances are you are seeing Green Streets Day in progress. These efforts take a page out of environmentalist Bill McKibben‘s playbook as described in his brilliant new book Eaarth (yes, that’s right, two “a“s) where he argues that small, local actions on a large, coordinated scale is the only method of change that will allow our lives on earth to remain livable. The Greens Streets concept started in Cambridge, and has spread through Massachusetts to Portland, Ohio and England. Oh course, the environmental impact of one green-shirted day a month in a handful of cities is slight, but the habit of action, engagement, of taking to the streets together, is a worthy goal in itself, and one that paves the way for a sustainable future.

UnseenPortland is a new photo blog developed by Andrew A. Kessler inspired by the graffiti documenting street photo blog UnseenDenver. Kessler’s effort, and Portland’s, is several notches above our Colorado cousin’s. The Tumblr themed UnseenPortland is a much more pleasing way to view pictures than the wonky WordPress of UnseenDenver, but the real difference is the quality of the image. While our photographers have discovered their fair share of graffiti and found street art, they have also captured moments of heartbreaking light and numbing fog, pastoral beauty and industrial sculpture—and the occasional dead fish.

photo by Arielle Walrath from Unseen Portland

It’s always instructive to see yourself through the eyes of others. Portland, Maine, and Portland, Oregon, have this funny symmetrical relationship, and we, on the right coast, although older, are clearly the smaller. How interesting then to hear a voice from Oregon seeing us as a more uplifting model than their northern neighbor. Don Kahle, a quirky commentator from Eugene, Oregon, clearly has his own perspective. In his recent post, “The Other Portland,” Don says, “Portland, Maine is a city with half Eugene’s population and double its pride…. As a city, it’s comfortable in its own skin.” He goes on to tell the industrial history of Portland, brilliantly calling the narrow-gauge railroad, “that era’s Betamax — a smarter solution that lost in the market.” At least, he points out, we got a museum out of it. He brings the Portland story up to date by discussing the arts district and waterfront, two things Eugene wishes it had more of, and linking to LiveWorkPortland (thanks, Don.) He concludes that, “Portland, Maine has bet its next future on what urbanists call the creative economy. If it fails, they’ll build another museum.”

PAETEC, one of the nation’s largest competitive telecommunication carriers is opening a regional office in Portland . The FORTUNE 1000 company which serves 84 of the largest 100 US metros “plans to fill ten positions from the Portland area.”  The expansion is in response to PAETEC’s growing customer base in Maine. Kevin Errity, president of PAETEC’s east region, says, “Our highly personalized communications solutions have been embraced by the dynamic, entrepreneurial business community in the Portland-Bangor area and we are proud to establish a permanent home here to serve this community.” Of note to the entrepreneurial startup community, their Equipment for Services Program “allows businesses to reduce or even eliminate the capital expense of communications equipment as part of an overall network services contract.” A good addition to the local economy in both jobs and business services.

Hallelujah, the Portland Press Herald reports that League of American Bicyclists has ranked Maine the third most bike friendly state in the country. According to the league, “A Bicycle Friendly State promotes cycling through legislation, policies, programs, and by creating new places to ride, educating motorists and cyclists, and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation.” Portland is certainly in line with that mission with our extensive bicycle network and lots of local touring opportunities. For those of you who missed it, Corey Templeton at Maine Daily Photo documented the 2nd annual Portland Blessing of the Bicycles, held at the Cathedral of St. Luke on State Street last Sunday. Everyone thanked their favorite deity that they didn’t have to bike with Boston drivers!

Portland Harbor, both its working waterfront and its recreational waterfront, is one of the city’s great resources, and Portlanders are far sighted about its future. One of the best ways to assure the future health of the Harbor is to get kids out on the water, and that’s just what community sailing organization SailMaine is all about. They will hold their 3rd Annual Open House this Sunday from 10am to 3pm at the dock on 58 Fore street in Portland. Along with knot tying classes and free sailboat rides for kids (over and adults, SailMaine will highlight their summer junior sailing program. These three week-long day camp sessions are a great—and very reasonably priced—way for kids to get introduced to sailing. In terms of the working waterfront, registration is now open for the Working Waterways and Waterfronts National Symposium on Water Access, set for Sept. 27-30 in Portland, Maine. According to an article in Trade Only Today symposium participants “will learn about the economic, social, cultural and environmental values of waterfronts and the important role of water-dependent uses in sustainable coastal communities. A walking tour of the Portland waterfront and optional field trips will highlight Maine’s working waterfronts and local efforts to preserve water access that have become national models. Symposium participants will work together to generate an agenda for maintaining and enhancing the nation’s working waterfronts.” So either way, live or work, this is a great time to get more involved in Portland’s waterfront.

Putting more international into Portland International Jetport, Air Canada is now providing two daily non-stop flights between Portland and Toronto. The Jetport also announced the resumption of flights to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

The City of Portland is getting a $2.5 million federal grant to include geothermal heat in its major expansion project for the Portland International Jetport. The low-emission heating system will help improve air quality for passengers and airport employees while reducing the use of conventional fuels. The city broke ground last week on the $75 million expansion that is slated for completion in 2012. The project will add three new gates, double the number of security lines and attract more airlines to the airport to support growing passenger traffic. See video below for a week-by-week-preview.