It took me five minutes to get from my house to Columbia City Station; one minute for a train to arrive; 20 minutes for its doors to open at Capitol Hill Station; and six minutes to walk to my office on 11th and Pine.

The experience was painless and the train was packed with people, many of whom had just arrived in the city by plane. There was excitement in the air. And at one moment, when racing through the tunnel between Westlake Station and Capitol Hill Station, my soul felt the gravity, the pull of the urban substance that grounds the great cities of the world.

The only bad thing thing that happened during my trip was I had to tell a woman to get out of my way on the escalator (stand right; walk on the left). The poor person wanted to park next to the man she was with. But I was not having it. That escalator is not short. I was not going to wait all the way up. I had no time to be polite. I had to keep on moving. This is the city we are now in.