dagblog - Comments for "Right of Way"

Cover Story: Bikelash Not

artappraiser — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:31:51 +0000

Cover Story: Bikelash

Not Quite Copenhagen

The battle over bike lanes isn’t about bikes vs. cars, or borough vs. borough—it’s about competing ideas of what, and who, a city is for. Is New York too New York for bike lanes?

By Matthew Shaer

I imagine with being so

artappraiser — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 22:30:35 +0000

In reply to Right of Way

I imagine with being so active in biking issues, you are aware of the NYC Greenways system, but just in case you aren't:

http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/facilities/af_bike_paths.html

100 miles down, 250 to go. I see news of it expanding in the Bronx often.

The Greenway that runs around the edge of Manhattan grows ever more popular with tourists all the time There are easy bike rentals at points along the way and you totally avoid the anxiety provoking Manhattan traffic and get spectacular views of the skyline and things like the Statue of Liberty in the harbor and cand do things llike a trip over the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Greemways if you wish. It's also a good alternative to getting around to see different neighborhoods as opposed to having to go underground on the subway and not see anything while in transit or expensive cab fares. You have a choice of stopping along the way and locking your bike to walk a few blocks east or west to a neighborhood and then returning to your bike to travel on, or if you are very brave, take it into and out of the streets.

My thrity-something brother used a bike on his last visit and now tells everyone that they need to do the same, that you can't "get" New York in a visit without doing it, that he didn't "get" NYC until he did that, that before it was vast and what New Yorkers wrote and said about the city was a puzzle to him, and that now to him NYC is geographically small, quite graspable and he "gets" it. He did not chose the "lock the bike along the way and walk" option, he is a night owl and went riding allover Manhattan at night when the traffic is quite light in most places. With the bike he would go see the Empire State Building (open to midnight) and then run down to the East Village clubs in a few minutes, zip over to the Meatpicking District to see what was going on there, bring it home to the Bronx at 4 am on the subway.

Despite coming home to face

Donal — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:38:37 +0000

In reply to I am definitely partial to

Despite coming home to face the results of my less intense apartment cleaning regimen, she's doing much better, thanks.

I am definitely partial to

tmccarthy0 — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:17:41 +0000

In reply to I suppose one could ask the

I am definitely partial to staring at men in leather chaps, as long as they have those great little behinds..

Oh that is too much information, isn' it!!!! Hahahahaha

O.T. Donal, I never got to ask before I left, is your wife doing better? I hope she is feeling better, I have been thinking about you both. I just wanted you to know I am concerned and pleast let A. know I hope she feels better soon and I also hope there is nothing seriously wrong with her.

Yes one could say the same

Elusive Trope — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:57:38 +0000

In reply to I suppose one could ask the

Yes one could say the same thing about gay pride parades. It would be hard to say that guys in leather chaps helps convince opponents to gay adoption more likely to see the other side's point of view. Which is not to say that one shouldn't have Critical Mass rallies or gay pride parades. Only that people reflect on the consequences and be realistic as one can about what will the outcomes be.

As someone who spent a lot of time putting together rallies to stop clearcutting in the old growth forests, while I would never stop someone attending the rally from coming as they are, I also knew the press would inevitably take the photo of those who most fit the sterotypical treehugging hippies to place in the article. Chances are most people were trying to convince to join in with us to stop the multinationals on this front would just read the headline and look at the photo and miss the messaging, such as while logging jobs were decreasing, timber production was increasing, or that most of the logs were being exported to other countries to have value add production applied to them. My dream was always to get everyone to show up in formal business wear because it would have undermined the preconceived notions of so many who were trying to reach.

Oh and I forgot this, we

tmccarthy0 — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:59:03 +0000

In reply to Man, I'm jealous. I live in a

Oh and I forgot this, we cross i-90 on this which was built specially for cyclists and runners, it is also quite fantastic, and was planned in the 1970's, I used to use it daily when I worked on Mercer Island. We really are quite lucky and bicycle friendly here. There is no way a car can come close to a cyclist here, no way at all.

It is beautiful isn't it. The

tmccarthy0 — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:47:11 +0000

In reply to Man, I'm jealous. I live in a

It is beautiful isn't it. The entire city has bike lanes on every single road, marked, not all are as great as that one, but we have several like that,

Here is one along the Duwamish which is georgeous and no cars can go there either,

Or there is this, which is which is what they look like all through the city.

we have great resources here, we are very lucky, it is one of the reasons people want to move to Seattle and never leave. Well, that is me anyway.

And here is our big bicycle map, which is great.

http://www.cityofseattle.net/transportation/docs/bike100221_mainmap.pdf

I suppose one could ask the

Donal — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:45:04 +0000

In reply to If biker safety is one's

I suppose one could ask the same thing about the many colorful LGBT marches that made the evening news over the past few decades. How many people saw guys in leather chaps and suddenly decided to support gay rights? Or when the farmers or the truckers drove into DC and shut down traffic. Part of the rationale behind protest is that people are tired of being silent and being intimidated.

If biker safety is one's

Elusive Trope — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:28:00 +0000

In reply to Right of Way

If biker safety is one's concern, then one has to really reflect on Critical Mass events which tend to do nothing but create more hostility between the car people and the bike people. When I lived in Portland, I never came across anyone who shifted their way of thinking because of these protests. I think one would be hard pressed to find someone anywhere who would say "I really hated sharing the road with cyclists until I got caught behind a Critical Mass ride trying to get home from work last Friday night. Causing me to get home a half hour later really made me see the light." As we watch protests unfold in Wisconsin and elsewhere, the value of protests based on confrontation has to be considered on a case by case basis, and the protesters have to ask themselves are they really making the world a better place with their confrontational tactics.

Man, I'm jealous. I live in a

Verified Atheist — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 11:42:01 +0000

In reply to Well as to bicycle paths. I

Man, I'm jealous. I live in a supposedly bike-friendly town, and it's the best place I've ever lived in with respect to bikes, but in practice it still leaves a lot to be desired. For example, we have lots of unconnected bike lanes that suddenly end in the middle of a street. (sigh)