The fingers
10 TW
http://bikinginla.wordpress.com/
They caught someone! 8)
They caught someone! 8)
The fingers said:I don't think there is a bike friendly city within 100 miles of here!
cal3thousand said:Wouldn't it be nice if we could get highways for just bikes? Just a couple roads where cars are not allowed. If those existed, I would go out of my way to use them.
Chalo said:cal3thousand said:Wouldn't it be nice if we could get highways for just bikes? Just a couple roads where cars are not allowed. If those existed, I would go out of my way to use them.
The trouble with that is, if you have to go very much out of your way to get to a cycling facility, you won't use it much-- not for transportation anyway. That's the problem with the Circle C Veloway here in Austin. It sucked up years worth of cycling-specific funds in its construction, but it's just a loop trail out in the 'burbs that doesn't go anywhere. So while it does have a certain attraction for some weenies and rollerbladers, it does not get used a fraction as much as much cheaper bike facilities in town which actually serve a transportation purpose.
I say, close every tenth city street to motor vehicles, and watch those corridors flourish with street life, commerce, and other activity. Then you would not have to go very far out of your way to get to one of them.
For what it's worth, the first freeway in California started as a bicycle tollway that opened in 1900:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arroyo_Seco_Parkway
Chalo
Chalo said:The difficulty in getting car-free zones is just getting folks to try it. In Europe when some cities began to their old central areas to cars, merchants and commercial interests have been strongly opposed to it-- and then when they saw the results, the ones outside those areas wanted the car-free zones expanded to include them.
Laziness and selfishness (car thinking) are common and very short-sighted, but quality of life is easy to see when it's there.