Latta Outdoors

if you can't waste your time outdoors, waste it here

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
February 08, 2012, 06:19:14 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Recent

Visit Our Partners

User

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
February 08, 2012, 06:19:14 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Stats

Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 48632
  • Total Topics: 14089
  • Online Today: 40
  • Online Ever: 116
  • (April 18, 2010, 10:30:17 PM)
Users Online
Users: 1
Guests: 21
Total: 22
Pages: [1]
Author Topic: Bike Lane Advocacy...NYC style  (Read 702 times)
Nigal
Eugene Worshiper
****

Karma: +158/-572
Offline Offline

Posts: 410



View Profile
« on: June 09, 2011, 05:17:30 AM »
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ&feature=player_embedded
Logged
"Praise the God of all, drink the wine, and let the world be the world."
— French Proverb
Q
What Job?
*****

Karma: +134/-1129
Offline Offline

Posts: 1,717



View Profile
« Reply #1 on: June 09, 2011, 05:52:12 AM »
That makes a good point.  We got a grant a few years ago to put some bike lanes in our town and for the most part it works pretty well.  However, one major problem is that impatient folks driving behind you who don't want to go the speed limit will pass on the right using the bike lane. 

Some times a great idea just is not feasible or doesn't turn out to be what the pie in the sky vision.  For example, a lot of folks in D-Town are talking about just letting the urban prairies go back to forest and the want to uncap the old creeks in the city.  The problem with uncapping the creeks is that they were capped in order to provide sewage discharge almost a 100 years ago.  And of course the problem with letting things get back to forest is that none of the native fauna is still around and all we'll get is ghetto palms and more areas for rapist to perform their work.  And what about the rat population? 

NYC still has way too many vehicles in it to make it very bike-friendly.  But with all of these ideas I like what is being talked about because at the very least they offer a nontraditional approaches to our problems.  I like to think that we're in a "fleshing out" phase were something will eventually come of it.
Logged
~~ RIP Lewis Binford ~~
Nigal
Eugene Worshiper
****

Karma: +158/-572
Offline Offline

Posts: 410



View Profile
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2011, 06:37:21 AM »
The number one reason most people don't use bikes for transportation is a lack of feeling safe.  If you make people feel safe they will ride.  While bike lanes are not fool proof and they do have their flaws they do make people feel safer.  It's great to see some cities investing in cycling infrastructure because it is such a benefit in so many different ways.  I would love to see NYC become like Copenhagen where 1/3 of all travel is by bike.  Check it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXw_t172BKY&feature=related
Logged
"Praise the God of all, drink the wine, and let the world be the world."
— French Proverb
Q
What Job?
*****

Karma: +134/-1129
Offline Offline

Posts: 1,717



View Profile
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2011, 07:06:52 AM »
Yes, that's a good example and some of that is happening in the States; just down the road from me in fact:

http://www.google.com/search?q=dequindre+cut&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=682&prmd=ivnsm&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=-cTwTcngIYm2twe4g_mgAw&sqi=2&ved=0CCcQsAQ

http://www.detroitriverfront.org/dequindre/

They even rent bikes to ride the Cut and along the Riverfront at a very cheap price.
Logged
~~ RIP Lewis Binford ~~
Nigal
Eugene Worshiper
****

Karma: +158/-572
Offline Offline

Posts: 410



View Profile
« Reply #4 on: June 09, 2011, 03:18:24 PM »
That is awesome Detroit is doing that.  There are even non profit groups who go out in the middle of the night and gorilla paint illegal bike lanes across busy bridges.  They stay for a week or so until the city paints them back over.  Then they come back out and repaint them. 
Logged
"Praise the God of all, drink the wine, and let the world be the world."
— French Proverb
Q
What Job?
*****

Karma: +134/-1129
Offline Offline

Posts: 1,717



View Profile
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2011, 07:29:28 AM »
"There are even non profit groups who go out in the middle of the night and gorilla paint illegal bike lanes across busy bridges. "

Yeah, that doesn't sound like a great form of outreach for that not-for-profit.  It's sexy for sure, though.

In the Great State of Michigan we've done some stuff with the rails to trails thing.  Neat, but now with gas prices and sustainability being the hip approach I've heard some serious talk about putting the rails back in. 
Logged
~~ RIP Lewis Binford ~~
Nigal
Eugene Worshiper
****

Karma: +158/-572
Offline Offline

Posts: 410



View Profile
« Reply #6 on: June 10, 2011, 09:24:47 AM »
Quote from: Q on June 10, 2011, 07:29:28 AM
Yeah, that doesn't sound like a great form of outreach for that not-for-profit.  It's sexy for sure, though.

The guys who are doing this are more of the fixie hipster types.  The same kind of dicks who do critical masses. 

Quote from: Q on June 10, 2011, 07:29:28 AM
In the Great State of Michigan we've done some stuff with the rails to trails thing.  Neat, but now with gas prices and sustainability being the hip approach I've heard some serious talk about putting the rails back in.

Every time I get stuck behind a truck on the interstate I pray for CSX.  LOL! 
Logged
"Praise the God of all, drink the wine, and let the world be the world."
— French Proverb
Q
What Job?
*****

Karma: +134/-1129
Offline Offline

Posts: 1,717



View Profile
« Reply #7 on: June 10, 2011, 12:03:06 PM »
We have an Amtrak station near by and my wife and I have thought about taking the family for an overnighter to Chi-Town some time.

I'm going to have to take back a lot of returnables though to make that one happen. 

There was talk about putting in light rail down Woodward Ave from the riverfront all the way up through my town and beyond.  This is has been discussed a bunch of times before but this time it looks like it might happen.  We use the bus to get to the museums downtown right now but having a light rail system would be better. 
Logged
~~ RIP Lewis Binford ~~
Pages: [1]
« previous next »
Jump to:  

TinyPortal v1.0 beta 3 © Bloc
Powered by SMF 1.1.8 | SMF © 2006-2008, Simple Machines LLC
Corto design
XHTML | CSS