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This is what has happened so far. Retail business owners have... not been pleased (to put it mildly). Overall it's pretty clearly been a net gain, but there's

This is what has happened so far. Retail business owners have... not been pleased (to put it mildly). Overall it's pretty clearly been a net gain, but there's definitely some short term pain there.

addicted 8y ago
I don’t believe there is pain. All the studies in the US have shown that improving biking infrastructure immediately improves retail sales (it’s obvious why...you throw bikes in the mix, and walking is also a lot safer, and everyone who enters a retail store eventually needs to walk, so a nicer walking environment makes it better for all their customers). The complaints are likely a combination of general aversion to change, the fact that most retailers are likely drivers and identify as such and look at bike improvements as an attack on their group, and media reporting that focuses on those who lie on the extremes.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  >I don’t believe there is pain. All the studies in the US have shown that improving biking infrastructure immediately improves retail sales That generalization is vague to the point of uselessness. It really depends on the nature of the business in question.
  - r_klancer 8y ago
    One Cambridge business that has been vocally against bike infrastructure is a pharmacy. I understand why they would be against it, because much of their clientele is elderly. There's a new parking protected bike lane in front of their business, and there are fewer parking spots than there used to be (and those that remain are bang against the "car lane" on one side and the bike lane on the other) I fully support the law, but given that the proprietors treat us very well and know my wife by name, I haven't tried too hard to change their mind.
- xemdetia 8y ago
  Specifically to Cambridge many of the people who need to go there are not within bike distance, and to me Cambridge has been friendly to people walking around for a long time so that was never a thing. I can't speak to biking as for me a bike would have not really helped the situation, so putting more squeeze on the limited parking arrangements would affect retail businesses. There's quite a bit of retail that only makes sense to have in Cambridge because of proximity to all of the universities. I feel like these bike-centric arguments do well in very dense cities like NYC but don't translate as well to places like Boston where there's just as much reason to go into Boston as there is to go out of Boston.
zingermc 8y ago
Some of the pressure for parking spots should be reduced by the people who are now biking. It's not clear it will even out, though.

This is what has happened so far. Retail business owners have... not been pleased (to put it mildly). Overall it's pretty clearly been a net gain, but there's definitely some short term pain there.

addicted 8y ago

I don’t believe there is pain. All the studies in the US have shown that improving biking infrastructure immediately improves retail sales (it’s obvious why...you throw bikes in the mix, and walking is also a lot safer, and everyone who enters a retail store eventually needs to walk, so a nicer walking environment makes it better for all their customers). The complaints are likely a combination of general aversion to change, the fact that most retailers are likely drivers and identify as such and look at bike improvements as an attack on their group, and media reporting that focuses on those who lie on the extremes.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>I don’t believe there is pain. All the studies in the US have shown that improving biking infrastructure immediately improves retail sales That generalization is vague to the point of uselessness. It really depends on the nature of the business in question.
- r_klancer 8y ago
  One Cambridge business that has been vocally against bike infrastructure is a pharmacy. I understand why they would be against it, because much of their clientele is elderly. There's a new parking protected bike lane in front of their business, and there are fewer parking spots than there used to be (and those that remain are bang against the "car lane" on one side and the bike lane on the other) I fully support the law, but given that the proprietors treat us very well and know my wife by name, I haven't tried too hard to change their mind.
xemdetia 8y ago
Specifically to Cambridge many of the people who need to go there are not within bike distance, and to me Cambridge has been friendly to people walking around for a long time so that was never a thing. I can't speak to biking as for me a bike would have not really helped the situation, so putting more squeeze on the limited parking arrangements would affect retail businesses. There's quite a bit of retail that only makes sense to have in Cambridge because of proximity to all of the universities. I feel like these bike-centric arguments do well in very dense cities like NYC but don't translate as well to places like Boston where there's just as much reason to go into Boston as there is to go out of Boston.

zingermc 8y ago

Some of the pressure for parking spots should be reduced by the people who are now biking. It's not clear it will even out, though.