6 ms·

I love this optimism. I’ve long held that I would move to a bike only city if it was in my current country (USA). Starting a bike friendly city seems complicate

I love this optimism. I’ve long held that I would move to a bike only city if it was in my current country (USA). Starting a bike friendly city seems complicated and expensive but renovating a city seems significantly less expensive but much more political. I’m not sure which is harder of the two.

danielvaughn 4y ago
I think the political hurdles would be far worse than any expense, especially here in America where the car-centric attitude is so deeply embedded.
- pessimizer 4y ago
  I think it's more that any threat to auto sales would cause marketing and lobbying spend to go up accordingly. Those two things determine what information Americans get exposed to, and what gets subsidized and what gets regulated. The US car-centric attitude is about half t-shirt slogans, half the necessity to have a car in a place built for cars with hourlong commutes, so why not love them? Regulations on marketing, campaign finance, and quid-pro-quo would go a long way in demolishing political hurdles between us and a lot of better things.
bluejekyll 4y ago
Start local. Your local city counselors are generally receptive to feedback from their community (in my experience). Compared to national politics, they tend not to get as much feedback about local issues that people care about. Write a letter, even email, and you’ll be surprised. Then talk to your neighbors, and get them to do the same. You then can live in a bike friendly city.
- jcpst 4y ago
  I second this. And here’s proof it’s possible. It took a while, but we now have a part of the city that is designed around pedestrians: https://www.lenexa.com/government/departments___divisions/community_development/neighborhoods/lenexa_city_center https://www.lenexa.com/government/departments___divisions/co...
- eropple 4y ago
  Biking's not my thing, but it's telling that surveys in the local MA area sometimes now say "aside from protected bike lanes, what would you most like to see?". It is an indication that walk-and-bike interests are making good progress, and I'm glad to see it.
  - kqr 4y ago
    On the other hand, that's exactly how I would phrase the question if I wanted to prime the survey respondent to get a result biased toward freedoms for unprotected road users. There's no good reason to phrase the question like that instead of filter the answers after the fact. The only reason is to get people thinking in a certain direction.
    - eropple 4y ago
      ...they do that because if they don't, "protected bike lanes" will be the only thing they hear, and in Cambridge etc. the plans are in the works (slowly, but in the works) to implement them. They're looking for additional things, not the thing that's already in the works but takes time and the progress is non-obvious 'til it's done.
      - kqr 4y ago
        Then the item should say something to the effect of "You can make more than one suggestion." or even more concretely, "Please suggest your top five, or fewer if you can't think of that many."
nivenkos 4y ago
Aren't there some student cities, etc. like that there? Even Seattle and NYC had parts that were very walkable, especially compared to LA.
- pibechorro 4y ago
  So does the majority of South Florida, every street has a sidewalk, you can walk across bridges, highways, etc. One of the best in the US.
  - chitowneats 4y ago
    Only Americans would consider South Florida "walkable".
    - bluedino 4y ago
      The 90 degrees and humidity make it very unwalkable
      - bobthepanda 4y ago
        That and all the pedestrian deaths. Florida is the second most dangerous state for pedestrians. https://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design/#custom-tab-0-7d982ae1eb29d3c473a33fa3c879ebe1 https://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design/#custom-t...
  - amrocha 4y ago
    If one of the best in the US means you have to walk across highways that sucks
    - watwut 4y ago
      I assumed it means there are either frequent bridges or tunnels that gets you to ither side of highway.
Vinnl 4y ago
Yeah, in the US (from a distance), the political hurdle seems to be the hardest. In terms of actual effort, it's definitely possible to make big strides: https://twitter.com/z_a_c_h_k_a_t_z/status/1464697711442206728 https://twitter.com/z_a_c_h_k_a_t_z/status/14646977114422067...

danielvaughn 4y ago

I think the political hurdles would be far worse than any expense, especially here in America where the car-centric attitude is so deeply embedded.

pessimizer 4y ago
I think it's more that any threat to auto sales would cause marketing and lobbying spend to go up accordingly. Those two things determine what information Americans get exposed to, and what gets subsidized and what gets regulated. The US car-centric attitude is about half t-shirt slogans, half the necessity to have a car in a place built for cars with hourlong commutes, so why not love them? Regulations on marketing, campaign finance, and quid-pro-quo would go a long way in demolishing political hurdles between us and a lot of better things.

bluejekyll 4y ago

Start local. Your local city counselors are generally receptive to feedback from their community (in my experience). Compared to national politics, they tend not to get as much feedback about local issues that people care about. Write a letter, even email, and you’ll be surprised. Then talk to your neighbors, and get them to do the same. You then can live in a bike friendly city.

jcpst 4y ago
I second this. And here’s proof it’s possible. It took a while, but we now have a part of the city that is designed around pedestrians: https://www.lenexa.com/government/departments___divisions/community_development/neighborhoods/lenexa_city_center https://www.lenexa.com/government/departments___divisions/co...
eropple 4y ago
Biking's not my thing, but it's telling that surveys in the local MA area sometimes now say "aside from protected bike lanes, what would you most like to see?". It is an indication that walk-and-bike interests are making good progress, and I'm glad to see it.
- kqr 4y ago
  On the other hand, that's exactly how I would phrase the question if I wanted to prime the survey respondent to get a result biased toward freedoms for unprotected road users. There's no good reason to phrase the question like that instead of filter the answers after the fact. The only reason is to get people thinking in a certain direction.
  - eropple 4y ago
    ...they do that because if they don't, "protected bike lanes" will be the only thing they hear, and in Cambridge etc. the plans are in the works (slowly, but in the works) to implement them. They're looking for additional things, not the thing that's already in the works but takes time and the progress is non-obvious 'til it's done.
    - kqr 4y ago
      Then the item should say something to the effect of "You can make more than one suggestion." or even more concretely, "Please suggest your top five, or fewer if you can't think of that many."

nivenkos 4y ago

Aren't there some student cities, etc. like that there? Even Seattle and NYC had parts that were very walkable, especially compared to LA.

pibechorro 4y ago
So does the majority of South Florida, every street has a sidewalk, you can walk across bridges, highways, etc. One of the best in the US.
- chitowneats 4y ago
  Only Americans would consider South Florida "walkable".
  - bluedino 4y ago
    The 90 degrees and humidity make it very unwalkable
    - bobthepanda 4y ago
      That and all the pedestrian deaths. Florida is the second most dangerous state for pedestrians. https://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design/#custom-tab-0-7d982ae1eb29d3c473a33fa3c879ebe1 https://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design/#custom-t...
- amrocha 4y ago
  If one of the best in the US means you have to walk across highways that sucks
  - watwut 4y ago
    I assumed it means there are either frequent bridges or tunnels that gets you to ither side of highway.

Vinnl 4y ago

Yeah, in the US (from a distance), the political hurdle seems to be the hardest. In terms of actual effort, it's definitely possible to make big strides: https://twitter.com/z_a_c_h_k_a_t_z/status/1464697711442206728 https://twitter.com/z_a_c_h_k_a_t_z/status/14646977114422067...