A Sweet Ride

On Saturday we took our first trip by bike to the Italian bakery just a half mile down the road. That is, it's a half mile as the crow flies or the car drives, but on a bike (especially with a child), the safest route is twice the distance. We certainly didn't mind taking the long way round through the neighborhood streets behind the busy main road, but most people would choose to take the car, and here's why:

This crosstown street has one lane of traffic in each direction with a center lane for turning and absolutely no shoulder. Only the most experienced cyclists take the road here. The sidewalk starts at the edge of the road, with not even a grass buffer zone between the curb and sidewalk. One false move and you are in the direct path of traffic. On the other side of the sidewalk is a series of parking lots for the businesses that line both sides of the road. Approximately every ten feet, the curb is cut out and the sidewalk slants as a driveway to the parking areas. To continue on a level path, a pedestrian or cyclist (as children and their parents are permitted to ride on sidewalks), must constantly zigzag from sidewalk to parking lot, avoiding parking space bumpers, raised planters and property dividers, while keeping an eye out for vehicles entering and exiting the road. No wonder there are rarely pedestrians on these sidewalks, despite the number of businesses. We have taken this sidewalk route by bike once or twice before, but it is not a pleasant ride nor much faster, due to the obstacles and changing surface.

The township is currently working on a plan to improve the appearance and traffic flow of this area, but is running into opposition from business owners who fear that any change to their parking areas could mean a substantial loss of business. I hope they can find a compromise soon and get working on it. We need more green here in every sense of the word. (Looks like a job for Jan Gehl!)

At this point, I have taken the long way round to report that we rode our bikes to the bakery on Saturday, so I will finish quickly.

Decisions, decisions.
I'll have a snickerdoodle, please.

The goodies went into my basket, and we took the long way home.

Admiring Amsterdam

As if the bike lanes alone weren't enough to make me want to move to Amsterdam, here are a few more reasons:


Amsterdams new climate from Bosch Film on Vimeo.

Well, at least my town has upgraded to single-stream recycling. It's a start.

Home(town) Improvement

2009 is off to a good start in our town.

One!
January 1 was the official start of single-stream recycling here, with the first collection on January 2. We can now put all of our recyclables into one container for collection once a week. Previously, we had separate pickups for four different items on alternating weeks. You needed a calendar to know when to put out what, and multiple containers to store it all. Naturally, many people didn't bother. Now one container does it all and gets emptied weekly. Best of all, we can now recycle all plastics numbered 1 through 7 (previously only 1 and 2), which means I can recycle the tower of wonton soup containers that have been stacking up in the basement!

When?
A very small but encouraging item appeared in a seasonal publication by our township's recreation department, mailed last week to all residents:

"Bicycle Friendly Town
A group of bicycle enthusiasts is attempting to make our township more bicycle friendly. If you would like to take part, email ..."

I emailed my contact info but haven't had a reply yet. I wonder if someone from our township attended the Jan Gehl presentation in Philadelphia last month? (Hm, I coulda-woulda-shoulda.) After the little bit of progress made this summer, I'm anxious to see what else is in the suggestion box.

Win!
The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New York Giants by a score of 23-11. They will now advance to the NFC title game in Arizona next Sunday. Go Eagles!

It's looking like a very green year here.

Coming soon to a city near me - Jan Gehl

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Danish architect Jan Gehl will be in Philadelphia this Friday, December 5, with his presentation, "Public Spaces, Public Life". To see some of the improvements he has helped to make in the streets of New York City, watch this new interview with him from Streetfilms:



I especially like his "if you build it, they will come" theory on bicycle lanes. I wish the City of Philadelphia could hire his firm to work their magic here. But since the city is having a major budget crisis, I guess I can only hope that they send a few department heads (or maybe even the Mayor) to listen and pick up ideas for the future.
More clips from Streetfilms featuring Jan Gehl can be found here.

Progress (UPDATED)

Early this summer, I wrote to my local town officials asking if they would consider installing bike racks in three of our public parking lots which serve small clusters of shops. One parking lot becomes the site of a farmers market on Wednesdays from spring through fall, which limits parking nearby, so some people (like me) arrive by bike instead. I was surprised to receive an immediate, positive reply, and the bike racks were installed about a month later.

My daughter took the top photo when we parked our bikes in one new rack before picking up our takeout order from the Chinese restaurant across the street. I was disappointed in their choice of location for the bike rack – the furthermost, unlit corner of the large parking lot, as opposed to the central, well-lit walkway leading to the paystation – but it’s progress in this town, and I’m grateful for it.

The bottom photo was taken this past Wednesday by me, with my camera still on my new handlebar mount (hence the slight tilt). This rack has an ideal placement at the entrance to the lot, and is easily visible to inspire visitors to ride their bike next time. I used the trip to the market to test out my new handlebar camera mount for the first time. Here is the video I made:


To market, to market, to find a bike rack from BIKE Lite on Vimeo.

I haven’t visited the third bike rack yet, because that parking lot is currently in use as a temporary firehouse while the old one is rebuilt across the street. On second thought, maybe I should go there to take some photos documenting even bigger progress in this town. Okay, coming soon…

UPDATE – Finally visited the third municipal parking lot to see if the new bike rack has been installed yet. As you can see, there are more important vehicles parked there (temporarily), most likely on the ideal location for the bike rack. Across the street lies the foundation of the new firehouse, with a banner giving us a sneak peek into the future. Progress is looking good. The bike rack can wait.