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Cycling Is Key to Safer, Healthier, More Vital Cities

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Re: Cycling Is Key to Safer, Healthier, More Vital Cities

#81

Post by pja »

5parks1 wrote: post #30

The Dutch cycling culture is worthy of praise, but people frequently forget or ignore a key element of its success: Amsterdam is pancake flat. I live outside of Denver, and my neighborhood is very cycling friendly, but my 8-year old daughter can't make it up the hill on our street without walking.

I spent my summer holiday in Aarhus, Denmark this year. The city is half built on a massive hill, yet 25% of commuters cycle to work.

Flatness is not a pre-requisite for a cycling culture.

Re: Cycling Is Key to Safer, Healthier, More Vital Cities

#82

Post by brightball »

liveoneggs wrote: post #56
brightball wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way to look at the problem: Locating offices unnecessarily in the middle of high-density cities creates long commutes.

locating them in random suburban office parks is much worse, except for those in that particular 'burb.

Is it?

Because the traffic in the suburbs is usually nowhere near the level of traffic in the city. The commute time tends to be relative to the traffic density more than the distance.

I drive to the same location, 15 miles away every day. Depending on the time of day and the traffic, the drive will take 15 minutes or 45 minutes.

The commute problem is forcing all of those cars down those same roads at the same time. Locating offices outside of the middle of cities would largely correct the problem.

Re: Cycling Is Key to Safer, Healthier, More Vital Cities

#83

Post by bluGill »

cgoecknerwald wrote: post #35
village-idiot wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And creating the infrastructure is wildly unpopular, because typically it involves either taking lanes away from cars, or slowing them down. The initiative to reduce car-pedestrian collisions in LA has stopped because the drivers put pressure on politicians to stop slowing traffic down. Advocates are implying (and sometimes outright saying) that a few dozen deaths a year are an acceptable price to pay for a shorter c…

I have some hope for the movement that installs a bike path along a restored LA River! [1] [1] https://www.railstotrails.org/trailblog/2017/october/02/bike... Edit: The webpage for the LA River project: http://lariver.org/ The webpage for the LA River Trail: https://www.traillink.com/trail/los-angeles-river-trail/

I don't know LA enough to comment on that project, but my experience with similar projects is the bike trails created like that are a beautiful ride to nowhere. A great trip to take on a nice Saturday, but nobody will use them to get anywhere. (other than the bars that happen to be near the trail)

Re: Cycling Is Key to Safer, Healthier, More Vital Cities

#84

Post by modzu »

randyrand wrote: post #44

Not in any city with a real winter (-10F to 20F) I already loath going into my ice cold car and waiting for the heat.

the exercise actually warms you up quite a lot! you really just need protection from the wind, for your hands in particular. a quality set of mitts or pogies for extreme cold and ur good to go :)

Re: Cycling Is Key to Safer, Healthier, More Vital Cities

#87

Post by village-idiot »

jbob2000 wrote: post #73
xapata wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all. I just put on my balaklava and some knobby tires. It's not that bad with the right clothes. I wouldn't walk around in Boston winter without my face masks either.

> I'm genuinely curious: do you wear glasses? How do you keep them from getting fogged up/iced over when riding in the winter? Don't waste your time. Pro-cyclists are the most biased and privileged people I've ever met. Just get on your bike, it's so easy! forgets that some people have bad knees . All you need is some goggles when it rains! forgets that people wear glasses . Just wait for the snow to be cleared! forg…

I laugh at the idea that cyclists are privileged people when your entire argument is "I want to sit in my $30k steel box, not have to prepare for changes in weather, not interact with other people, and not work". The idea that someone on a $400 bike who read a weather report and works to commute is "privileged" is ludicrous.

Re: Cycling Is Key to Safer, Healthier, More Vital Cities

#88

Post by CydeWeys »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #62
Fricken wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, are you in Edmonton? I've been cycling 365 since the bad old days, and it's great to see all the new cyclists out all seasons with the city's commitment to keeping the paths clear of snow. Cycling in winter really isn't much more hardcore than walking outside in winter, you just gotta dress for it and slow down a little. Honestly I prefer cold to rain. I look at Vancouver's cyclists and think 'you guys are commit…

Do you have Yeti/Sasquatch/Bigfoot/Harry and the Henderson's type bike? Or skinny tires and determination? The commute is about 45 minutes in the summer, so in the winter that's a long time to be cold.

The only cold problems I have with long distance biking in cold weather are caused by poor circulation in my hands and feet. I inevitably get too warm in my core within 15 minutes of commencing biking and start unzipping my outer layer. To keep my head warm, a balaclava and helmet suffices. It's the cold hands that are the worst though; even in thick gloves they still get too cold. I might have to start trying chemical warmers.

Re: Cycling Is Key to Safer, Healthier, More Vital Cities

#89

Post by adrianN »

fipple wrote: post #57

I’m simply never going to support any policy framework that would require me to cycle in Chicago in the winter. I know it’s possible but I’m not doing it.

Think of it this way: The more people you can convince to cycle, the fewer cars are ahead of you in a traffic jam.

Re: Cycling Is Key to Safer, Healthier, More Vital Cities

#90

Post by enobrev »

chrissnell wrote: post #32
village-idiot wrote: post #9

Anyone who's believed that the key to sustainable futures is simply swapping out ICE for electric motors simply is being wishful at best, willfully difficult at worse. The biggest problem I have with electric cars is that they continue to encourage low density low efficiency suburbs with hours long commutes into the high density cities. This is economically unsustainable, roads are expensive, and will only get worse…

The ship sailed on low-density suburbs 60 years ago. We're past the point of return on those. Outside of San Francisco, Manhattan, and downtown Chicago, most people live in the 'burbs and that's not changing. We will be living with this housing stock for decades--if not centuries--to come. It's best to engineer around that reality, not to daydream of an Amsterdam-like utopia that will never happen for 99% of this cou…

Are you saying Brooklyn, The Bronx, and the neighborhoods outside of downtown Chicago are suburbs?

If so, we may have vastly different ideas about the definition of a city.

Also, Seattle, Philly, Boston, Miami, and lots of other smaller cities are very much unlike living in the suburbs.

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