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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

#151

Post by weberc2 »

adrianN wrote: post #68
jbob2000 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are sooo many things that you need to do to make cycling in winter possible; snow must be cleared, you need special tires, you need extra warm weather gear, you need to wait for the blizzard to end, etc. etc. Or I could just get in my car with a light jacket and blast the heat. Rain, shine, snow, blizzard, whatever. I'm good.

Except for the warm clothes the same is true for cars. Snow must be cleared, you need special tires, you shouldn't drive during a blizzard. It's just that you've normalized those things when it comes to cars. When the snow is cleared you are generally fine with normal tires on bikes btw, because you can just go a little slower.

Also you don't need special tires. As the name implies, all-weather tires work just fine. And I can make it through quite a lot more snow in my car than on my bike (the converse is that it's a lot easier to unstick a bike than a car!). Also the risk of commuting in the winter is a lot greater for cyclists than motorists (i.e., if a car loses control and hits you).

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

#152

Post by toasterlovin »

WoahNow wrote: post #124
brightball wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they aren't having kids... Not because there's a problem with the homes or the locations. It's because somehow, an entire generation has grown up with the idea that the one biologically necessary act to further the survival of the species...is not a good idea. Maybe it's marketing, maybe it's the message, maybe it's the intensity of school causing people to believe that workaholism is necessary, maybe it's pr…

Or maybe people realize the raising kids is an enormous cost from both money and time. Maybe it's selfish, but myself and many of my millennial friends would rather spend their prime earning and health years doing what they want rather than what they "have to" do for kids.

Just do yourself a favor and think long and hard about whether or not that's going to sustain you for the remainder of your 70-80 years on this planet.

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

#153

Post by adrianN »

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…

Some people can't drive due to medical conditions or because they're too young or too old. Should we stop building roads?

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

#154

Post by toasterlovin »

village-idiot wrote: post #95
toomuchtodo wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdote of one. 36, wife and two kids. Have a quarter acre of land, a pool, and a 2600 sq ft house in a Tier 2 city for ~$200k. Why would I ever choose higher density and city living? I would not pay more for a lower quality of life (and distance means little to me, as I work from home and my kids don't go to school). I happily bought my suburban home instead of living close to others in a condo or a townhouse.

Buying suburban for me would replace my 30m walking commute for a 1.5h driving commute, all for a yard I wouldn't have time to use with my commute. Not a good trade for me. I also don't have any kids and won't be having them.

FWIW, what works for you as a childless person is not super relevant to what works, in general. In the long term, earth will be filled mostly with people who have children.

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

#155

Post by Spooky23 »

village-idiot wrote: post #46
chrissnell wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

You are far too certain. 70 years ago a prognosticator wouldn't be considered insane to say "the ship sailed on cities 50 years ago, Americans live in downtown and that's not changing". These things do change, often quite quickly. Personally, I think the Boomers are in for a big shock when they try to sell their homes for a "fair" price, and discover that Millennials neither want nor can afford large suburban homes.…

I get what you’re saying but just from a legal and complexity point of view, you’re unlikely to find radical change in suburbia.

It’s just like the issues with rail — because you have so many landowners, the capital costs of transforming a single family block or subdivision to higher density is really expensive or requires eminent domain, which would be politically difficult.

You can have scenarios (especially now that it’s ok to walk away from mortgages) where prices drop. Single family isn’t going away.

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

#156

Post by village-idiot »

oftenwrong wrote: post #134
village-idiot wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Don't forget the massive infrastructure investments required to support life built on the private car. Maintained roads and gasoline come at an enormous cost to society. The cost of everything is multiplied by driving-based distances.

Also, drivers aren’t even paying their way for roads. The percentage of roads paid for by gas taxes is at 50% and falling. Those of us who commute sans car are chipping in thousands of dollars per year to subsidize road commuters.

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

#157

Post by adrianN »

TheTrotters wrote: post #129
chrissnell wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

That's a false choice. Do the right thing on the margin! Allow lots of new high-density construction. Tax cars entering city centres. Extend metro lines and allow plenty of high-density construction around each station. Sure, you won't turn Tampa into Rotterdam overnight but those changes are important and they do add up. 50 years of these policies would give us much better, even if not perfect, cities.

They didn't turn Rotterdam into Rotterdam over night either. It took several decades of infrastructure work for the city to become bikeable.

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

#158

Post by ant6n »

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…

> We will be living with this housing stock for decades--if not centuries--to come.

I had the impression suburban homes tend not to be well-built. They may last a few decades, but that's about it.

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

#159

Post by toasterlovin »

hhmc wrote: post #122
dhnsmakala wrote: post #22

When you cycle, you are putting a great deal of trust into each and every car that drives by you. I'll pass.

The same argument applies to driving any vehicle. e.g. When you're driving a car and you cross a junction/intersection - you're trusting the stopped drivers to not run a red.

C'mon. A car is a steel cage that has been obsessively engineered to protect it's occupants in the case of a collision.

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

#160

Post by paulie_a »

village-idiot wrote: post #93
option wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

being forced into strangers’ armpits is not the kind of interaction I am looking forward to. Of course, “happens only during rush hours”. Sorry, but I actually lived in an Eastern European city and had to commute like that to work.

Yeah, I lived in Chicago for 6 years. You're being overly dramatic.

Public transportation in Chicago sucks. The blue line incredibly crowded, id rather not get stabbed or thrown on to the tracks on the red. Metra is pretty ok. Also cyclists in Chicago apparently are allowed to do whatever they want. Run red lights, clip pedestriansnon the the sidewalks.
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