This Week in the Mercury
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Bikes I'm Having Fun Watching New Yorkers Fight About Bikes.
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 12:30 PM
New York City is pushing an awesome, ambitious bike plan (they aim to double bike commuting rates in five years) which means this past year or so, residents have been discovering things Portlanders take for granted—green bike paths, bike lanes on major streets, and, oh yes, bickering about whether bike investments are worthwhile.
NYC is a model for Portland in a lot of ways; while our city is rolling out a plan for miles of painted bike lanes and bike paths on neighborhood streets, New York is pushing through huge changes on major streets. That means the city government has been making the streets much better for bikes much more quickly, but they're also expending serious political capital and pissing some people off. Including the New Yorker's John Cassidy, who yesterday published a piece called "Battle of the Bike Lanes" in support of a new lawsuit to get NYC to remove a bike path next to Prospect Park because it's an "arbitrary and unfair actions by the government."
The New York Times' Andy Sternbergh has a point-by-point takedown of the piece. This feels like Portland's own debates over expanding bike facilities blown up by 100—not only is New York making faster strides than Portland, but citizens' reactions have been much larger. Though people complain to each other and Sam Adams' voicemail about bike spending, no one has filed a lawsuit demanding a lane removal. The biggest fight we've seen was about the bike lane on SE Holgate, but after a lot of yelling at public meetings, even that lane remains.
Most Commented on Blogtown, PDX
-
Gloaters Gonna Gloat by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey
-
Scenes from the the No on Fluoride Party. Which Is Winning by Denis C. Theriault
-
"Tin-Foil Hat Parade," at City Hall Tonight, Celebrates Fluoride Defeat by Denis C. Theriault
-
Do Spoilers Really Matter? The Relative Importance of Storytelling in Film by Bobby Roberts
-
I Don't Think Superman Actually Eats Like This by Bobby Roberts
-
Hey, Slackers! Your New Arts Tax Deadline is Monday, June 10 by Denis C. Theriault
-
The Pope Doesn't Understand the Point of Atheists by Paul Constant
-
Scientology's Shiny New Church/Giftshop by Alex Falcone
-
Union Way by Marjorie Skinner
-
If You Missed KBOO's Election Roundup (with Yours Truly as a Guest), Listen Here by Denis C. Theriault
Our Friends
- UrbanHonking
- Culture Shock
- Portland Roundball Society
- Steph Cassano
- Cort and Fatboy
- Street Roots
- Powell's Books Blog
- Portland Transport
- Portland Afoot
- Bike Portland
- Eater: PDX
- Portland Food and Drink
- Mr. Movie
- Sunday Softball
- BlueOregon
- Sightline Institute
- Ultra: Arts Portland
- Bitch Magazine
- Blazer's Edge
- Reading Local: Portland
- Portland Food Carts
- Stumptown Vegans
Our Enemies
RSSGoing to Seattle?
