Bicycle Auto Park

This doesn't make much sense to me. The advantage of riding a bike is that you can go right to the front door with it, not park it a few blocks away in a garage. In Japanese:

Walkable is In

Nothing gets the point across better than a simple drawing like this by the New Urbanists:

 

On the subject of walkability... no other mode of transport compares in ease or pleasure. A few days ago our family took a nice bike ride to Newport. The ride was a lot of fun, but I was struck how much more complicated and difficult it was than our usual walk to the Library or Fountain Square. You can't really carry a conversation while biking, and one kid requires a special seat with a seatbelt, both require helmets that they have trouble with, add some mechanical difficulties, and then trying to park them in a safe spot and carrying the helmets around all adds up to a strained day. Really, nothing beats a walk.

Bikes in Portland

I promise, I'll get to the streetcar posts soon. Until then though, here is evidence of the extensive bike ridereship in PDX.

A typically crowded bike rack:

 

Bike rack at the Public Library. I noticed several homeless people carts tethered to the racks here:

 

Bikes at Powell's Books:

 

Bike lockers in city center:

 

Biker and bike on the light rail line. A hangar is provided.

 

Families biking on the riverfront on Sunday morning:

 

Bike racks and bike lockers at suburban rail station:

 

Bike racks are everywhere, and are coordinated with the other street infrastructure. Here are trees and bike racks providing separation from cars, by the Chinese Gardens:

 

Biking in Washington Park

Contested Streets

Should our streets be safe for all types of vehicles and pedestrians, or should they be car sewers, with their only function to move as many cars as fast as possible? I would really like to see this movie. The trailer itself is a good watch.