Wednesday, December 8, 2010

If you build it they will ride



I've been working on a bicycle project lately, and as a result, I've been thinking about and riding bikes a lot more than usual.   As someone who still doesn't ride to work enough, I'm no expert.  But it feels like we're close to a tipping point.  I mean, San Francisco is the 6th most bike friendly city in the US.  But we're not there yet.  We'll be there when we have a real bike infrastructure.  I'll risk my skin in the (relatively) safe (mostly) bike path route to the studio.  But I won't take my kid.  If we had separated, car-safe bike lanes, like they do in Holland and other civilized places, we'd be much of the way there.

But in the mean time, I had a burst of optimism when I saw this video about New York's attempt to build it so that they will come.  The best part is that riding a bike is a fix for so much of what needs fixing about early 21st century urban life.