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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Sharing the road doesn't mean stealing parking

So the wonderful city of Seattle has decided that they will start providing on street parking for bicycles.

Huh?

WTH are they doing to us?!

See the story.

So let me get this clear. The City of Seattle is taking money from their DOT fund to build on street bicycle parking. This means that one parking space per neighbourhood will be taken away and a new bike rack will be put on that spot.

Oh and lets not forget that it will cost $6,000-$7000 per bike parking rack to install.

Again, WTH?! They better be gold plated or perform erotic favours for that kind of money!

It doesn't look like it should cost $7k.

Good parking is scarce in this (or any other) city and now Mayor Greg 5-pennies and and his cronies have decided to take it away and give it to some greenies!!! Mayor 5-pennies needs to pull his head out of his fat arse!

What's wrong with providing additional bike lock racks along the sidewalks like any other normal city?

There's another flaw in this. In a worsening economy with our local governments in need of generating revenue, ours chose to toss it off on some bike racks!! They're not even high tech bike racks at that. I don't see anyplace to put money to park a bike so this little burden is apparently not on the bike riders.

If I have to pay to park my rice burner or my kraut kruiser on the street, then put a system on here to make the bikers pay for these things. You don't pay, then that bike is picked up and donated to a needy child or someone who could really use it.

Please don't take our parking Mayor Nickels. It's hard enough to want to drive into the city and visit it with the rates that the four wheelers have to pay to park. You're driving us away from the city. I love my car and if I wanted to live in a city where the bikes out number the cars, well I would live there already and have my own special Schwinn to ride.

How do you get to work Mayor Nickels and more importantly who pays for your parking?

That's what I thought.

5 comments:

Mike said...

What is wrong with parking further away and walking a little more?

Have you paid attention? Take a look at some of these locations like Market Street in Ballard on a sunny summer day and there won't be a tree, fence railing, bike rack, or lightpole that doesn't have a bike on it. It is to the point of being a hazard. These racks are greatly needed.

Try getting out of your car once in a while. Stop and smell the roses. I've found that bicycling reduces my stress greatly, maybe you could use the stress relief too.

The Dirty Scottish Bastard said...

Thanks Mike.

I have seen these areas during the summer. I don't believe they're quite that crowded.

I do park in a central location and walk to many when in Ballard or downtown.

Like you I ride my bike for excercise and work out.

When I come into the city I come from Snohomish county. Trust me, if I lived close enough to bike to work I would. That is not an option so the car it is.

I just think that there is a more accecptable alernative.

Have you seen bike racks in Japan by any chance? They're a stack system. Bikes parked two and three high in one area. Plenty of bike parking for all and they don't rob parking from the street.

Check them out.

paisley penguin said...

My husband (MrE30) and I would love to live in the city where we could walk more often to work and other places. We do carpool together as we both work downtown.

Downtown is not an option for us to live due to the price of homes that would meet our family requirements. We just can't afford to live in the city.

There is no direct bus route from our home in Snohomish County to my husbands office. Since my company subsidizes my parking and I work further south than he does commuting is the most green thing we could do in our situation.

Our commute is further complicated by the fact that three days a month on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons we have to travel further north in Snohomish county to pick up / drop off my husbands kids at their mothers home.

In the evenings and on weekends we do use local bike trails and walk as much as we can.

Trust me Mike, you would not want to live our hectic schedule.

Mike said...

I'm sorry for being so harsh on you.

I don't have the complication that children bring, but since getting rid of the car and the TV, I've been able to join 3 new clubs, take 3 new non-profit organization leadership roles, and I average at least 15 before or after work meetings per month.

I have co-workers who bicycle commute several days a week from Woodinville, Shoreline, and Edmonds. It is possible to bicycle from a little further out. :) When I looked at buying a home, I figured out how much I spent on a car which was no less than $4000/year when insurance, gas, and repairs were all included and used that to buy more house closer to the city. Five years later I can't imagine ever going back. Stress would have killed me if I had kept driving.

Thanks for the tip on the Japanese bike racks. I haven't seen them before and I'll do some searching. What wasn't crowded two years ago became pretty crowded last year. I remember looking around the Fremont Sunday Market one afternoon seeing every possible thing used to lock bikes with at least one bike attached to it for at least one block in every direction. That day the market was at least 60 bike parking spaces short of having enough bike racks. I think I still have photos somewhere.

Three years ago the Burke Gilman Trail was almost completely empty. Today I always encounter at least one other cyclist on a 2 mile ride even at 1am.

The Dirty Scottish Bastard said...

No foul Mike. I certainly don't take anything here personally.

I just think that there could have been a better and more cost effective solution to please everyone. Unfortunately politics just doesn't work that way.

Thanks for reading and commenting.