Comments and thoughts
We haven't been blogging in awhile but from somewhere comes this:
Hi. I apologize this comment has nothing to do with the topic but I'm searching for an answer... I recently moved to Kansas City – the Brookside area – and I have discovered the bike trails with great enthusiasm! I am VERY surprised by the lack of bike racks in this area (in the short time I have been here, I have attempted to fraternize multiple businesses along the entire length of the Trolley Trail bike/walk trail only to be deterred by lack of ability to lock my bike upon entering the business) – there must be an explanation of which I am missing. Please explain, or point me to resources which will inform me as to why this basic resource is so lacking.
Thank you.
I don't get it either. The explanation is that we live in the least progressive city in the least progressive country in the civilized world. Bike racks don't cost much. There is a BikeKC Plan in place. Hardly anyone could argue that the Trolley Trail has been anything but a boon to the city and the area. Yet we keep moving forward with glacial speed. When I moved here back in the 70's, the city's slogan was "one of the few liveable cities left". Of course, since that time, the city has sprawled further and further out. Maybe our new slogan could be, "Lots of roads, we got lots of roads."
Yet, glacially, I see a few signs of progress. Critical Mass gets bigger every month. We have a thriving alleycat community. We debate helmet wearing and brakes among us now. This is a fun city to ride.
posted by KCJeff @ 6:13 PM
4 Comments:
Thank you for responding to my post - I've been checking back daily! This past weekend I had occasion to drive across the city and it seems, EVERYWHERE, I saw groups of bikers - numbers in the few to many - and I thought "that is so cool!" Excited as a kid, I wanted to "be like them"! Those bikers are such a sign of an ALIVE city!! My heart leaps with excitement of being able to actually embrace this city!
By the way... ..thank you for responding to my question - I posed the same question to the Mayors office at the same time as you. I got a reply from you the next day - I still haven't received a response from the Mayor's office.
I've been following your links - and learning. Thank you for the info.
I have come to prefer riding my bike to the local market over navigating a vehicle through the congested parking lot and adjacent streets. The bike is so much more fun, too! Often a backpack is all that is needed to hold the small number of items purchased on frequent trips. My latest trip to the market, I asked to speak with the store's manager. The manager wasn't in, but the assistant manager greeted me and received my request to know "why in the world are there no bike racks outside your market!?" The assistant manager gave me a very detailed explanation. We started our discussion inside the store as he told me the store has provided bike racks on three occasions and every time they were stolen or vandalized. Walking with me to the outside of the store, he pointed to the proximity of a bar across the street and intimated it the source for the majority of the trouble keeping bike racks available (backed with occurrences caught by video surveillance). He pointed out all the alternative methods people use to secure their bikes at his store – gas lines, light poles etc. and noted areas (sidewalks) they and other retailers are constrained by the Brookside Association from placing bike racks. He proposed solutions of "dead areas" throughout the Brookside shops being spots for converting to a place for permanent bike racks as well as talking to his manager again about the need/solution for a bike rack. (Eliminating two parking spaces and installing a very heavy-duty, set-in-pavement bike rack is my first thought.) As for the rest of Brookside and the Trolley Trail, whose responsibility is it to procure and install bike racks? Associations? Retailers? The city? It's in the best interest of everyone.
So bar patrons steal bike racks? Hmmm. We go to Hoopers almost every Thursday night after our ride and I've never seen anyone taking away a bike rack. In fact, I've never seen a bike rack in Brookside either.
Post a Comment
<< Home