A friend of this blog writes:
I don’t know about you, but most of the people think of the bicycle lobby as the leisure class, so it is interesting that one of them is now admitting that we lower class taxpayers are indeed building this infrastructure for the elites.
The piece, on the transportation/transit site “Streets.mn”, is by our old friend Ken “Avidor” Weiner, who since the retirement of Michele Bachmann seems to have mostly vanished from view, but for the odd warm and fuzzy from a Twin Cities media that always seems to keep its lefty “eccentrics” in its orbit.
Its premise: biking is becoming chic, and it’s up to the working-class rubes to keep up with the Joneses in Minneapolis, with their chic world-class bikeability rating, because of collective pride.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I love biking. I do a fair amount of it. And I do appreciate the taxpayers of Minneapolis, building me all those nice paths (although less so those stupid downtown lanes, squished between the parking lane and the curb, and sometimes seemingly paved with broken glass, and always a slalom looking out for doors opening and people crossing to their cars. Dumb dumb dumb).
I’m not going to quote Weiner – because I really just did explain the article; “build bike lanes because Yay Saint Paul”.
I mean, read it. Am I wrong?
Nope, you are not wrong.
We must have bike lanes down Cleveland because it will inconvenience cars and businesses! Never mind that the using the parallel streets to the east or west would satisfy the same (not really well determined) need. It HAS to be down Cleveland, because that is the street that cars use most.
I love riding my bike. And if I need to go north/south from Highland I use Fairview (bike lane, narrow but there) or Finn, (residential, little traffic) or East River Parkway (painted lane southbound)(light traffic northbound)(good scenery both directions.)
But some users are militant and just want to tick others off with their self proclaimed purity.
From the comments…
Wiener notes that many people ask him what his Brompton Folding Bike cost. Not because they think it’s neat and they might want to buy one if they could afford it, but rather – in his opinion, because they want to see how priviledged dear Ken and his partner are. Now if I saw a Brompton Folding Bike on the street, bike lane or not, I’d be curious as it appears to be, like an old pre-Ford Land Rover, quite a piece of British engineering. But dear Ken’s comment forced me to look up just how much a Brompton Folding Bike costs. Estimated retail at one site was $1,950.00 per and thought to myself…. Yes. Lack of bike lanes paid for by the poors is victimizing dear Ken.
BIG BIG MEETING TOMORROW NIGHT! WE NEED TO AT LEAST EQUAL THE BIKE CROWD! WE NEED YOU.
U of ST Catherine Cour de Catherine Hall. October 28, 6:00-7:30 PM BE THERE!
http://www.stpaul.gov/DocumentCenter/View/81412
Do you know dangerous it is to bicycle? These guys are driving up my insurance rates.
Abuse of the commons, it is.
You ride for fun and excersize Mitch; I’m guessing Wiener was forced to the pedals. Bachmann has retired and the interwebs have made Pr0n magazines join buggy whips in the trash can of history.
Just no market for 3rd rate cartoonists any more.
He’s no cartoonist… dear Wiener is a ‘sketch artist’.
It strikes me that what Whiner is missing is that we design cities for the people that live there, predominantly with revenue from property taxes. We put parking meters in where it’s important to the area to keep people from leaving their cars in one place all day. We put bike lanes in where it will be a practical and aesthetic benefit.
Or, at least, should.
I drive for a living. I want to know if there is such a thing as a permit to take out the occasional bicyclist. I want to apply for one. Tomorrow.