Divorce Your Car --and get into a relationship with a Bike!

"donquijote1954" wrote in message
oups.com...

George Conklin wrote:
"Pat" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am not justifying cross-posting, but part of the problem is that the
OP cross-posted the latest edition of "bikes are better than cars" to
at least one planning group. Personally, I think it's a boring subject
by city-centered cyclists, but what can you do....

Bikes are better than car in some areas and cars in some others. HAVING
CHOICES would be the ideal outcome.

When I hear the word 'choice,' I hear the word HIGH TAXES for .01% of the
population's benefit.

Not so when SIZE MATTERS on our roads. The Law of the Jungle must end
first. The lion is no good at designing facilities for the monkeys, you
know. And bring the monkey to plan bike lanes and other bike
facilities.

Slowing down auto traffic to 15 mph for good bicycle riders, and maybe 7mph
fo the others, would cause society trillions in economic damages.

Just say "oink, oink", George.

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"George Conklin" wrote in message
nk.net...

"Pat" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am not justifying cross-posting, but part of the problem is that the
OP cross-posted the latest edition of "bikes are better than cars" to
at least one planning group. Personally, I think it's a boring subject
by city-centered cyclists, but what can you do....


Well, planners are URBAN planners, and have shown for years they hate
the
suburbs and ignore the rural areas, except as sources of water and places
to
put garbage.

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Free software - Baxter Codeworks www.baxcode.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


"George Conklin" wrote in message
nk.net...


Slowing down auto traffic to 15 mph for good bicycle riders, and maybe
7mph
fo the others, would cause society trillions in economic damages.

Gosh! Portland alone is responsible for the National Deficit. Who'da
thunk.
---------
PORTLAND, Ore. - Look at any list of bike-friendly cities in the United
States, and it's a good bet Portland is either at the top or in the top
five.

There's no denying Portlanders love their bicycles.

Now, city and business leaders are beginning to work on capitalizing on
Portland's cycling reputation to draw more bike-oriented businesses to the
state.

A recent study indicates that the bike biz in Portland is worth over $60
million, a big enough number to get civic leaders to adopt a resolution
making the bike industry a recognized and targeted part of the economy.
http://www.katu.com/stories/87445.html

George Conklin wrote:
"donquijote1954" wrote in message
oups.com...

George Conklin wrote:
"Pat" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am not justifying cross-posting, but part of the problem is that the
OP cross-posted the latest edition of "bikes are better than cars" to
at least one planning group. Personally, I think it's a boring subject
by city-centered cyclists, but what can you do....

Bikes are better than car in some areas and cars in some others. HAVING
CHOICES would be the ideal outcome.

When I hear the word 'choice,' I hear the word HIGH TAXES for .01% of the
population's benefit.

I could only hope that you are equally upset about nation building in
Iraq --if they ever build one. We could have had more bike lanes than
Holland with that money. And then save the war in the process.


Not so when SIZE MATTERS on our roads. The Law of the Jungle must end
first. The lion is no good at designing facilities for the monkeys, you
know. And bring the monkey to plan bike lanes and other bike
facilities.

Slowing down auto traffic to 15 mph for good bicycle riders, and maybe 7mph
fo the others, would cause society trillions in economic damages.

Well, for one drivers don't have to slow down that much; they just need
to be aware of cyclists (safety comes in numbers) and be off the stupid
phone (which should be banned). Actually more bikes means fewer cars
and thus less traffic jams.

So don't worry about the competition and certainly don't kill it before
it's even born. That would make you look like the Hungry Lion.

in sheep's clothing...

The Tricky Wolf Dons Sheep's Clothing

There once was a wolf as sharp as a pin
Who loved to dress in an old sheep's skin
So shepherds would not see him creep
Among the flocks of grazing sheep.

Then he would kill and eat his fill
Whenever he came up the hill
Where shepherds like to spend the day
Safe, they thought, from danger's way.

One day the shepherd thought he'd take
The fattest mutton home to bake,
With arrow poised, his bow he bent --
And shot THAT WOLF by accident!

O, what a fool I am , wolf said
And wept because he'd soon be dead,
I thought my fine disguise was slick
But caught myself in my own trick.


MORAL Disguises can be dangerous.

http://www.clearyworks.com/Fables/P2...icky_wolf.html

Listen, if it works for Bogota, then it should work for New York or
whatever other American city where the Law of the Jungle rules. It
doesn't get any more wild than Colombia, but bicycling seems to have a
pacifying effect on the lions.

This is news from 2000, so it remains to be seen if the lions became
vegetarian, or if they ate the Quixotic mayor.


FEATURE - Quixotic Bogota mayor pins hopes on bicycle
BOGOTA - In a recent cartoon in one of Colombia's leading news
magazines, the mayor of Bogota was pictured holding a bicycle and
looking smitten.

The caption read: "The greatest invention since the wheel."

Asked about his apparent love affair, Mayor Enrique Penalosa told
Reuters bikes were not only ecofriendly but could curb the city's
soaring crime rates and even promote social equality.

[...]

BIKE PATHS MAKE PEOPLE EQUALS

"The bike path is the only place where people can see themselves as
equals," Penalosa said in an interview at City Hall. "It is the safest
place in the city because it creates a kind of solidarity - people help
one another."

As part of a $6.1 billion plan to clean up the city, he is building
nearly 125 miles (200 km) of permanent bike paths, has cracked down on
street vendors and has created new leafy parks. In early June, his "Day
Without a Car" - a dawn-to-dusk ban on private transportation
throughout the city - won him international acclaim from
environmentally conscious Europeans.

The move was intended to promote use of public transport and bikes and
bring temporary relief to the usual traffic gridlock.

[...]

By creating more parks and public spaces, he says he can avoid the
urban crises affecting much of the industrialised world, where lack of
green areas is causing an exodus to the suburbs. But rather than quiet
homes with fenced-in yards, Bogota's periphery is a belt of poverty
where some 400,000 people displaced by the war are crowded into
shantytowns.

[...]

Those fed up with traffic chaos but not energetic enough for bikes
criticise Penalosa for reneging on his promise to begin work on a
long-awaited metro for Bogota.

The mayor responds that he is saving money by investing in the bike
instead. "All that we are doing has the primary objective of creating a
more egalitarian society," he said.

more...

http://www.planetark.org/avantgo/dai...fm?newsid=7489

"I was almost impeached for getting cars off sidewalks which car owning
upper classes had illegally appropriated for parking." -- Enrique
Peñalosa

Amazing, Penalosa survived the lions and he's now in New York! See what
he accomplished...

Biography

Enrique Peñalosa is currently a visiting scholar at New York
University. He is researching and writing a book on a new
urban-development model for the Third World, which covers fields such
as transportation, land use and housing for the poor, pollution
abatement, and public space. He holds a bachelor degree in Economics
and History from Duke University and Masters and Doctorate degrees in
Management and Public Administration from the Institut International
D'Administration Publique and the University of Paris II in Paris. He
is fluent in English and French.

During his tenure as mayor of Bogotá (1998-2001), Peñalosa led
massive efforts related to transportation, land use and housing for the
poor, pollution abatement, and the critical need for public spaces. In
a city of 6.5 million inhabitants with no subway system, Peñalosa
declared a virtual War on Cars, restricting traffic during peak hours
to reduce rush hour traffic by 40 percent and convincing the City
Council to increase the tax on gasoline. Half of the revenues generated
by the increase were then poured into a bus system that currently
serves 500,000 Bogotá residents daily.

As mayor, Peñalosa:

* Created a successful Urban Land Reform institution.
* Created a new bus-based transit system: TransMilenio.
* Spearheaded large improvements to the city center, including the
rejuvenation of plazas, creation of a large park in an area previously
overrun by crime and drugs, and transformation of one of the main
deteriorating downtown avenues into a dynamic pedestrian pubic space.
* Built more than a hundred nurseries for children under 5 and
assured resources for their operation.
* Increased children enrolment in public schools by more than
200,000, a 34% increase in four years; did major improvements to more
than 150 school buildings and built 50 new schools.
* Put in place a network of 14,000 computers in all public schools
connected to both the Internet and a network of 3 large new libraries
and several smaller ones that were built.
* Planted more than 100,000 trees.
* Built or reconstructed hundreds of kilometers of sidewalks; more
than 300 kilometers of bicycle paths, pedestrian streets, and
greenways; and more than 1,200 parks.
* Instituted the city's first "Car-Free Day" in 2000, for which he
received the Stockholm Challenge Award. Through a referendum, people
adopted a yearly car free day and decided that from the year 2015
onwards, there would be no cars during rush hours, from 6 AM to 9 AM
and from 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM.

http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingt...kers/epenalosa

In early June, his "Day
Without a Car" - a dawn-to-dusk ban on private transportation
throughout the city - won him international acclaim from
environmentally conscious Europeans.

Not in our lifetime.

"donquijote1954" wrote in message
ups.com...
Listen, if it works for Bogota, then it should work for New York or
whatever other American city where the Law of the Jungle rules. It
doesn't get any more wild than Colombia, but bicycling seems to have a
pacifying effect on the lions.

This is news from 2000, so it remains to be seen if the lions became
vegetarian, or if they ate the Quixotic mayor.


FEATURE - Quixotic Bogota mayor pins hopes on bicycle
BOGOTA - In a recent cartoon in one of Colombia's leading news
magazines, the mayor of Bogota was pictured holding a bicycle and
looking smitten.

The caption read: "The greatest invention since the wheel."

Asked about his apparent love affair, Mayor Enrique Penalosa told
Reuters bikes were not only ecofriendly but could curb the city's
soaring crime rates and even promote social equality.

[...]

BIKE PATHS MAKE PEOPLE EQUALS

"The bike path is the only place where people can see themselves as
equals," Penalosa said in an interview at City Hall. "It is the safest
place in the city because it creates a kind of solidarity - people help
one another."

As part of a $6.1 billion plan to clean up the city, he is building
nearly 125 miles (200 km) of permanent bike paths, has cracked down on
street vendors and has created new leafy parks. In early June, his "Day
Without a Car" - a dawn-to-dusk ban on private transportation
throughout the city - won him international acclaim from
environmentally conscious Europeans.

The move was intended to promote use of public transport and bikes and
bring temporary relief to the usual traffic gridlock.

[...]

By creating more parks and public spaces, he says he can avoid the
urban crises affecting much of the industrialised world, where lack of
green areas is causing an exodus to the suburbs. But rather than quiet
homes with fenced-in yards, Bogota's periphery is a belt of poverty
where some 400,000 people displaced by the war are crowded into
shantytowns.

[...]

Those fed up with traffic chaos but not energetic enough for bikes
criticise Penalosa for reneging on his promise to begin work on a
long-awaited metro for Bogota.

The mayor responds that he is saving money by investing in the bike
instead. "All that we are doing has the primary objective of creating a
more egalitarian society," he said.

more...

http://www.planetark.org/avantgo/dai...fm?newsid=7489

trino wrote:
In early June, his "Day
Without a Car" - a dawn-to-dusk ban on private transportation
throughout the city - won him international acclaim from
environmentally conscious Europeans.

Not in our lifetime.

That's why we are in Iraq and we support more than one tyranny out
there. And then we ignore the risks of Global Warming.

But in a democracy it is 'WE THE PEOPLE' who...

Forget about that dream. You know THE GOLDEN RULE: THOSE WITH THE GOLD,
RULE.

"donquijote1954" wrote:

Forget about that dream. You know THE GOLDEN RULE: THOSE WITH THE GOLD,
RULE.

Or this one: THE TROLLER'S RULE: THOSE WITH TOO MUCH FREE TIME, TROLL.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame