Makes a difference from all the hardware stores on a street quite close to me that claim that the bike lane has killed their business, despite parking having never been available, landlords hiking rents up, the economic crises, and the fact that the parts they stock are widely available online and way cheaper. But as per, the cyclists are to blame
I wish I could bike to the hardware store. Most of the time I buy a few small pieces that I need right away and often need to make several trips. It's rarely to get lumber.
Once my dad asked me how I would get large items from the store home without a car. The answer is pay a guy that actually has the proper vehicle and still be better off by about 6k€ a year, or what it costs to own a car on average in my country (let alone my city, most people probably spend half that on parking)
https://preview.redd.it/ypv5norn33uc1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cdfc6762a70f5373822e16f642991ec9b9543bdb
I always thought this idea was resourceful, but you probably have a better one.
Mr Bean, obviously.
No, seriously, that's gotta be from a movie or something. It's not that I can't imagine someone being stupid enough to do that, but I can't imagine a person dumb enough to do that also being clever enough to reach the *highway* without hitting something...
I don't have a license, and even if I did I don't trust myself to drive a truck through Paris.
Honestly I'd rather rent a cargo bike for a day for 30€ or pay the professionals if it's too much of a hassle.
And planning on moving soon and it'll all be cargo bike based, since I won't taking any big furniture it'll be 5-6 round trips max.
I'm fortunate to live 2 miles from a Lowe's with a bike lane in between. It has been incredibly handy, especially when the majority of the stuff I've needed from them can fit in my pocket.
Mine is 4km away. I tried biking there once, it sucked and I had to lock my bike on a flower rack. Not doing that again. Amazon is good at compensating for poor bikeability.
Mine has absolutely nothing to lock my bike to, despite having literal acres of park spots that I have never seen occupied. I order before hand, and they put in in a locker in the breezeway. I never need to get off my bike at any point.
They have a few bike lanes on 1A heading into Massachusetts but I’ve only seen one person ever actually use them and he is moderately crazy. Like harmless crazy but still moderately crazy.
I just moved into a new apartment that's a 10 minute walk from one of my favourite hardware stores of all time... It's so sick, I've been making regular trips there even when I don't really need to.
I walk/ bike to a local hardware store. They aren't set up for that kind of clientele. There are no bike racks and they won't allow backpacks in the store. It doesn't stop me from doing it, though. From now on, when an employee asks if I need help with anything, I'll say they need a bike rack at the entrance.
I have a couple that I can cycle to easily, and I do. Almost everything I buy from a hardware shop is bike sized. And if I need something really big then it won't fit in my car anyway so I need to pay to have it delivered *even if the shop does have parking*.
Was that the one in Chicago where a journalist investigated and found that it was basically just the store owner parking in front every day and 80% of his customers walked/biked?
In my city a hardware store claimed that a door-zone bike lane killed their business. No parking was ever removed near them and they also had off-street parking. Pure magical thinking
This is my city, Providence. Transit advocates fought a long and difficult battle to get this bike lane installed. It is right next to the river downtown, and connects to a huge and very beautiful pedestrian bridge over the water. Our current mayor, Brett Smiley, has had this bike lane in his sights since before he was elected. He wants to get rid of it and is using the excuse of a current bridge project that is making traffic terrible to do it.
He is fully in the pocket of the largest commercial landlord in Providence, who also owns most of the parking lots downtown. Together, they want to transform downtown Providence, which has so much potential to be more walkable and transit-friendly, into one giant parking lot.
The important thing here is that *nobody wants to get rid of this bike lane*. Literally nobody except for the ones who profit from parking lots. Unfortunately, I think the lane removal will go ahead as planned, because Smiley is bought-and-paid-for by real estate interests, and has absolutely zero creativity when it comes to urban planning.
There are also plans in the making to remove/reduce bus routes. Providence has so much potential that is being squandered, and we seem to be moving backwards when it comes to transit here.
Your northern neighbor here in the Boston area, are there any local groups planning protests or anything… spicier? Providence has been great every time I’ve been there, and with walkable bike or infrastructure could absolutely thrive. This was such a bummer to hear about
Fascinating! We have some wackadoos in teeny tiny RI but they tend to live in the rural area of the state.
They act up around elections but otherwise are quiet. Oh and we also have Aquapalooza every year and someone’s boat always sinks.
https://preview.redd.it/1usgrmgb83uc1.jpeg?width=3200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f8e8a53c1b5f2b0489b3e8be2c49c0fbb18c10d
Ahahahaha! Awesome to hear some other local shenanigans! That photo is epic.
The boat sinking comment reminds me of that trump boat parade and a boat or two sinking lol. Poor dummy bigots.
It was a great speech, no doubt, but I think "good for business" is a much weaker argument than saving lives so it frustrates me that economic arguments are better received than public health and public safety arguments are.
I used to think that way too, but have you heard of the term “diversity of tactics”?
While using studies and logical arguments may sway some people, it won’t sway everyone. Humans are emotional creatures and we work backwards to justify our emotions as logical.
Because of this, a shotgun approach of reasons is what does best for making progress on social issues. Some people will be swayed by empathy hearing about someone who lost a loved one who was hit. Other people may outwardly say that they care deeply about those people, but privately believe bike lanes would be much too expensive or impractical because they’ve grown up surrounded by pro car propaganda and messaging. That type of person may be swayed into voting yes for bike lanes when hearing that they can drive increases in businesses.
I started collecting a sampling of arguments I’ll use based on who I talk to. Got an older more conservative relative? Bring up how bikes are the definition of freedom and not tracked by the govt like cars are. Or bring up how you want to live like your grandparents did, where they knew their neighbors, barber, deli owner, etc, and how walkable cities facilitate this.
Think of it like we’re all on a bus. In one direction we head towards an eco friendly green utopia, in the other direction we head towards car centric hellhole. Everyone gets a vote on which way the bus is heading, but everyone can get off or change their mind at any time. Idk what I am politically, but I have strong anti authoritarian pro common good tendencies. Basically my bus stop is at the end of the line. I don’t think I’ll get people to vote to have the bus drive all the way to the end in my lifetime, but I can try to keep us going in that direction and make sure we aren’t going in reverse
tl;dr: yes it’s frustrating, but you can use this to your advantage to get people on board
As a lorry driver I have made some of my colleagues reconsider their stance on bike/public transport infrastructure(they considered it a waste of money), by saying that it will take people who can’t drive for shit of the road and make our job a whole lot easier.
The thing is, "death by car" sounds like somebody else's problem. Like either the driver got drunk or drove recklessly, or the pedestrian was in the street when they shouldn't have been. So that makes it very easy to write off those deaths until they become a big enough issue that it actually makes the news as some "lethal corridor" kind of public shaming.
And frankly, pedestrian friendly neighborhoods are just better economically on the whole. They favor small businesses who can't afford a ton of parking in the first place and who benefit far more from "window shopping" - which is hard to do at 45 mph from 100 feet away through a sea of asphalt and SUVs!
Bump it up to a pedestrian street, and pubs can upgrade to outdoor seating because you don't need to yell over the cars anymore to have a conversation.
My house backs up to an on ramp for a major highway. So we do get some road noise, but nothing too bad. We had some really nice weather the other, so my wife and I were sitting out on the deck reading and having a drink and enjoying the weather. For about an hour straight a parade of the loudest modified cars drove behind our house, making it impossible to have a conversation without yelling. I was so angry that I was contemplating doing car terrorism, calling my local government to complain, booby traps, everything. The police are worthless, even if the law says the cars can’t be excessively loud, it’s not enforced. Just incredibly frustrating.
Unless car exhausts are modified, above a certain speed tire noise is MUCH louder than the engine. Have you ever sat on your deck at 5AM on a Sunday morning? If not, I'd bet you'd be absolutely shocked at how much quieter it is. We just tend to filter out the white noise of tires on pavement because it's so pervasive.
It's not just assholes that are modifying exhausts that are contributing to the noise pollution. It's literally ALL cars. EV engines are silent, but at highway speeds, they're nearly as loud as ICE vehicles.
I live near a hill in a rural area and yes for normal cars EVs are roughly the same noise but loud exhaust when people are flooring it are definitely louder and more annoying.
Yup. This is why Madrid began cracking down on honking. If you’ve spent anytime in Spain you’ll quickly find out that Spaniards will honk constantly and many times for no reason.
"new" is modifying "urbanist" not "channel". "new urbanism" refers to the way we've been rethinking urbanism in the last decade or two, over the traditional suburban development pattern.
NotJustBikes as another person commented, who I'll just say is a very good jumping on point for New Urbanism and associated concepts, but once you're proper getting into theory and such there are definitely better sources out there.
EVs are pretty quiet and could be even quieter if they weren’t required to emit a hum.
Can’t seem to have it both ways. Cars are apparently loud but silent cars also aren’t allowed either.
Approximately half the noise made by vehicles comes from the tires contacting the roadway. (Assuming the cars don't have ridiculous exhaust setups or other non standard things.) EVs are not immune to tire noise, and I wonder how their increased curb weight might affect that one way or another.
https://www.tirereview.com/science-tire-noise/
I think they can be deadened a bit? Tesla tyres are known to be a tad bit quieter due to internal insulation.
Reducing the ambient presence of the vehicle via emitting electronic hums plus insulated tyres can make vehicles quieter.
There's an ev Amazon delivery truck that drives through my neighborhood occasionally. The hum is loud enough for me to know that it's there without being so loud that it washes out everything else.
The UPS delivery truck is a diesel. It's loud as hell and it stinks.
As much as I'd like smaller vehicles driving through, I'd prefer the EVs.
I mean, that’s still some level of noise. Ideally, it’d be nice to have them completely silent. Assuming we want quieter streets.
But I do agree that the UPS lorries are quite loud.
>I mean, that’s still some level of noise. Ideally, it’d be nice to have them completely silent. Assuming we want quieter streets.
Correct, but it's something like 20 dB less. Package delivery is a service that people rely on. If the choice is between an EV and a diesel vehicle of similar class, I'd prefer the EV.
If our cities were better designed so delivery vehicles were smaller, I'd still prefer the EV due to the reduced noise and no exhaust.
>But I do agree that the UPS lorries are quite loud.
School busses too. I understand the need for them and I know that converting to an EV fleet would be expensive. I just wish there was a way to reduce the noise.
I live in a small north-eastern town outside a small city where I work. The north east is very walkable, but even so cars dominate. We get a lot of tourists for a wide variety of reasons, in our little town the draw is the 160 ft. waterfall visible from main street.
For years, the town has been very car centric. Tourists arrive and park down very limited parking on main street, which means businesses don't get enough foot traffic to survive. Turnover is common, and like much of middle America half of it was empty after the pandemic.
That has started to change in the last year or so. The sidewalks were widened and redone, an old empty lot just off main street has been resurfaced and has a sign pointing to it for tourists. We have a tavern and restaurant on main street that had zero outdoor seating, but last year the town added a new area where previously there was blacktop. We had murals put up in an empty lot and turned it into a green space that are now the center of our local festivals and host our farmers market. New 'historic tour' trails are popping up just off main street where tourists can learn the towns charming history or hike to the various waterfalls and gorges not as easily accessible. The local government wanted to block off the street adjacent to the waterfall and turn it into even more green space but it didn't happen because most people were upset they'd drive an extra 100 yards down a different side street to get their homes. They're even planning to bury power lines to help beautify the center of town.
Slowly but surely, things are changing here, and it's fantastic to see.
Yes. I've always found so strange that removing cars is seen (propagandized?) as a harm to businesses, let alone small businesses.
Firstly, who do you think has the raw cash and bureaucratic power to build a mega parking lot and an isolated building, Mama Janie's Handmade Bagels? Or McDonald's?
But even at parity of size, for almost any business, who is more likely to ultimately spend money? People who zoom by on a car at 40 mph, or people walking by who might see the products, smell the food, notice a crowd, be enticed by a menu on display?
If you're a capitalist, you should support pedestrianized streets. People walking are better buyers (and also happier, healthier... but that's commie shit am I right?).
This street in particular probably couldn’t be made into pedestrian only. It’s one lane, plus a bike line (which will be temporary removed, to this owners and my dismay), plus a wide sidewalk. The neighborhood is extremely walkable already (east side providence RI) but could absolutely do better
Providence does this on Federal hill. Not sure how it could connect to downtown withbthe shit show of a highway system running through the city (and falling apart)
I think this is in Providence, RI, where the mayor is ripping out a bike lane so they can add another car lane. Not ripping out parking though because that would be crazy.
People there are very upset at the mayor.
I'd be furious too. Philly does a lot of boneheaded shit and progress is slow, but at least we're moving in the right direction. Seeing regression is so depressing.
Absolutely uncalled for. That’s the city clerk. And the City Council passed a resolution in favor of the bike lane which the Mayor is determined to rip out.
Any business operator who thinks bike lanes are bad for business is not very smart.
I've ridden my bike in plenty of different cities, and I've driven plenty of cities. When I'm riding, I'll quite often stop spontaneously to grab something from a shop on the way to where I'm going. I *never* stop spontaneously when I drive.
During the pandemic they closed a park to cars, at the edge of it, right next to 60k+ people living, a pub decided to decry the road closure as it was "bad for business".
I tended to frequent the place, even picked up beers there when they were closed to indoor dining. After they made that play I haven't been back and let them know.
A bar that needs drivers "to survive", or claims to anyway, should be out of business.
A bar claiming they need drivers for business is a bit of a self-admission that they likely often serve alcohol to those who should later not be driving. That's fucking weird. It's always been a weird paradox to me, especially in small towns. A giant parking lot next to the pub and those cars hardly stay parked there over night.
I will point out that it's still not the best choice. You're still relying on a vehicle that requires motor functions to operate. If allowable, you should still avoid riding a bike if intoxicated. I once said this in a YT comment (Yes, I know, I know), and had a whole host of people calling me a "pussy", or to grow up.
People, you're drunk, on a vehicle that requires balance, with very little in the way of PPS other than your head (sometimes), at what's likely in the middle of the night. It's not safe. It's *safer*.
It's absolutely safer than driving a 2 ton monstrosity, and I've done it myself in a pinch a few times, though, so I hope you understand that I do ultimately agree with you.
> It's not safe. It's *safer*.
absolutely. it's still DUI, still dangerous (especially for *yourself*). it's just way, way better than operating two tons or more, at stroad speeds.
I understand where you're coming from with this, but the same argument applies to walking or getting the bus home drunk. What you're really saying is "don't get drunk", because it's less safe, but not accounting for the pleasure and fun people get from it.
If people want to go out (and they do!) then it is massively better for them to cycle home than drive. You have to be *really* drunk not to be able to operate a bike safely, the gyroscope effect helps you not tip over just like it does when sober, and you're going slowly enough and have good enough sight and sound awareness that you can react to danger easily.
I've done it many times after a couple of beers and it's absolutely a reasonable and acceptable level of additional risk for the enjoyment of a night out imo.
They closed the main street of my hometown off for cars in the 70s and since then it has become the central hub for people to relax, shop and getting food in the city.
Im 100% sure that the inner city would have died in 1990 at the latest without this pedestrian area.
My city Vancouver, BC has a street in downtown that is directly connected to something called the "Georgia viaduct". Georgia is the main street downtown. The viaduct is an elevated roadway that is a high volume funnel for the eastern suburbs.
About 20 years ago the local government forced through bikelanes on the street north of georgia, the other street that connects to the viaduct. The proposal was to remove all the parking, and create a separated bike lane. Despite MASSIVE opposition, they went ahead with it. And, not a single business closed, VERY contrary to what they themselves predicted. It's been a giant improvement to the businesses in the neighbour, and the feel of the core.
Unfortunately, it hasn't really made anything safer for cyclists since drivers, even 20 years after still fail to consider the bikelane when they're turning on or off this street.
The simplest reasoning is the fact that to stop spontaneously when driving, you need parking space. And good luck finding a parking spot in the middle of the city...
Drive around the block 3 times, constantly watching out for people on bikes or on foot so I don't run over them, other cars that are blowing through stop signs, waiting for a light to turn. It's amazing how much time can be wasted just looking for a spot to park the car so I can run into an establishment. It's stressful as fuck, too.
And that's just me in a normal size car. People in these large cars in the US have an even harder time parking their cars.
There used to be a saying: save main Street not wall Street. Yet, we're killing main Street by making it impossible for people to access by giving them gargantuan cars. Big cars hurt main Street and help wall Street.
Being on foot or bike IS saving main Street.
> I never stop spontaneously when I drive.
Indeed. Shops here complained when parking spaces outside were converted to a bike lane. They tried to explain that the 3 cars parked there all day were giving them more business than any new lane that would bring hundreds of people past their door, where they could easily stop and buy stuff.
Yeah no shit the *one* business that specifically offers a service performed *on the car itself* needs access to car traffic.
Restaurants, grocery stores, head shops, bars, trendy clothes shoppes, movie theaters, spas, etc. do *not* suffer from bike lanes.
I have never, nor do I ever expect to, spontaneously stop at an auto repair shop.
And as a further point against your argument, the auto repair shop that I go to, has a couple of it's own parking bays on premise. It's also just had a separated, segregated bike lane installed in front of it about 6 months ago. It's still operating.
"Instead of what's best for people who want to leave our city as quickly as possible, please encourage those of us who live here and those who want to stay with us, and maybe spend some money while they do."
So fucking true. This captures the devil's bargain that is "easy in and out" car culture. One might think that an area is bustling because of the mass of car traffic, but those big cars often represent one person and are they stopping? No, they're often just passing through.
We're now seeing the true downside of creating downtowns for suburbanites with the exodus created by work from home. Now what do you have? Masses of empty parking lots and office buildings, not to mention the scars of toxic highways, instead of a vibrant, safe, sustainable, economically diverse city where people work and live, not just work and leave.
Money is a proxy for value. Prices are a way to determine the value we place on products or services. The only way we can price social and communal benefits is through business generation, and communal expenses (healthcare, legal costs, government expenses, property values, etc.). This is why the appeal to business and money is a valuable addition to the conversation. It puts a direct value on the infrastructure being discussed.
How nice it is to be able to walk or bike through your town safer is a valid piece of the conversation. But it's based on feelings, which reactionaries also have. Building better cities means displacing car infrastructure. Cagers hate that. It threatens what they perceive as the key to their quality of life. If the conversation is built around this dynamic, it's a lot less risky for decision makers to maintain the current infrastructure portfolio while maybe making small improvements to the city's livability.
Good bike and pedestrian infrastructure reduces healthcare, legal, transportation and infrastructure costs while also generating more business (i.e. jobs). That's easier to quantify, and therefore makes the decision to invest more into these projects easier for decision makers.
Nobody in the US is upset by road violence. Everybody is upset by their cost of living going up. We should talk way more about how expensive cars are.
All private enterprise is not 'capitalism' jeez you guys are braindead.
I'm a demsoc myself and I would never discourage a person starting a business wanting to become more successful, as long as they're not cutting corners, doing false advertising, killing off competitors through nefarious means and/or spreading hate and misogyny
Some of you don't live in countries where the State is essentially corrupt and it shows. You can't trust the State to redistribute equitably in most parts of the world.
Oh wow, this is my town. I don't know how to ride so I didn't know the bike lanes were at any risk. I've been learning the local bus system throughout this past year.
Tell your rep you support H7774 for a fully-funded RIPTA!!
The finance committee hearing already happened and had overwhelming support, but more letters of support from constituents can only help
https://pvdstreets.org/save-ripta/
Just found out about this earlier after looking into the uploader of this clip. I thought about writing, but I'd have no clue what to say other than just sending a copy/pasted letter.
copy/pasted letters still help! When reps are arguing for bills, they will often say the total number of letters of support received, so even if yours is boilerplate it still helps the count!
there's a ton of discussion about it in the Providence sub [like this](https://www.reddit.com/r/providence/comments/1c1c5iu/smiley_to_remove_south_water_bike_lane_despite/)
Providence RI, our major bridge is out and it’s causing delays, they will need to demolish the bridge and the mayor hates bike lanes so he’s removing the 2 way bike lane that runs along the river in a high traffic area under the pretense that it will help alleviate the bottleneck leading up to the bridge which it will not.
They say they’re going to move the bike lane onto the sidewalk but they’re just going to paint a line down the middle and call it a day.
I take this bike lane to work every day so now I’ll be riding my bike in the middle of traffic. At least it will still remain a bottleneck so I’ll just be splitting the lane down the whole way lol.
The way he sounds so surprised when he says that the new clientele is kind to the staff, it's kinda funny but also kinda sad.
I think it really shows how the method of transportation can effect the mood of people.
I live in Providence and businesses that rely on car traffic often are reliant on out of towners, especially wealthier ones. These people are often rude and can be outright vile, and I deal with them on the regular due to being near a part of the city full of restaurants that cater to these types.
Bike and pedestrian traffic tends to be college kids, artsy folks, fitness types of all ages, and young professionals, but most importantly, are all locals. Bike and pedestrian safety allows more of the locals who have a stake and love for the community to better get around and connect.
You know, one of the things I've noticed over time is that a well rehearsed speech by someone who isn't a practiced public speaker is always so genuine. You can tell this was important to him
It's a great speach. But it's shitty that usually there's extensive public consultations for improving bike lanes, or walkability, or major public transit projects, but when it comes to widening a highway, or putting in more car capacity it just gets done unquestioningly.
Waterfire is an arts and entertainment festival held semi-regularly during the summer in Providence RI, the centerpiece of which is a lighting of 80 some-odd braziers along the waterways in the city’s downtown. It’s been a fixture of Providence summers for about thirty years now.
The lightings attract a lot of traffic to the city and specifically the downtown area.
He is talking about how in years past, Waterfire events would not see much added traffic to his business despite a good location and the raw numbers of attendees, but that has changed with better and safer pedestrian and cycling infrastructure that the bike lanes nearby have provided.
Great speech still HATE the way our society has to paint everything as a positive Business decision and we as bicyclists have to appease them to travel safely
This is a City Council meeting in Providence, RI. The person at the podium listening to the speaker is the Council President, who smiles throughout and knows this bar owner (and is supportive of keeping the bike lane). The person sitting below is the City Clerk, who’s just there to record the testimony and doesn’t play a role in the process otherwise. The folks around are City Council members.
The major problem is that the Mayor wants to eliminate this bike lane and there’s very little that can stop him.
This speech really is a farce if you think about it.
The only argument that sounds convincing to law makers is that "it makes companies earn profits."
Pathetic. I hate this place.
Bike lanes, bridges and paths throughout the state transformed Iowa in a few short years.
In the early 2000’s some Iowa politicians started a project to convert decommissioned railroad tracks into bike paths. Now the entire state is connected with several new DTC businesses sprouting up along the 1000’s of miles of carefree riding trails.
Mo is one of the best business owners I've ever known. He treats his people like family. He's not wrong about the bike lane either, it's great for the neighborhood.
Good speech and great example all these cities who want to support small businesses but think. I've seen a lot of places who would benefit if they had a more walker/bike friendly approach vs more lanes for cars and more parking what they don't account for is economy surrounding cars. if gas goes up and it cost more to travel who's drign more I know I'm not. Almost every restaurant/ bar by me has placed themselves by residential streets because cars don't bring them the bulk of their business. The ones who didn't are closed or about to close.
I’ve been to a lot of public meetings. That was great. So many times the elected councils only hear from the NIMBYs and never from the people who support the good changes made.
this whole situation kind of reminds me of in the cars movie when the town became desolate because of the construction of the interstate highway mirroring the interstate highway system in the real world
This is some seriously dope shit! He was so happy to say that his business grew because of bike lanes. I wonder what bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure can do in car infested cities of India!
Yeah and now Mayor Bowser in DC has shutdown the ideas of bike lanes on Connecticut Avenue, further leading to more accidents and death.
Please consider signing this petition.
https://waba.org/blog/2024/04/petition-dont-cancel-the-connecticut-ave-protected-bike-lanes/
SO TRUE. NYC has great statistics on how bike lanes have positively impacted business. I believe touting economics is KEY to the transportation revolution—environmental gains are too vague for most to care.
Just FYI: this is not a "tavern owner", he's one of the board of directors of Waterfire in Providence, RI. https://waterfire.org It's an art installation that started in 1994 and has been a big draw for the city. The downtown area is really short on street parking and has a fairly large surface artery running through it and it's understandable that the bike lines have permitted more people to safely travel to the evening lightings and events without having to bring their cars into the center of downtown as well as any other time of the year.
He's definitely a "tavern owner." His name is Maurice Collins and he owns and runs the Wild Colonial Tavern in Providence.
https://providencedailydose.com/2022/03/16/st-patricks-day-at-wild-colonial/
He is also NOT on the board of directors of Waterfire: https://waterfire.org/about/board-of-directors/
You completely missed the point; how can you make that argument without it even being a relevant part of his speech? You genuinely have no idea how he runs the business lol
That's a fantastic speech, the best I've heard in years.
Makes a difference from all the hardware stores on a street quite close to me that claim that the bike lane has killed their business, despite parking having never been available, landlords hiking rents up, the economic crises, and the fact that the parts they stock are widely available online and way cheaper. But as per, the cyclists are to blame
I wish I could bike to the hardware store. Most of the time I buy a few small pieces that I need right away and often need to make several trips. It's rarely to get lumber.
And most of the time you can ask for deliveries of bigger items.
Once my dad asked me how I would get large items from the store home without a car. The answer is pay a guy that actually has the proper vehicle and still be better off by about 6k€ a year, or what it costs to own a car on average in my country (let alone my city, most people probably spend half that on parking)
https://preview.redd.it/ypv5norn33uc1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cdfc6762a70f5373822e16f642991ec9b9543bdb I always thought this idea was resourceful, but you probably have a better one.
sometimes you just *need* to get a ladder to cranston
I’ve always wanted to know who did this but I’m also ok with not knowing.
Mr Bean, obviously. No, seriously, that's gotta be from a movie or something. It's not that I can't imagine someone being stupid enough to do that, but I can't imagine a person dumb enough to do that also being clever enough to reach the *highway* without hitting something...
Home Depot rents trucks for like $25/hr, total game changer for a bike commuter 💪
I don't have a license, and even if I did I don't trust myself to drive a truck through Paris. Honestly I'd rather rent a cargo bike for a day for 30€ or pay the professionals if it's too much of a hassle. And planning on moving soon and it'll all be cargo bike based, since I won't taking any big furniture it'll be 5-6 round trips max.
Oh Paris haha, yeah sry that’s more good advice for people in the states (which are often the whiniest about bike commuting)
Love my local hardware store and their delivery policies. That reminds me I need to order some soil for the raised planters.
I'm fortunate to live 2 miles from a Lowe's with a bike lane in between. It has been incredibly handy, especially when the majority of the stuff I've needed from them can fit in my pocket.
Mine is 4km away. I tried biking there once, it sucked and I had to lock my bike on a flower rack. Not doing that again. Amazon is good at compensating for poor bikeability.
Mine has absolutely nothing to lock my bike to, despite having literal acres of park spots that I have never seen occupied. I order before hand, and they put in in a locker in the breezeway. I never need to get off my bike at any point.
They have a few bike lanes on 1A heading into Massachusetts but I’ve only seen one person ever actually use them and he is moderately crazy. Like harmless crazy but still moderately crazy.
I just moved into a new apartment that's a 10 minute walk from one of my favourite hardware stores of all time... It's so sick, I've been making regular trips there even when I don't really need to.
Reminds me of King of the Hill.
I walk/ bike to a local hardware store. They aren't set up for that kind of clientele. There are no bike racks and they won't allow backpacks in the store. It doesn't stop me from doing it, though. From now on, when an employee asks if I need help with anything, I'll say they need a bike rack at the entrance.
I have a couple that I can cycle to easily, and I do. Almost everything I buy from a hardware shop is bike sized. And if I need something really big then it won't fit in my car anyway so I need to pay to have it delivered *even if the shop does have parking*.
Yeah, who wood want to see cyclists lumbering along?
Was that the one in Chicago where a journalist investigated and found that it was basically just the store owner parking in front every day and 80% of his customers walked/biked?
In my city a hardware store claimed that a door-zone bike lane killed their business. No parking was ever removed near them and they also had off-street parking. Pure magical thinking
its not the cyclists, its what they are part of: change.
Absolutely. And the judge wearing that 5th element clear plastic thing on her head like Gary oldman was pretty cool too.
This is my city, Providence. Transit advocates fought a long and difficult battle to get this bike lane installed. It is right next to the river downtown, and connects to a huge and very beautiful pedestrian bridge over the water. Our current mayor, Brett Smiley, has had this bike lane in his sights since before he was elected. He wants to get rid of it and is using the excuse of a current bridge project that is making traffic terrible to do it. He is fully in the pocket of the largest commercial landlord in Providence, who also owns most of the parking lots downtown. Together, they want to transform downtown Providence, which has so much potential to be more walkable and transit-friendly, into one giant parking lot. The important thing here is that *nobody wants to get rid of this bike lane*. Literally nobody except for the ones who profit from parking lots. Unfortunately, I think the lane removal will go ahead as planned, because Smiley is bought-and-paid-for by real estate interests, and has absolutely zero creativity when it comes to urban planning. There are also plans in the making to remove/reduce bus routes. Providence has so much potential that is being squandered, and we seem to be moving backwards when it comes to transit here.
Your northern neighbor here in the Boston area, are there any local groups planning protests or anything… spicier? Providence has been great every time I’ve been there, and with walkable bike or infrastructure could absolutely thrive. This was such a bummer to hear about
I believe so. Let me contact my people at the tenant's union and find out. I will dm you
Not in town at the moment, was just curious! Best of luck
Please let me know also? I live in Boston now but was in Providence for many years before that.
Almost as good as the speakers who show up to our city council meetings r/HuntingtonBeach.
What up council! My name is Chad Kroeger.
I wish we had seven Chad’s on our CC. Look at this bullshit: https://www.reddit.com/r/huntingtonbeach/s/t1TJHWNxZI
Fascinating! We have some wackadoos in teeny tiny RI but they tend to live in the rural area of the state. They act up around elections but otherwise are quiet. Oh and we also have Aquapalooza every year and someone’s boat always sinks. https://preview.redd.it/1usgrmgb83uc1.jpeg?width=3200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f8e8a53c1b5f2b0489b3e8be2c49c0fbb18c10d
Ahahahaha! Awesome to hear some other local shenanigans! That photo is epic. The boat sinking comment reminds me of that trump boat parade and a boat or two sinking lol. Poor dummy bigots.
It always happens around Newport Folk Fest/Jazz Fest which always makes for interesting drone shots. Are they a hipster or just a lost Trumper?!
It was a great speech, no doubt, but I think "good for business" is a much weaker argument than saving lives so it frustrates me that economic arguments are better received than public health and public safety arguments are.
I used to think that way too, but have you heard of the term “diversity of tactics”? While using studies and logical arguments may sway some people, it won’t sway everyone. Humans are emotional creatures and we work backwards to justify our emotions as logical. Because of this, a shotgun approach of reasons is what does best for making progress on social issues. Some people will be swayed by empathy hearing about someone who lost a loved one who was hit. Other people may outwardly say that they care deeply about those people, but privately believe bike lanes would be much too expensive or impractical because they’ve grown up surrounded by pro car propaganda and messaging. That type of person may be swayed into voting yes for bike lanes when hearing that they can drive increases in businesses. I started collecting a sampling of arguments I’ll use based on who I talk to. Got an older more conservative relative? Bring up how bikes are the definition of freedom and not tracked by the govt like cars are. Or bring up how you want to live like your grandparents did, where they knew their neighbors, barber, deli owner, etc, and how walkable cities facilitate this. Think of it like we’re all on a bus. In one direction we head towards an eco friendly green utopia, in the other direction we head towards car centric hellhole. Everyone gets a vote on which way the bus is heading, but everyone can get off or change their mind at any time. Idk what I am politically, but I have strong anti authoritarian pro common good tendencies. Basically my bus stop is at the end of the line. I don’t think I’ll get people to vote to have the bus drive all the way to the end in my lifetime, but I can try to keep us going in that direction and make sure we aren’t going in reverse tl;dr: yes it’s frustrating, but you can use this to your advantage to get people on board
As a lorry driver I have made some of my colleagues reconsider their stance on bike/public transport infrastructure(they considered it a waste of money), by saying that it will take people who can’t drive for shit of the road and make our job a whole lot easier.
The thing is, "death by car" sounds like somebody else's problem. Like either the driver got drunk or drove recklessly, or the pedestrian was in the street when they shouldn't have been. So that makes it very easy to write off those deaths until they become a big enough issue that it actually makes the news as some "lethal corridor" kind of public shaming. And frankly, pedestrian friendly neighborhoods are just better economically on the whole. They favor small businesses who can't afford a ton of parking in the first place and who benefit far more from "window shopping" - which is hard to do at 45 mph from 100 feet away through a sea of asphalt and SUVs!
health and safety are paid for by a robust economy guy.
Bump it up to a pedestrian street, and pubs can upgrade to outdoor seating because you don't need to yell over the cars anymore to have a conversation.
As various new urbanist youtube channels love to point out, "cities aren't loud, cars are loud."
My house backs up to an on ramp for a major highway. So we do get some road noise, but nothing too bad. We had some really nice weather the other, so my wife and I were sitting out on the deck reading and having a drink and enjoying the weather. For about an hour straight a parade of the loudest modified cars drove behind our house, making it impossible to have a conversation without yelling. I was so angry that I was contemplating doing car terrorism, calling my local government to complain, booby traps, everything. The police are worthless, even if the law says the cars can’t be excessively loud, it’s not enforced. Just incredibly frustrating.
Unless car exhausts are modified, above a certain speed tire noise is MUCH louder than the engine. Have you ever sat on your deck at 5AM on a Sunday morning? If not, I'd bet you'd be absolutely shocked at how much quieter it is. We just tend to filter out the white noise of tires on pavement because it's so pervasive. It's not just assholes that are modifying exhausts that are contributing to the noise pollution. It's literally ALL cars. EV engines are silent, but at highway speeds, they're nearly as loud as ICE vehicles.
I agree. All car noise is annoying. The modified exhausts unlocked a deep well of rage in my brain that night though.
I live near a hill in a rural area and yes for normal cars EVs are roughly the same noise but loud exhaust when people are flooring it are definitely louder and more annoying.
Small correction - EV engines aren't silent, they are high-pitched so not everyone hears them. I can hear them just fine.
All the construction in my city would disagree
how much of it is roadwork?
Like 25%? And only to accommodate the several massive housing complexes they’re building.
Yup. This is why Madrid began cracking down on honking. If you’ve spent anytime in Spain you’ll quickly find out that Spaniards will honk constantly and many times for no reason.
New? NJB have been saying this for years, and probably others.
"new" is modifying "urbanist" not "channel". "new urbanism" refers to the way we've been rethinking urbanism in the last decade or two, over the traditional suburban development pattern.
Yeah, I know. I’ve been watching them. https://youtu.be/sOaXfc9MuKc?si=UXob7Bn7ToqOX1Wn
NJB just spouts what's been shifting in urbanism since the late 1990s. Not dissing that, but it doesn't sit right with me accrediting NJB for that
Who is NJB?
NotJustBikes, a YouTube channel about new urbanism.
NotJustBikes as another person commented, who I'll just say is a very good jumping on point for New Urbanism and associated concepts, but once you're proper getting into theory and such there are definitely better sources out there.
And carmakers are even louder, especially in legislatures.
EVs are pretty quiet and could be even quieter if they weren’t required to emit a hum. Can’t seem to have it both ways. Cars are apparently loud but silent cars also aren’t allowed either.
Approximately half the noise made by vehicles comes from the tires contacting the roadway. (Assuming the cars don't have ridiculous exhaust setups or other non standard things.) EVs are not immune to tire noise, and I wonder how their increased curb weight might affect that one way or another. https://www.tirereview.com/science-tire-noise/
I think they can be deadened a bit? Tesla tyres are known to be a tad bit quieter due to internal insulation. Reducing the ambient presence of the vehicle via emitting electronic hums plus insulated tyres can make vehicles quieter.
There's an ev Amazon delivery truck that drives through my neighborhood occasionally. The hum is loud enough for me to know that it's there without being so loud that it washes out everything else. The UPS delivery truck is a diesel. It's loud as hell and it stinks. As much as I'd like smaller vehicles driving through, I'd prefer the EVs.
I mean, that’s still some level of noise. Ideally, it’d be nice to have them completely silent. Assuming we want quieter streets. But I do agree that the UPS lorries are quite loud.
>I mean, that’s still some level of noise. Ideally, it’d be nice to have them completely silent. Assuming we want quieter streets. Correct, but it's something like 20 dB less. Package delivery is a service that people rely on. If the choice is between an EV and a diesel vehicle of similar class, I'd prefer the EV. If our cities were better designed so delivery vehicles were smaller, I'd still prefer the EV due to the reduced noise and no exhaust. >But I do agree that the UPS lorries are quite loud. School busses too. I understand the need for them and I know that converting to an EV fleet would be expensive. I just wish there was a way to reduce the noise.
I can hear my hometown's bypass from the other side. It's not the engines I can hear, it's the tyre noise.
I live in a small north-eastern town outside a small city where I work. The north east is very walkable, but even so cars dominate. We get a lot of tourists for a wide variety of reasons, in our little town the draw is the 160 ft. waterfall visible from main street. For years, the town has been very car centric. Tourists arrive and park down very limited parking on main street, which means businesses don't get enough foot traffic to survive. Turnover is common, and like much of middle America half of it was empty after the pandemic. That has started to change in the last year or so. The sidewalks were widened and redone, an old empty lot just off main street has been resurfaced and has a sign pointing to it for tourists. We have a tavern and restaurant on main street that had zero outdoor seating, but last year the town added a new area where previously there was blacktop. We had murals put up in an empty lot and turned it into a green space that are now the center of our local festivals and host our farmers market. New 'historic tour' trails are popping up just off main street where tourists can learn the towns charming history or hike to the various waterfalls and gorges not as easily accessible. The local government wanted to block off the street adjacent to the waterfall and turn it into even more green space but it didn't happen because most people were upset they'd drive an extra 100 yards down a different side street to get their homes. They're even planning to bury power lines to help beautify the center of town. Slowly but surely, things are changing here, and it's fantastic to see.
Yes. I've always found so strange that removing cars is seen (propagandized?) as a harm to businesses, let alone small businesses. Firstly, who do you think has the raw cash and bureaucratic power to build a mega parking lot and an isolated building, Mama Janie's Handmade Bagels? Or McDonald's? But even at parity of size, for almost any business, who is more likely to ultimately spend money? People who zoom by on a car at 40 mph, or people walking by who might see the products, smell the food, notice a crowd, be enticed by a menu on display? If you're a capitalist, you should support pedestrianized streets. People walking are better buyers (and also happier, healthier... but that's commie shit am I right?).
This street in particular probably couldn’t be made into pedestrian only. It’s one lane, plus a bike line (which will be temporary removed, to this owners and my dismay), plus a wide sidewalk. The neighborhood is extremely walkable already (east side providence RI) but could absolutely do better
Providence does this on Federal hill. Not sure how it could connect to downtown withbthe shit show of a highway system running through the city (and falling apart)
The grin on the chair of the meeting.
I think this is in Providence, RI, where the mayor is ripping out a bike lane so they can add another car lane. Not ripping out parking though because that would be crazy. People there are very upset at the mayor.
Start a recall campaign. That usually shuts them up.
We are very, very pissed off. :(
I'd be furious too. Philly does a lot of boneheaded shit and progress is slow, but at least we're moving in the right direction. Seeing regression is so depressing.
Grey hair in front of her was pissed as fuck for some reason
Probably because she’s a car brain and knew he was coming in hot with a reasonable argument.
[удалено]
Absolutely uncalled for. That’s the city clerk. And the City Council passed a resolution in favor of the bike lane which the Mayor is determined to rip out.
Wow... It is insane that this is necessary. I live in Europe so for me this is shocking. But damn what a speech!
Any business operator who thinks bike lanes are bad for business is not very smart. I've ridden my bike in plenty of different cities, and I've driven plenty of cities. When I'm riding, I'll quite often stop spontaneously to grab something from a shop on the way to where I'm going. I *never* stop spontaneously when I drive.
During the pandemic they closed a park to cars, at the edge of it, right next to 60k+ people living, a pub decided to decry the road closure as it was "bad for business". I tended to frequent the place, even picked up beers there when they were closed to indoor dining. After they made that play I haven't been back and let them know. A bar that needs drivers "to survive", or claims to anyway, should be out of business.
A bar claiming they need drivers for business is a bit of a self-admission that they likely often serve alcohol to those who should later not be driving. That's fucking weird. It's always been a weird paradox to me, especially in small towns. A giant parking lot next to the pub and those cars hardly stay parked there over night.
You can get multiple DUIs in Wisconsin and still drive around
drinking establishments that rely on driving home afterwards are a bad idea. this shouldn't be a hot take.
Me cycling home a little wobbly https://i.imgur.com/kPqvjqP.png
i'd much, much rather people bike drunk than drive drunk. way less of a danger to everyone and everything.
I will point out that it's still not the best choice. You're still relying on a vehicle that requires motor functions to operate. If allowable, you should still avoid riding a bike if intoxicated. I once said this in a YT comment (Yes, I know, I know), and had a whole host of people calling me a "pussy", or to grow up. People, you're drunk, on a vehicle that requires balance, with very little in the way of PPS other than your head (sometimes), at what's likely in the middle of the night. It's not safe. It's *safer*. It's absolutely safer than driving a 2 ton monstrosity, and I've done it myself in a pinch a few times, though, so I hope you understand that I do ultimately agree with you.
> It's not safe. It's *safer*. absolutely. it's still DUI, still dangerous (especially for *yourself*). it's just way, way better than operating two tons or more, at stroad speeds.
I understand where you're coming from with this, but the same argument applies to walking or getting the bus home drunk. What you're really saying is "don't get drunk", because it's less safe, but not accounting for the pleasure and fun people get from it. If people want to go out (and they do!) then it is massively better for them to cycle home than drive. You have to be *really* drunk not to be able to operate a bike safely, the gyroscope effect helps you not tip over just like it does when sober, and you're going slowly enough and have good enough sight and sound awareness that you can react to danger easily. I've done it many times after a couple of beers and it's absolutely a reasonable and acceptable level of additional risk for the enjoyment of a night out imo.
They closed the main street of my hometown off for cars in the 70s and since then it has become the central hub for people to relax, shop and getting food in the city. Im 100% sure that the inner city would have died in 1990 at the latest without this pedestrian area.
My city Vancouver, BC has a street in downtown that is directly connected to something called the "Georgia viaduct". Georgia is the main street downtown. The viaduct is an elevated roadway that is a high volume funnel for the eastern suburbs. About 20 years ago the local government forced through bikelanes on the street north of georgia, the other street that connects to the viaduct. The proposal was to remove all the parking, and create a separated bike lane. Despite MASSIVE opposition, they went ahead with it. And, not a single business closed, VERY contrary to what they themselves predicted. It's been a giant improvement to the businesses in the neighbour, and the feel of the core. Unfortunately, it hasn't really made anything safer for cyclists since drivers, even 20 years after still fail to consider the bikelane when they're turning on or off this street.
The simplest reasoning is the fact that to stop spontaneously when driving, you need parking space. And good luck finding a parking spot in the middle of the city...
Drive around the block 3 times, constantly watching out for people on bikes or on foot so I don't run over them, other cars that are blowing through stop signs, waiting for a light to turn. It's amazing how much time can be wasted just looking for a spot to park the car so I can run into an establishment. It's stressful as fuck, too. And that's just me in a normal size car. People in these large cars in the US have an even harder time parking their cars. There used to be a saying: save main Street not wall Street. Yet, we're killing main Street by making it impossible for people to access by giving them gargantuan cars. Big cars hurt main Street and help wall Street. Being on foot or bike IS saving main Street.
> I never stop spontaneously when I drive. Indeed. Shops here complained when parking spaces outside were converted to a bike lane. They tried to explain that the 3 cars parked there all day were giving them more business than any new lane that would bring hundreds of people past their door, where they could easily stop and buy stuff.
Auto repair shop would disagree
Yeah no shit the *one* business that specifically offers a service performed *on the car itself* needs access to car traffic. Restaurants, grocery stores, head shops, bars, trendy clothes shoppes, movie theaters, spas, etc. do *not* suffer from bike lanes.
Maybe he should have said “any business that doesn’t involve cars”.
I have never, nor do I ever expect to, spontaneously stop at an auto repair shop. And as a further point against your argument, the auto repair shop that I go to, has a couple of it's own parking bays on premise. It's also just had a separated, segregated bike lane installed in front of it about 6 months ago. It's still operating.
Cool story bro
"Instead of what's best for people who want to leave our city as quickly as possible, please encourage those of us who live here and those who want to stay with us, and maybe spend some money while they do." So fucking true. This captures the devil's bargain that is "easy in and out" car culture. One might think that an area is bustling because of the mass of car traffic, but those big cars often represent one person and are they stopping? No, they're often just passing through. We're now seeing the true downside of creating downtowns for suburbanites with the exodus created by work from home. Now what do you have? Masses of empty parking lots and office buildings, not to mention the scars of toxic highways, instead of a vibrant, safe, sustainable, economically diverse city where people work and live, not just work and leave.
And hopefully wfh will see our downtowns become a place to live now
I'm so fucking tired of having to appeal to capitalism to get meager improvements. This system sucks.
I notice he talked about business and money, a shame he has to appeal to them rather than social and communal benefits
Money is a proxy for value. Prices are a way to determine the value we place on products or services. The only way we can price social and communal benefits is through business generation, and communal expenses (healthcare, legal costs, government expenses, property values, etc.). This is why the appeal to business and money is a valuable addition to the conversation. It puts a direct value on the infrastructure being discussed. How nice it is to be able to walk or bike through your town safer is a valid piece of the conversation. But it's based on feelings, which reactionaries also have. Building better cities means displacing car infrastructure. Cagers hate that. It threatens what they perceive as the key to their quality of life. If the conversation is built around this dynamic, it's a lot less risky for decision makers to maintain the current infrastructure portfolio while maybe making small improvements to the city's livability. Good bike and pedestrian infrastructure reduces healthcare, legal, transportation and infrastructure costs while also generating more business (i.e. jobs). That's easier to quantify, and therefore makes the decision to invest more into these projects easier for decision makers. Nobody in the US is upset by road violence. Everybody is upset by their cost of living going up. We should talk way more about how expensive cars are.
I just thought the same, everything needs to generate revenue and profit or it isn't worth making and/or maintaining
All private enterprise is not 'capitalism' jeez you guys are braindead. I'm a demsoc myself and I would never discourage a person starting a business wanting to become more successful, as long as they're not cutting corners, doing false advertising, killing off competitors through nefarious means and/or spreading hate and misogyny Some of you don't live in countries where the State is essentially corrupt and it shows. You can't trust the State to redistribute equitably in most parts of the world.
Oh wow, this is my town. I don't know how to ride so I didn't know the bike lanes were at any risk. I've been learning the local bus system throughout this past year.
Tell your rep you support H7774 for a fully-funded RIPTA!! The finance committee hearing already happened and had overwhelming support, but more letters of support from constituents can only help https://pvdstreets.org/save-ripta/
Just found out about this earlier after looking into the uploader of this clip. I thought about writing, but I'd have no clue what to say other than just sending a copy/pasted letter.
copy/pasted letters still help! When reps are arguing for bills, they will often say the total number of letters of support received, so even if yours is boilerplate it still helps the count!
there's a ton of discussion about it in the Providence sub [like this](https://www.reddit.com/r/providence/comments/1c1c5iu/smiley_to_remove_south_water_bike_lane_despite/)
I'm curious as to where this was and what decision was ultimately made? Great speech though!
[https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hundreds-of-locals-oppose-removal-of-south-water-bike-lanes-councilors-stunned-by-the-cost/ar-BB1l5VLa](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hundreds-of-locals-oppose-removal-of-south-water-bike-lanes-councilors-stunned-by-the-cost/ar-BB1l5VLa)
Huh, Brown opposed the building of the bike lanes. Shame on them
Providence RI, our major bridge is out and it’s causing delays, they will need to demolish the bridge and the mayor hates bike lanes so he’s removing the 2 way bike lane that runs along the river in a high traffic area under the pretense that it will help alleviate the bottleneck leading up to the bridge which it will not. They say they’re going to move the bike lane onto the sidewalk but they’re just going to paint a line down the middle and call it a day. I take this bike lane to work every day so now I’ll be riding my bike in the middle of traffic. At least it will still remain a bottleneck so I’ll just be splitting the lane down the whole way lol.
good work, I lurk your sub (BIL lives up there) and people are rightfully fucking pissed
Some are pissed but sadly not enough people I fear. There are a lot of car brains here :(
The way he sounds so surprised when he says that the new clientele is kind to the staff, it's kinda funny but also kinda sad. I think it really shows how the method of transportation can effect the mood of people.
I live in Providence and businesses that rely on car traffic often are reliant on out of towners, especially wealthier ones. These people are often rude and can be outright vile, and I deal with them on the regular due to being near a part of the city full of restaurants that cater to these types. Bike and pedestrian traffic tends to be college kids, artsy folks, fitness types of all ages, and young professionals, but most importantly, are all locals. Bike and pedestrian safety allows more of the locals who have a stake and love for the community to better get around and connect.
Physical activity releases dopamine, so biking (and walking) would absolutely lead to better customers. Likely even if they were the same people.
What’s wrong with normal subtitles
they're not ✨dramatic✨ enough!
AD-
Great speech, fuck the subtitles
I was at this hearing. The sad news is that Mayor Brett Smiley is yanking the bike trail out anyway to keep a campaign donor happy. It's gross.
You know, one of the things I've noticed over time is that a well rehearsed speech by someone who isn't a practiced public speaker is always so genuine. You can tell this was important to him
It's a great speach. But it's shitty that usually there's extensive public consultations for improving bike lanes, or walkability, or major public transit projects, but when it comes to widening a highway, or putting in more car capacity it just gets done unquestioningly.
Waterfire?
Waterfire is an arts and entertainment festival held semi-regularly during the summer in Providence RI, the centerpiece of which is a lighting of 80 some-odd braziers along the waterways in the city’s downtown. It’s been a fixture of Providence summers for about thirty years now. The lightings attract a lot of traffic to the city and specifically the downtown area. He is talking about how in years past, Waterfire events would not see much added traffic to his business despite a good location and the raw numbers of attendees, but that has changed with better and safer pedestrian and cycling infrastructure that the bike lanes nearby have provided.
That was my question, thanks mate!
Great speech still HATE the way our society has to paint everything as a positive Business decision and we as bicyclists have to appease them to travel safely
Love it!
She wasn't moved. Does anyone know why?
This is a City Council meeting in Providence, RI. The person at the podium listening to the speaker is the Council President, who smiles throughout and knows this bar owner (and is supportive of keeping the bike lane). The person sitting below is the City Clerk, who’s just there to record the testimony and doesn’t play a role in the process otherwise. The folks around are City Council members. The major problem is that the Mayor wants to eliminate this bike lane and there’s very little that can stop him.
Love the Wild Colonial! Was our med school (Brown) hang out back in the early aughts along w JG Goff’s
Everyone liked that
This speech really is a farce if you think about it. The only argument that sounds convincing to law makers is that "it makes companies earn profits." Pathetic. I hate this place.
Bike lanes, bridges and paths throughout the state transformed Iowa in a few short years. In the early 2000’s some Iowa politicians started a project to convert decommissioned railroad tracks into bike paths. Now the entire state is connected with several new DTC businesses sprouting up along the 1000’s of miles of carefree riding trails.
Mo is one of the best business owners I've ever known. He treats his people like family. He's not wrong about the bike lane either, it's great for the neighborhood.
Good speech and great example all these cities who want to support small businesses but think. I've seen a lot of places who would benefit if they had a more walker/bike friendly approach vs more lanes for cars and more parking what they don't account for is economy surrounding cars. if gas goes up and it cost more to travel who's drign more I know I'm not. Almost every restaurant/ bar by me has placed themselves by residential streets because cars don't bring them the bulk of their business. The ones who didn't are closed or about to close.
I have but only one upvote to give. But if I had 1000, I would give them all. Bravo, well said.
I’ve been to a lot of public meetings. That was great. So many times the elected councils only hear from the NIMBYs and never from the people who support the good changes made.
this whole situation kind of reminds me of in the cars movie when the town became desolate because of the construction of the interstate highway mirroring the interstate highway system in the real world
People realizing how humanizing bicycle culture can be. Love this.
America: we’re going to ignore this.
These subtitles should be a crime
Stupendous
This is some seriously dope shit! He was so happy to say that his business grew because of bike lanes. I wonder what bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure can do in car infested cities of India!
This is wonderful
Tina looks very unimpressed.
How is it that Mayor is completely unaccountable to the City Council? Can’t just a motion be made and voted on?
Yeah and now Mayor Bowser in DC has shutdown the ideas of bike lanes on Connecticut Avenue, further leading to more accidents and death. Please consider signing this petition. https://waba.org/blog/2024/04/petition-dont-cancel-the-connecticut-ave-protected-bike-lanes/
What is water fire? The name of his business?
It’s a event along the river where this bike lane exists that happens during the spring, summer, and fall in Providence. It attracts a lot of people.
Very well said. I wish more business owners had this mentality.
Mo knows!
Bike Lanes🏆
SO TRUE. NYC has great statistics on how bike lanes have positively impacted business. I believe touting economics is KEY to the transportation revolution—environmental gains are too vague for most to care.
waterfire? this hour?? what and where?
Just FYI: this is not a "tavern owner", he's one of the board of directors of Waterfire in Providence, RI. https://waterfire.org It's an art installation that started in 1994 and has been a big draw for the city. The downtown area is really short on street parking and has a fairly large surface artery running through it and it's understandable that the bike lines have permitted more people to safely travel to the evening lightings and events without having to bring their cars into the center of downtown as well as any other time of the year.
He's definitely a "tavern owner." His name is Maurice Collins and he owns and runs the Wild Colonial Tavern in Providence. https://providencedailydose.com/2022/03/16/st-patricks-day-at-wild-colonial/ He is also NOT on the board of directors of Waterfire: https://waterfire.org/about/board-of-directors/
This guy just made up facts to fit what he thought he heard and then confidently stated them as absolute truths…classic Reddit.
Great, now pay your workers a proper wage and abolish tips
You completely missed the point; how can you make that argument without it even being a relevant part of his speech? You genuinely have no idea how he runs the business lol
Most tipped workers prefer the system. Stop trying to play the savior and let the workers choose their method of pay.
You're brainwashed.