this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
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You may live in a place that is the result of building car dependent infrastructure. To achieve a "bike city" op is describing, it would take decades, if not a century in your area for it to make sense to just bike everywhere. It takes time.
Oh it is. It's exploded like CRAZY in the past 10 years and it just keeps expanding outward instead of upward. City planners definitely designed this place to be the epitome of "urban sprawl".
For real though, if I had it my way, we'd live within 5-8 miles of where I work and I'd bike every day it wasn't raining.
Next duty station though! We're gonna buy/rent closer to the base, wherever that is!
That's why you start small, and work up incrementally. Bike lanes are the first step: just make it possible. Next is paths that cut across town to allow bikes (and pedestrians) to avoid roads altogether. Just put them in wherever you can. Eventually you can start connecting them, and gradually it starts to make sense to say "let's just walk there" or "I'll meet you there on my bike."
It's literally just paint and gravel, and micro zoning. But it helps every step of the way, and it adds up quickly.
An excellent bike city is a long process but there's a lot of simple stuff that could help folks cut down on car trips. Imminent domain a few side yards and put in walking and bike paths to make neighborhoods more walkable. Knock down some houses to put in corner stores with apartments on top. If you build dedicated bus lanes, light rail, and bicycle paths you're on a road to a safer and more connected city.