Williamsburg Bike Parking Woes
A Streetsblog tipster writes in with a nice slice-of-life dispatch:
I was on North 7th street in Williamsburg this morning and I passed a young woman locking up her bike in front of a residential building. There were a handful of old-timers in front of their building complaining about the bikes — “pretty soon there’ll be no sidewalk left” etc. It struck me because it was about two blocks from the much-publicized NYPD bike-lock-cutting & impounding that happened outside of the Bedford Ave subway this past year. It’s clear that there are not enough bike racks in this area. It creates a hassle for cyclists and annoys longtime neighborhood residents. Again, the cyclists are viewed as the problem.
If only there were some place they could put those bike racks. Wait a minute–
Above is a picture that Aaron Naparstek took in Montreal, showing some two dozen parked bikes, most of them occupying street space that might otherwise have been land-guzzled by just two automobiles. To recap, that’s 24 bikes or 2 cars. Let’s put that to the test: Which parking space allotment would 19th-century British utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham say tended to promote the greatest good for the greatest number?
Read More:
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
