(Photo: Jonathan Maus)
It looks like Portland’s on-street bike parking program has inspired the city of Victoria, British Columbia.
An article published Sunday in the Victoria Times Colonist reports that, due to a demand for on-street, high-quality bike parking that outstrips supply, Victoria has modeled a bike parking program after Portland.
The article says City of Victoria traffic planner Steve Hutchison modeled their program after “a design used in Portland, Oregon.”
Reporter Carolyn Heiman also reports that a popular outdoor gear shop has installed a $20,000 covered bike shelter (similar in theory to the new Bike Oases) in front of their store. Less expensive “corrals” (like those recently installed off N. Mississippi and on SE Belmont) are also being built.
Here’s a quote from a Victoria business owner that reminded me of a common occurence in Portland,
“As many as 20 bicycle owners vie for six or seven spots, such as tree trunks or lamp posts, where they can lock their bikes…Unless your head is in the sand, we need to look at ways to get people out of vehicles.”
Sound familiar?
Read the full article here.
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WOO HOO!!!!!
I love Canada, esp BC.
Oh, man. I hope they put one in front of my favorite cigar store: I\’m running low on Cubans…
\”Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.\”
Yeah, I\’ve been corresponding with a coffee shop owner in New Orleans – back in business as of June, and looking to situate a bike corral right out front … he is working with a city planner there, and it looks like it will happen.
If only Vancouver (BC) would do that too. There is a serious lack of bike parking in this city.
I walked past the bike parking on Belmont this past weekend and every staple had at least two bikes on it. This was definitely one of Portland\’s better ideas.
I saw the Belmont corral the other day and wondered (it was early AM and each staple had at least one bike, and there were a number of unused locks in place on the staples) Is most of the use by local residents, by shoppers/customers or by a mix? I had assumed most users, like me, are shopping, etc, but the number of bikes early in the day on Labor Day made me wonder.
I saw that too Spanky and was also wondering where everybody was. Seems it could be a great place to park for the night, then jump on after morning coffee. Maybe we should keep our eyes out for squatters…just for the heck of it.
I traveled in Italy for a few weeks last year; Pisa, Florence, and smaller cities are full of those things. The bikes still outnumber the Vespas in most of \’em.
DK: I don\’t have an issue with any of it – use is use and it is all good, as long as no one is using it as long erm – going out of town for two months type parking I have no issues with it.
Victoria and maxi-Vancouver have had local examples of covered public bike parking for at least 8 years…since I saw them on a trip long ago…though not as nice as the PDX Oasis.
And in mini-Vancouver there are a couple of local business owners who want to do a bike corral too…we shall see if it becomes reality here too.
Spanky:
I would be a little surprised if it was people in the neighborhood using them for long term parking. Like you, I wouldn\’t see it as a bad thing.
However, I know two main early morning attractions there are Stumptown Coffee (the corral on 34th) and Utopia Cafe (the corral on 33rd). Zupan\’s may also generate some morning use in the one on 33rd.
Happy Parking.
Greg
It\’s nice to see that Portland is still able to lead the way in some areas.
With other cities putting more work into humanizing their streets, we have to keep pushing the envelope. We\’re still the rock stars of people places. 🙂
racks like these have been all over Paris for years