“Streets that prioritize biking and walking and include amenities like bike lanes and pedestrian plazas have been proven to boost retail sales by 10-25 percent.”
— Statement by Transportation Alternatives
Here’s the news and other interesting stuff that caught our eyes this past week…
– An article from Bill McKibben Rolling Stone discusses the terrifying new math of climate change and how we have over five times more carbon in current oil and gas reservers than scientists think we can put into the atmosphere and still have a “reasonable” chance to avoiding catastrophe.
– Tragic statistics from Los Angeles find that people who drive in the City of Angels kill people walking and biking at a much higher rate than the national average.
– Transportation Alternatives and a coalition of 150 businesses in New York City are encouraging economic activity by creating a bike-friendly business district to attract customers.
– And speaking of New York City, the positive effect of bicycling there, as well as the gains we’ve seen here in Portland, are the focus of a “tale of two cities” benefiting from improved access for bicycling.
– A plan by the City of London to manage traffic in the city seems to suggest they’re looking to “encourage” people on bicycles to specifically avoid certain streets and roads. Sound familiar?
– Dan Sorger, owner of DBC CIty Bike Design, is building city bikes designed specifically for American roads.
– Touring gear was once a specialty product that was hard to track down in bike shops but now manufacturers and shops alike are seeing strong growth in sales of gear for long-distance rides.
– There’s a new hashtag and Tumblr blog tracking people wearing “whatever they like” while riding a bike. To put it another way, it’s a collection of people who #cyclewhatever.
– Bob Huckaby’s plans to push for state-wide bicycle licensing in response to a partial street closure has spawned a tongue-and-cheek response from Grist as well as a thoughtful opinion from the Eugene Bicyclist who’s not as opposed to the plan as you might think.
– Tragically, a fatal near-dooring in Chicago forced one person out into the road where they were pulled under the wheels of a large truck.
– The concept of designing cities for people and not cars is gaining mainstream attention, this time with a video shared by Wired Magazine.
– Last week, Cher took to Twitter to tell us how much she hates people who ride bikes on the Pacific Coast Highway, leading to many calls for her to “Cher the road.”
– Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine learned, first hand, the dangers of distracted bicycling after he fell off his bike while trying to read a text message.
– In San Francisco, bollards and green paint are being installed to create a physically-separate bike lane on Cesar Chavez Street.
– The Portland Mercury discusses how plans to reroute the North Willamette Greenway Trail on to busy surface streets will hurt businesses and employees looking to commute to Swan Island.
– A chance meeting at Interbike led Ms. Lovely Bicycle to a nice chat with Bruce Gordon, a renown frame builder from Petaluma, California.
– Old bike chains might seem like they’ve reached the end of their useful lives but before you toss them aside, check out these beautiful bike chain chandeliers.
– The Bureau of Land Management shared a video highlighting Cycle Oregon’s 25th Anniversary ride:
– The long-awaited video of the 2012 Rapha Gentleman’s Race was released last week:
– Four-year-old Malcolm captured his first decent at Highland Park on film and it’s quite impressive:
— Did you find something interesting that should be in next week’s Monday Roundup? Drop us a line. For more great links from around the web, follow us on Twitter @BikePortland.