Category: Change

Making cycling normal: Cycle chic movement

November 1, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Making Cycling Normal is a three-part series about how to increase the rates of people riding their bikes for everyday trips. Increasing this rate, also called the “modal split” or bicycle’s “mode share,” is a common goal amongst bike plans in major cities around the United States. No city in the United States has a bike mode share higher than 5% of all trips, or even all trips to work, where the rate reaches 40% in some European cities.

Cycle chic is an internet-based movement to promote “normal” cycling. At the root of normal cycling is riding your bike in your everyday work, school, or wherever clothes. No lycra, spandex, or bringing a change of clothes. Some may say it’s bicycling in fashionable or elegant clothes, but the dress up concept is open to individual interpretation.

Cycle chic began with photographer Mikael Colville-Andersen’s website called Copenhagen Cycle Chic, a blog where he posts photos of bicyclists in the capital city of Denmark. The photos tend to be of women dressed in trendy and fashionable clothing. The goals are promoting the city of Copenhagen, and riding one’s bicycle is a completely normal activity and mode of transportation for any trip no matter its purpose (and the Danes ride their bikes in all weather, with the cycling rate apparently only dropping 20% through winter – see Mikael’s photo below).

Mikael travels around the world promoting cycling culture as part of a company called Copenhagenize Consulting and also as Danish individual. He also writes a blog called Copenhagenize where he discusses the issues prevalent to bicycle and motorist cultures.

The cycle chic blog model has been imitated by bicycling bloggers around the world. Amsterdamize does the job for that Netherlands city. There’s also Los Angeles, Chicago, London, and Moscow. Visit Los Angeles to find a list of plenty more cities. If you find your city, get to know your local Cycle Chic Ambassador. Check out this blog’s author (me) test riding a Dutch bike from a local retailer in some fashionable clothing at a party. A former coworker, Christy, inspired me to start adopting cycle chic.

I don’t think there’s a cycle chic blogger for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, yet, but I think this guy could start it up (sorry for the blur):

How will these blogs increase cycling rates?

The blogs and their authors promote cycling as something you can do without gear, special clothes, or a significant lifestyle change. In their own ways, and targeted to readers in their own cities, they discuss how people can incorporate bicycling into their lives where normally a bus, train, or car would transport them. They show that bicycling can be fashionable, popular, and not something that “other” people do.

However, this stylish promotion of cycling will only go so far. Bicycle trip rates will also increase when cycling is safer (part two of the Making Cycling Normal series) or when we educate people about bicycling (part three).

UPDATE: Dottie from Let’s Go Ride a Bike (Chicago’s local cycle chic blogger) has picked up on a similar topic, how to promote cycling (and part two), and Cyclelicious has reblogged the topic and Dottie’s article.

Obama’s promise for open government

February 12, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I’m excited about Obama’s memorandum he wrote in his first week of office, on January 21st, 2009. In it, he calls for federal agencies to stop looking for legal ways to say no to requests for data, or in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

He will help usher in a new American government, where “[a]ll agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure.” 

And the agencies shouldn’t be so passive about the distribution of their data. President Barack Obama continues with:

“…agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.”

The United States Government is probably the world’s largest collector and holder of data. It probably stores more data and information than the internet (minus what the government publishes there). I hope I can expect an onslaught of data, but it must be accessible in multiple formats and in ways we can use. Saving spreadsheets is NOT distributing data. That’s protecting it and trying to make it harder to manipulate. It means providing raw access to tables and databases, providing APIs for custom queries, and XML feeds for simple and broad presentation.

Perhaps we’ll need a White House Office of Data to coordinate with agencies about the formats and presentation and distribution methods they choose or will choose.

I’m glad Obama’s transition team took the advice from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on this one – they fight for, among many things, the rights of the internet and information and how access to both should be equalized and open. Read the EFF’s news article about this about-face from George Bush’s archaic information policies.

To Obama: When you create that office, please consult the geniuses at EveryBlock for the Office’s “Public Consumption” division. They know how to package data for quick and informative understanding.

Getting people out of cars

November 17, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Gas prices are only one of the costs associated with car ownership. It comprises a large part of yearly expenses for one’s automobile, but it only accounts for 20% of the “true cost of ownership.”

Edmunds.com has figured that with a new 2007 Toyota Camry LE with automatic transmission, fuel will cost an average of $1676 per year in Chicago for the next five years. That’s 21.5% of the total amount of money the car’s owner will spend and lose for the next five years.

So why do people continue to let their cars ruin their personal financial stability, regardless of how well they can argue its necessity?

One reason is that people haven’t considered the alternatives or, if considered, believe taking the train or bus, walking, biking, carsharing, or vanpooling won’t work for them. But it obviously works for millions of people everyday. Do they know something we don’t? Do they live a block from the commuter train station at home and work one block away from the end station? Are their legs in better shape than others’?

I think that governmental and non-profit agencies that have the mandate and authority to reduce vehicular traffic, congestion, and ownership, can use better marketing tools that will assist car owners to find ways that make their vehicles less relied upon and less used, period. By having car owners drive less, they will become more financially secure, probably experience reduced emotional and physical stress, and reduce their impact on the earth and the atmosphere.

In return, infrastructure would improve because money for highways and roads would be spent on projects and systems that have a better return on investment; transit agencies are able to serve more people (riders) than can highways serve singular drivers and their vehicles. Simply put, driving is a very selfish act which, combined with millions of other selfish drivers, creates a dysfunctional and inequitable transportation arrangement.

I have one tool in mind that can sway people out of their cars. My idea goes beyond slinging simple to understand quotes and statistics that all fail to motivate (for example, and this is not totally accurate, “80% of all car trips are less than 2 miles from the point of origin.”). What we need are individuals who are passionate about the alternatives to car ownership, those who, themselves have chosen a car-free or reduced-car lifestyle. These people would be used to listen to drivers who express some interest in jettisoning their driving habits or reducing their dependence on cars and determine some personalized options to accomplish this.

It would all start with a website. This website would have two purposes: to inform and to connect. The information on car ownership costs and how to reduce one’s car dependence is already out there – that would just be copied. The connect section of the website would invite visitors to submit their name, and either an email address, IM name, or phone number. One of the passionate individuals I asked for above would contact this person and become familiar with their car routines and suggest small ways to meet the driver’s goals.

Obviously, connections would need to be made on a local scale so helpers can be more effective and knowledgeable about the advice they give.

Getting people out of cars and using alternative modes of transportation almost always starts with one-on-one dialogue. It’s a goal that requires a lot of knowledge and some planning. I’m sure there are many readers who have been able to design a plan for at least a few people they know; sometimes it’s just a personal example that is needed to show how easy the change can be and how beneficial it is for more than themselves.

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UIC development and expansion

November 13, 2007 / / 0 Comments

UIC, in the past decade, has received quite some flack for its South Campus redevelopment. It’s only a redevelopment in the fact that the school took over some blighted land (the land and its used was worthless, whatever definition you try to apply) and made it active, good looking, and useful for living and learning in the 2000s.

What was it before:

Parking lots (disgusting)
Homeless people (not attractive)
Dilapidated buildings (dangerous)
Abandoned buildings (a turnoff)
A road in poor condition (also not attractive)
People selling things: open air market (neutral)

What is it now:

Local and chain restaurants
Parking garage
Restored buildings
Active nightlife
A road in better condition
People selling things: retail with physical stores to sell from
Dorms
Classrooms
Pharmacy
Doctor’s office
Administrative offices
Market-rate housing
A large recreational park
Insulation from the highway

If you open Google Maps with the address of Halsted and Maxwell Streets, and click on Satellite view, you will be able to see some of what the south campus used to look like. The official name for this area is now University Village. Some people are still used to the name Jewtown or Maxwell St. Market. The “market” has gotten larger, safer, and a new location – about 5 blocks to the east.

The redevelopment was vital for the University’s expansion plans and its goal to attract and keep students on campus. So far it’s working and far more numbers of people are enjoying University Village than its previous incarnation.

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Response to “Gentrification” by Tostah4

October 10, 2007 / / 0 Comments

The following was originally posted here by a classmate of mine:

Another place of gentrification is areas North of IIT on State and 18th and further south. I see condos being built up across the streets from public housing buildings, on my way to ROTC on the train. I have a feeling sooner or later, those public housing buildings will be demolished and built over with luxury condos. The residents of the public housing will be forced to live elsewhere.

This is what I wrote as a response to someone who is concerned about public housing in Chicago, but could also act as an extension of the blog post:

To better understand what is happening with public housing across the city and what will happen to the public housing on State St. near IIT, you should read about the CHA’s “Plan For Transformation.”

Obviously, the design and plan for the older, high-rise housing didn’t work out too well: the landscaped plazas, parks, and playgrounds eventually were not cared for. It’s partially a result of the residents not taking ownership of where they live – for a few reasons, one being that they have no monetary investment or stake in the housing itself. It’s not “theirs.”

This kind of housing only served to attract drugs and gangs. The CHA feels that this old method of public housing will be corrected with a somewhat experimental method for public housing that brings in people from other class and income levels in the hopes that, what critics say, “the values of the middle class will rub off on the poor.” But instead, it brings diversity to the neighborhood and diversity is always a good thing.

I’d also like to point out that new condos being built is not the only evidence of gentrification. It’s a major, concrete identification method, and it’s a part of gentrification that happens quickly, but before the developers chose that lot to build a condo, the area was recognized as a place that could support housing ownership by middle-class residents and therefore building a condo here is a good idea and financially feasible for them. The appearance of condos is just one step in the process of gentrification, and in Chicago, at least, happens later in the game but is also the step that finally announces to visitors and residents that, “Hey, this neighborhood is (has been) experiencing gentrification.

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