BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I love reading stuff like that. Been riding and paying attention to the bike scene in western PA for 20 years plus now and I can say I'm more excited about riding than I've ever been.

It's a great time to be into bikes.

Sweet! I'm going to stop saying "on your left" today!!! (they are too hip for that which nearly resulted in my maiming on the multi-use paths and roadways of Portland).

PS. Cool article though. Thanks for sharing.

Again, 37 degrees. 37% is not 37 degrees. Much less.

"Sweet! I'm going to stop saying "on your left" today!!! (they are too hip for that which nearly resulted in my maiming on the multi-use paths and roadways of Portland)."

Just the Cat6 guys, from my experience...

"We’re ahead of Pittsburgh in miles of bike lanes and percentage of workers commuting by bike. Watch out Portland — we’re catching up!"

Seems like the author is confused where he lives and who he's writing about.

He's writing from Santa Barbara CA, that's why that sounds odd.

If anyplace in SoCal, swimming pools and palm trees, isn't miles ahead of Pgh or Portland in terms of Bike Friendly, that's just weak.

Ok, somebody tell Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, so they can do Yinzers next.

Reading that, and driving around the city a lot last evening, I'm pretty convinced I don't live in the city I grew up in (thank god). I like this one a lot better, hopefully it continues in the same direction.

^ heh, imagine a guest appearance of Pittsburgh Dad on Portlandia!

thank you pseuda, I hadn't known about Pittsburgh Dad, and now I have a number of videos I must watch

If you didn't know about Pgh Dad then you may also be missing out on the real find-Greg and Donny.

do we have enough coffee shops for that kind of change?

I've never heard of Greg and Donny either.

I've got a long evening of youtube ahead of me.

Thank you!

pbeaver, isn't the Empire of the Goat up to about a thousand in Allegheny County by now?

stopped reading at richard flordia

You not a "creative class" fan, steevo?

Personally, my tastes run more to Matthew Crawford.

Bb. No, that empire is not saturated enough.

k, Pittsburgh Dad's laugh track drove me nuts, but Greg and Donny is pure gold.

Coincidentally I was in Portland this past week (ie, the "old" Pittsburgh).

Summary: Portland is still way ahead of us on integrating biking into daily life.

The first thing that strikes you is the sheer number of people on bikes; way more than in Pittsburgh. Of course Portland, although it does have some hills, is nowhere near as challenging as our town. I rented a bike (for $12.50 total!) and rode around the neighborhoods that the guy at the shop suggested. It's a nice town; parts of it remind me of Austin, other parts of Pittsburgh. Oddly, I found the city confusing: you couldn't quite tell where you were, much of it looked the same (Alphabet District was pretty cool though). There were many bridges, but unlike Pittsburgh only two seemed suitable for bikes (and the Steele simply had sharrows on a single narrow car lane).

And these people are serious, early in the morning during rush-hour there's bike traffic jams at the lights. But the bikers are still nice (unlike say Amsterdam where biker attitude is similar to that of drivers: don't get in their way!) Also, way more cargo bikes than here...

Anyway, the main thing that struck me about Portland the the depth of infrastructure support for biking (and for public transportation in general). They really do care about streets being suitable for bikes. Apart from many streets having bike lanes (sensibly, not all do), are details such as the following:

This is a downtown intersection. Note the space and position for bikes (also it's a one-way street; hot-heads can simply stick to the left lane). The right-hand lane deals with parking and turns.

There's always room for bikers. I like this one because it uses the space and doesn't assume that bikers are timid souls that stick to the curb or ride the sidewalks.

a nice solution to the left-turn problem on wide streets. A safe area that you go to and wait for the light to change (without getting run over by the cars behind you).

Finally, a small touch that makes life easier (on longer stairs they have two tracks).

Pittsburgh could use some of the thinking behind these solutions, if not these ones in particular. (Not to denigrate the excellent ongoing efforts from which we all benefit.)

I'm wondering about the texture of that green paint. Is it grippy like tennis court paint when wet?

@Ahril "unlike say Amsterdam where biker attitude is similar to that of drivers: don't get in their way!"

Hm, that makes me think that human nature is the same if you are driver or rider.

Looks like you had beautiful weather!

I've had that stair idea for about three or fours, considered implementing it myself in some places

I believe someone just got a grant this summer to put one of those in at the stairs from the bottom of Joncaire & Boundary St up to behind Pitt's Frick Fine Arts building (across from the main Carnegie Lib.)

I meant to say "three or four years"

@Mikhail Hm, that makes me think that human nature is the same if you are driver or rider.

What a shocking idea!

(Although, I think the reality is that it's easier for a biker to release tension by hard riding, rather than by agression)

Mick - yes, the tension released by a little increase in angle of my right ankle, and increased tension in my hands on the wheel, is an order of magnitude of an order of magnitude less than the tension released by my attempting to slog my loaded bike up the hill from rt 130 to my house.

exercise and naps - saving humanity since humanity first got cranky.

Thanks for the pictures and info Ahlir! That's good stuff right there!!

buffalo buffalo - re: that amazing idea, here’s a source: http://www.springboarddesign.net/2012/07/springboard-awarded-sprout-fund-grant-for-bike-stepslight-rail-proposal/

Portland is apparently not perfect, and has at least one jagoff there: http://grist.org/cities/the-bicycle-menace-in-portland-one-driver-bites-back/

@ejwme

Great article.

Excerp:

the U.S. is No. 25 in science education, but No. 1 in driving into swimming pools