I am very happy to hear that the Platinum Biking Committee Report was
adopted by the city council. It will undoubtedly mean many great
improvements to our community.
However, as I read through the report for the first time the other
day, I was concerned that what I think is the single most important
issue for creating more bike-able communities is missing. And that is
zoning.
If we are going to have communities that are walkable and bike-able
they need to be places where we can work, shop and live in close
proximity. There need to be options for shopping within blocks of
every neighborhood and nice places to live near where the bulk of our
jobs are. Madison has a particular problem with this with a whole lot
of jobs in the immediate capitol area and few reasonable places to
live nearby. My wife and I tried to find our first home as close to
the capitol as possible and we ended up four miles away.
That may not seem like much to us dedicated cyclist, but four miles is
too far for most people to start riding their bikes to work! This, in
my mind is the single greatest hurtle to the acceptance of bikes as
transportation nationally and the reduction of oil consumption and its
associated problems even by those who would still prefer to drive (but
at least now a shorter distance). Yet the Platinum report only has a
single item, which is not even a priority item!) regarding this issue:
"Create a community of compact, walkable, transit and bicycle-oriented
mixed-use neighborhoods, districts and corridors. "
We need to de-centrailize our zoning system and start mixing up our
large tracts of residential/commercial/etc. zones to allow for people
to have less need for using energy to travel great distances during
their daily routines. New development needs to have smaller lots with
small commercial centers intermixed into these subdivisions. This
will also reduce traffic congestion and wear-and-tear on the roadways
due to fewer vehicle miles driven.
Why was this most critical issue de-emphasized in the report, and what
can we do to get it on the front burner now?
concerned,
Frank Hassler
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
RIDE A BIKE!: "If by tomorrow, every gas guzzler on the road were
replaced by Priuses, we would still have the same gridlock,
accidents, deaths, injuries and the same pressures to put more
asphalt, strip malls and subdivisions." --Thomas Smart, (www.planetbike.com/supercommuter/)
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