How Bikes and Bike-Share Threaten a Way of Life in Chicago Magazine
Full article here
How Bikes and Bike-Share Threaten a Way of Life
Why is so much anger directed towards cyclists? They’re the vanguard of a great—and frightening—inversion.
John Kass issued another anti-bike emission the other day, something I continue to find perversely fascinating. Streetsblog Chicago’s John Greenfield captured his rhetorical dispatch in all its spittle-flecked glory:
“This is the problem with the Divvy bikes, with all the bikes,” Kass says in the video. “This is a city made for people who want to go from point A to point B. This is not some Seattle coffee, grunge, pothead experiment. This is Chicago… Shut the whole Divvy bike thing down. Get off Dearborn. I’m tired of you people.”
(He doesn’t like coffee either, at least not good coffee. Or the people who make good coffee: “When I go for coffee, I want a cup of coffee. What I don’t need is some kid wearing a sweater and his shirt tails sticking out because it’s the style, pointing to a list of coffees, each of which are described sensually, in language that would have caused my mom to wash my mouth out with soap.")
Views: 1768
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on
-
Not biking or transportation related, but this article in todays Tribune is illustrative of the theory advanced, I think: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-school-board-meets-...
Reboot Oxnard said:Modern day urbanism often resembles nothing so much as trickle-down economics, though this time mostly advocated by those who would self-identify as being from the left. The idea is that through investments catering to the fickle and mobile educated elite and the high end businesses that employ and entertain them, cities can be rejuvenated in a way that somehow magically benefits everybody and is socially fair.
The people most aggressively pushing urbanist policies like bike lanes, public art, high end mixed use developments, high tech startups, swank boutiques and restaurants, greening the city policies, etc. are disproportionately those who want to live that lifestyle themselves, or hope to someday. Like me in other words. The fact that you’re a Millennial who rides around to microbreweries on your fixie without necessarily having a high paying job yourself (yet) doesn’t matter. You are still advocating for your own preferred milieu, and that of others who think like yourself.
Have urbanists used this as a call to arms to put all of their energy into helping those left behind in the knowledge/creative class economy? No. Instead, urban advocates have gone the other direction, locking onto this in a reductionist way to develop a set of policies I call “Starbucks urbanism.” That is, the focus is on an exclusively high end, sanitized version of city life that caters to the needs of the elite with the claim that this will somehow “revitalize” the city if they are attracted there.
As with trickle-down economics, this a) doesn’t work and b) is being promoted by the self-interested.
Not my words but lifted from Is Urbanism the New Trickle-Down Economics?
by Aaron Renn over at Urbanophile and worth the read. I found the article in the course of reading Does Modern Urbanism Only Help a City's Elite by Whet Moser at Chicagomag.com.
-
Permalink Reply by Michael A on
-
Why do people insist on hanging a helmet on the handle bars while riding? IT DOES NO GOOD there and will probably cause you to crash when it interferes with your front wheel. (see the pic of Rahm and friends on Divvy bikes)
-
Permalink Reply by Tricolor on
-
It's the natural habitat of Bern helmets. More fashionable than on your head where it will mess your hair or obscure your beanie.
-
Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on
-
The thing is that many of the "regular guys" feel that they are entitled to own and drive a car. I am old enough to remember the screams that came out... particularly from the Kass set.... when the State of Illinois started to require auto insurance. Many people from the Kass Set argued that this cost too much and interfered with their fundamental right to drive...
So don't expect rational behavior and Kass proved long ago that he is not rational.
Jeff Schneider said:I think most anti-bike feeling has less to do with anyone feeling threatened by a great inversion, and more to do with associating bikes and privilege. Where are there a lot of bikes? Predominantly in neighborhoods that have high walk score grades. And there is a fair correlation between walk score grade and affluence.
My take is that people who don't have the resources to live in areas with great access to services and amenities are not keen on having their taxes subsidize Divvy or other bike infra, which they see as serving people who are already better off than they are.
Kass portrays himself as a "regular guy" who is willing to speak the truth and stand up to the little (spoiled) bike people. A lot of people eat that up.
-
Permalink Reply by Rich S on
-
This statement illustrates that the current change will eventually become the new status quo. Those same people that were opposed to mandatory liability coverage would probably not be in support of removing that requirement today. They also forget that driving is (on paper at least) a privilege and not a right.
Kass is a tool.
Crazy David 84 Furlongs said:The thing is that many of the "regular guys" feel that they are entitled to own and drive a car. I am old enough to remember the screams that came out... particularly from the Kass set.... when the State of Illinois started to require auto insurance. Many people from the Kass Set argued that this cost too much and interfered with their fundamental right to drive...
So don't expect rational behavior and Kass proved long ago that he is not rational.
-
-
And remember the quote attributed to many folks: "I don't care what they say as long as they are talking about me". The more anyone writes about bicycling the more mainstream it will become.
Rich S said:This statement illustrates that the current change will eventually become the new status quo. Those same people that were opposed to mandatory liability coverage would probably not be in support of removing that requirement today. They also forget that driving is (on paper at least) a privilege and not a right.
Kass is a tool.
-
Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on
-
+1, even re: John Kass.This is such a great thread and why I <3 the Chainlink.
Lisa Curcio 4.1 mi said:
And remember the quote attributed to many folks: "I don't care what they say as long as they are talking about me". The more anyone writes about bicycling the more mainstream it will become.
-
Permalink Reply by Minh on
-
Grunge music and grunge fashion were the worst things to happen in the 90's.
Mike Zumwalt said:He's mad that Grunge is making a comeback maybe?
http://www.nouse.co.uk/2013/11/20/punk-and-grunge-is-making-a-come-...
-
Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on
-
I think you're on to something here. I think there is something about the independence and freedom a bicycle offers that inherently annoys people driving through an increasingly congested and gridlocked city. Especially when you are stuck in traffic and it looks like the cyclists are just breezing by without a care in the world.
In addition to the insurance, there are the seat belt laws. And the cell phone-while-driving prohibition (which I would love to see extended to bicycles, actually). These laws are all in place due to the inherent dangers in moving a giant box of steel, especially in a crowded urban environment, at high speeds. The fact that cars are increasingly piloted by distracted drivers in vehicles resembling mobile living rooms with DVD players and other non-essential gadgets is just exacerbating things.
This IMO explains the schadenfreude the John Kass types can't help but exhibit when a cyclist is hurt. It's a sad part of our collective consciousness, but time is on the side of those who know better.
Rich S said:This statement illustrates that the current change will eventually become the new status quo. Those same people that were opposed to mandatory liability coverage would probably not be in support of removing that requirement today. They also forget that driving is (on paper at least) a privilege and not a right.
Kass is a tool.
Crazy David 84 Furlongs said:The thing is that many of the "regular guys" feel that they are entitled to own and drive a car. I am old enough to remember the screams that came out... particularly from the Kass set.... when the State of Illinois started to require auto insurance. Many people from the Kass Set argued that this cost too much and interfered with their fundamental right to drive...
So don't expect rational behavior and Kass proved long ago that he is not rational.
-
-
Like hair metal had a future...
Minh said:Grunge music and grunge fashion were the worst things to happen in the 90's.
-
-
Therein lies the rub!
Cameron 7.5 mi said:<snip> as long as you kept to the high road and responded rationally and looked sane by comparison.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/11/the-case-for-ha...
Lisa Curcio 4.1 mi said:And remember the quote attributed to many folks: "I don't care what they say as long as they are talking about me". The more anyone writes about bicycling the more mainstream it will become.
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next ›
Groups
-
Critical Mass discussion
262 members
-
Chicagoland Beer Explora…
203 members
-
Chicago Randonneurs
269 members
-
Walk Bike Transit
63 members
-
British Bicycles of Chic…
172 members
© 2008-2016 The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.
Powered by
