Go to content Go to navigation Go to search

A Small Observation

· Posted Thursday September 6, 2007 by jamie

I’ve noticed something this summer, at least anecdotally, which I think is a great sign for Tacoma: there seems to be a lot of bicyclists on the road. In summers past, I typically went for days or weeks without seeing other people biking while on my rides to and from work. This summer, rarely does a day go by when I don’t see at least one other person biking, and often I’ll see multiple other people out for a ride. I don’t have any empirical evidence here, but this really suggests to me that people are out-and-about more than in the past, and are experiencing the city from outside the confines of their car. People are going to work and to the grocery store on their bikes. The racks are nearly always full in front of Blackwater. I could bust out a Seattle or Portland comparison, but I don’t think I need to; we’re our own town, and growing into our own. One big caveat: let’s be careful out there, though, folks… While I was amused by the person I saw the other day pedaling down the road with a guitar on her back, I’m not sure I can say I approve of the dude I saw talking on his cell phone…


post to: del.icio.us · digg · google · hugg · technorati

categories:  

commenting closed for this article

Comments:

  1. Bikes are also starting to show up more on the racks in the front of Sound Transit and Pierce Transit buses.

    But if you want a really good example of the potential of bikes as transportation, go to Berlin. I just got back from a trip there, and their system of bike lanes on the curb side of sidewalks, special traffic lights for bikes, and incredibly high bike ridership is amazing. Sure it’s a mostly flat city, but their climate is probably worse than ours…

    — michael g.    Sep 6, 12:06 PM    #

  2. This summer I’ve been trying to bike to work as much as I can, nice thing to do since I’ve been commuting to Seattle for the last 4 years. Tacoma drivers need to be a little more aware now though that guy on the pink bike (james) was recently hit by a car on Tacoma Ave

    — intacoma    Sep 6, 12:24 PM    #

  3. yeah! and more than a few behinds were pedaling around TTown thanks mucho to funkoma vintage recycled 10 speeds, mostly….yes, I’m shameless…

    — Tressie    Sep 26, 01:08 PM    #