ChiWhoBike #60
I think a lot of people say, oh, I don’t want to bike. And then they list a bunch of reasons, but most of those reasons usually come down to cars. Like, it’s not safe, the bike lanes are usually not clear. Like usually snow is shoveled into the bike lanes and so in the cold months people are afraid because they’re worried they’ll slip. And those are the things that I don’t enjoy about biking. But I think what’s important to note is that those are all things that can change, if there’s the political will to create a more bike friendly city, and a more environmentally friendly city by extension. But if you just build one bike lane, it isn’t gonna make your whole city safer. But if you build an actual bike network, what happens is there are less cars on the street, so even on streets where there isn’t bike infrastructure, it becomes safer.
What I’ve learned is that my friends who bike are a lot more independent because you know, if their bus is running late, they don’t need to tell their parents to come drive them. And they have a lot more options, because I have friends who could drive if they wanted to, but they don’t have access. Their family doesn’t own a car, or owns one car and their parents are using it, so their only option is biking or transit. So I think it’s a great way for them to explore and create their own relationship with the city and the urban environment.
I got fascinated with urban planning around two and a half years ago. I had gotten into urbanism content on YouTube, and there’s a lot of great urban planning content, and I learned about a lot of concepts that I hadn’t heard about before, like Dutch style bike lanes. And also I’m an environmentalist, so I felt like this was the easiest way I could change my lifestyle to be the most environmentally friendly. And ever since then I’ve been volunteering, like canvassing for Better Streets Chicago, and I’ve read a lot about it, and I’m currently reading ‘Killed By a Traffic Engineer’ by Wes Marshall. So it’s just become a subject that I’m really interested in. I hope to pursue it throughout my life and study it in college.
