Originally Posted by
Roody
The bike train is a fantastic idea. The video showed that a lot of the riding in Portland is done on ordinary city streets with no bike lanes or anything. I think the key to widespread carfree cycling is cooperation and community more than infrastructure. (Although appropriate infrastructure is obviously very important also!)
Agreed. But I should note that even if you don't see bike lanes/paths pictured in the video above they do have major infrastructure support. Neighborhood speed bumps. Roundabouts. Streets with restricted car access and no stop signs so that cyclist can just roll through for blocks and blocks. Strategic use of traffic islands and medians. This is an example of the Tiebout sorting I mentioned.
Check out this video to see how regular streets are transformed into "bike boulevards":
http://vimeo.com/16552771#at=0
Do we live in cities where our taxes go to support a walking/biking culture or a car culture? Anyway you can get your family out of Lansing?
Sounds like some of the obstacles to LCF would be insurmountable in a place that was?/is? the car capital of the world.