Originally Posted by CrankyOne

I certainly wouldn't call them "questionable popularity in it's country of origin" (which could be either Denmark or Netherlands as Christiania and Bakfiets.NL came out at about the same time). If you sit on just about any corner in Amsterdam or Copenhagen (or Utrecht, Rotterdam, etc.) you'll likely see one about every 2 or 3 minutes (along with 50-100 regular bicycles). They are heavier and a bit more difficult to maneuver so many people do prefer a regular bike and most people who own a bakfiets also have a regular bike and only use the bakfiets when hauling stuff. If you go to a kindergarten or primary school then maybe 1 in 20 parents will be picking up their children in a bakfiets with most of the rest on regular bicycles.

Expensive depends. How much does it cost compared to owning a car? Or, how much does it cost to drive a car. If a bakfiets saves you 1,000 miles per year then how long until it pays for itself? In my case my bakfiets replaces about 800 miles per year of car driving (roughly 20 4-mile trips) at about $1 per mile so $800 per year or maybe a 3 year payback. It was payed for long ago. A friend purchased a bakfiets about two years ago which allowed he and his wife to sell one of their cars so he figured he'd paid for it in about 1 week.

As to usefulness... The majority that I see are used for hauling cargo, not kids. People use them for grocery shopping, trips to the hardware store, and they are extremely popular with delivery companies.