Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
Tjspiel covered it pretty well. I should add that given the price of garage space or sq footage for real estate or apt rentals in NYC an owner of a bakfiets will be paying an exorbitant price for the privilege of keeping a bike with the footprint of a bakfiets conveniently available for daily or frequent use in transporting the kids to school or any other typical cargo hauling tasks.
Hype about the practicality/value of bakfiets and similar expensive esoteric dedicated cargo hauling bicycles for transporting children in the U.S. is just that - media hype. There are more practical methods but perhaps not as trendy or appealing to New Age parents with cash to spare.
I can only guess what posters must be thinking when recommending a bakfiet as a solution to the problem presented by the mother in the OP.
Your point that it's not a useful thing for the masses is true but not terribly relevant. As you and @
woodycooks (the original poster) pointed out, it doesn't work for her. I mentioned the type as a point of interest, in case it helps her. (Are we sure woodycocks is a woman?) She said she's glad to know about it, even though she can't use it, so I hope you don't mind my mentioning these things. They are useful to a handful of people, and knowing about them doesn't cost thousands of dollars.
And for what it's worth, it's a Dutch word. The singular is bakfiets (and ends in an 's'), and the plural is bakfietsen and doesn't end in an 's'. Dutch is weird to English speakers.