Originally Posted by EnigManiac
Most areas in Toronto are well supplied with good locking posts, I must admit. It's difficult to find a commercial or business street without a long stretch of well-maintained locks. While some bikes are likely stolen from these areas in spite of the diligence of the owner to lock his/her bike, I think it's more likely that folks have them stolen from their private proerty late at night. I had a locked-up bike on my rear portch five years ago that was swiped. Downtown Toronto features hundreds of thousands small homes where a bike inside would be very obtrusive and it seems almost everyone has a bike locked up to their portch, fence, railing, etc., if not inside their garages (if they have one). Any thief just has to have the proper tools and cruise through any downtown neighbourhood for a night an pick up as many bikes as he can.
Got ya. That's a frustrating situation and one that I've dealt with in Philly when I lived there. The only answer was the bring the bike inside and store it in a closet, but that's assuming there is closet space and that the bike isn't as dirty as a commuter bike almost always is.
If there are good bike racks in town, could they maybe take away some on-street car parking to make room for a similar bike rack for the residents of that street to use?