It's always extremist when you don't agree.

One of the joys of the thread that was closed was that it gave the Weak Link a chance to refer to Seattle's mayor as a nut case (I can't recall the exact phrase).

Our mayor -- Mike McGinn, former head of the Sierra Club, and a long-time bike commuter -- is known locally as "Mayor McSchwinn."

As a service to The Weak Leak, I thought I would provide a link to an article in the local business paper in which Mayor McSchwinn has been lambasted by the most powerful landowner/developer in the area, Kemper Freeman, who owns a billion dollars or so of real estate and malls in the East Side. McSchwinn is a huge advocate of bikes and mass transit; Kemper Freeman is a huge advocate of, well, malls and cars (he's financing a number of legal actions intended to stop the spread of light rail into "his" suburb.)

Here's the interview:

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/b...le_retail.html

(Hey Weak Link -- thought you would enjoy this)

How long until this thread about "why was the AARP thread closed" is closed?

Then we could have another thread

Why was the thread about the AARP thread being closed, closed?

From Little Britain, "When people in Britain want to buy a pet, they go to a pet shop. If they want to buy a pet shop, they go to a pet shop shop. If they want to buy a pet shop shop, well, they're just being silly. "

I think this thread is silly enough.

Seattle's ticked off because it's not Portland.

That's it.

Who can blame them?

There have been at least a couple of efforts by graduate students using GIS mapping data to try to figure out whether Seattle can ever be as bike-friendly as Portland.

The short answer (as I understand it) is "no." The problems is that there are too many natural barriers (mainly steep hills) running across too many important neighborhoods. Therefore, even if bike infrastructure is improved, it's still going to be difficult to get casual riders interested in bike commuting because too many routes are too difficult.

http://seattletransitblog.com/2010/0...ycle-analysis/

So: we are not Portland. We are tougher.

Not, so in my experience. I've often been embarrassed by the language and tactics of ideological compatriots and can admire those with opposing ideas.

My wife and I didn't think much of Seattle when we were there last May. Didn't look bike friendly to us. :eek:
http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/o...g?t=1286485354

We liked the Columbia River Gorge area. Great for cycling!! :thumb: