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-   -   Tell us about the street you live on... (https://www.bikeforums.net/living-car-free/596466-tell-us-about-street-you-live.html)

Cyclist0108 10-25-17 10:38 PM

I live right off a street with the name "Grade" in it.

Stadjer 10-26-17 01:42 AM

I live on a canal, it's a 5 minute walk from the busy city centre, but it's a very quiet area. Probably because the quay has a cobblestone road, and I mean real Paris-Roubaix style cobblestones. This slows down cars, wrecks bikes and loosens cyclist's fillings. So it's mainly destination traffic, otherwise it would be a busy route because it looks really nice with it's early 1900's architecture, lots of trees and houseboats. So I see hardly any cyclists near my house while a couple of hundred meters further they are swarming all over the place.

Roody 10-28-17 12:48 AM

Here we go again.

Machka 10-29-17 10:05 PM


Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 9907445)
Tell us about the street you live on...

I live on Commonwealth Avenue (Comm Ave) considered to be one of the most beautiful boulevards in America, modeled on those in Paris. But I live on the "wrong side of the tracks" as it were, in Kenmore Square. Kenmore has been likened to Boston's equivalent of Times Square, but it never descended to those depths. It is an intersection of three major thoroughfares as well as a point of convergence of three branches of the Green subway line (the (T)) before they emerge from underground to fan out westward. Kenmore is the home of Fenway Park, so on game day, street and subway traffic is horrendous. It is also home to Boston University, so all-in-all is a lively place.

On the day of the Boston Marathon, traditionally is a Red Sox ball game beginning at 11:00 AM so the crowd is just letting out as the first of thousands of runners are making their way through Kenmore to the finish line a mile away through an already massive crowd of onlookers. Gotta love the place. Bicycling? Don't get me started. :eek:

Haven't heard from you since June ... hope you're OK.

elocs 10-30-17 09:21 AM


Originally Posted by wipekitty (Post 19953345)
My street is fantastic :thumb:

It's a numbered street on the grid system, about a half mile south of the downtown area. My block is all single-family homes with small yards, and surrounding blocks are a mix of single-family, multi-family, and mid-rise buildings for seniors and the disabled. I'm near both the VFW/Eagle's Club and Legion post. My street is a short walk or ride to hospitals, downtown, and three colleges.

We have a sidewalk, and there's a fair amount of foot and bike traffic. About two years ago, the city installed lights bright enough to light the sidewalk at night, resulting in more college students walking past my house to visit the bars.

Being in a fairly small town, it is dead quiet.

As I've mention before I am very familiar with your neighborhood having lived there from ages 7-13 over 50 years ago. I lived in the big house on top of the hill and I wonder now how I survived because I would ride my bike down the alley onto the "busy" street--compared to yours--and never got hit by a car. They've torn down some older houses to encourage families to move in. My best friend growing up lived in the house that now looks like a log cabin. Down the block from there was Ralph's IGA store which is now a second hand clothing store. I got most of my early bikes as a kid at Smith's Bicycle Shop which used to be across the street from what is now a middle school but used to be a junior high school when I went there. Back then there was no mall and everything was downtown--Sears, JC Penny, Wards, and Woolworths as well as grocery stores--all within walking distance which was great because we didn't have a car. One of the things I remember the most are the smells of the neighbor--baking bread from the bakery which to this day still takes me back to when I was a kid and that was the best smell there. The smell of the hops from the brewery was not bad, not good, but when the wind is from the right direction the smell from the waste water treatment plant was awful. Today it's so often that sulfur smell. Yours is a very old neighborhood in the city and it has changed over the years but I still think it's nice and when I ride my bike through there I remember so much.

wipekitty 10-31-17 09:44 PM


Originally Posted by elocs (Post 19961162)
One of the things I remember the most are the smells of the neighbor--baking bread from the bakery which to this day still takes me back to when I was a kid and that was the best smell there. The smell of the hops from the brewery was not bad, not good, but when the wind is from the right direction the smell from the waste water treatment plant was awful. Today it's so often that sulfur smell.

Speaking of smells...

The log cabin house is where Pogy's Catering preps their Chickencue. That's a nice smell some mornings, and on my bike, I get to enjoy it for several blocks.

I really could do without the sulfur smell, though. It seems to be worse in the summer.

elocs 11-01-17 02:20 PM


Originally Posted by wipekitty (Post 19965100)
Speaking of smells...

The log cabin house is where Pogy's Catering preps their Chickencue. That's a nice smell some mornings, and on my bike, I get to enjoy it for several blocks.

I really could do without the sulfur smell, though. It seems to be worse in the summer.

And that eternal flame on the street that leads to the stinky park has been burning without stop for at least 60 years that I can remember. You used to be able to drive over that bridge to the park but I think now it's just a bike/pedestrian bridge.
But odors can really be like memory switches.

Roody 11-05-17 12:57 AM

My best neighborhood smell is right down the alley--a Mexican restaurant where they make fresh tortillas every morning.

Rollfast 11-05-17 02:05 AM

I live on the street where I live, according to that musical.

wipekitty 11-05-17 08:07 PM

My street is now OPEN!!! To bike and foot traffic, at least. Several blocks have been closed since September 13th for sewer repairs, creating a huge detour for anyone wanting to walk or bike (or drive) in and out of the neighborhood. There were basically giant cement tubes and machines blocking the sidewalks and piles of dirt everywhere. Another project had my neighborhood blocked up between May and late July.

Ahhhh look at that beautiful sight...so nice to walk rather than bike detouring onto less friendly streets!

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4539/3...ac1762c3_z.jpg

elocs 11-05-17 08:31 PM


Originally Posted by wipekitty (Post 19974603)
My street is now OPEN!!! To bike and foot traffic, at least. Several blocks have been closed since September 13th for sewer repairs, creating a huge detour for anyone wanting to walk or bike (or drive) in and out of the neighborhood. There were basically giant cement tubes and machines blocking the sidewalks and piles of dirt everywhere. Another project had my neighborhood blocked up between May and late July.

Ahhhh look at that beautiful sight...so nice to walk rather than bike detouring onto less friendly streets!

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4539/3...ac1762c3_z.jpg

I haven't been down that street for awhile but I spent a lot of time around that intersection as a kid some 50 years ago and then when I was in college when I shared an apartment with 4 other guys.
There have been some new houses built between F and M streets to encourage new families to move into the neighborhood but most of them replaced large houses like that big blue one in the picture and they were once single family homes because when you were having 6, 8, 10, or 12 kids you need somewhere to put them all.
In your picture is the place where I first rode my bike when I learned how to ride on my own.

salcedo 11-05-17 09:45 PM

14% grade every day!


Originally Posted by Machka (Post 19953291)
We've moved since this thread, and we're now in the middle of a hill, so our street hits about a 14% grade roughly in front of our place.

The town we live in right now is really hilly. We picked our apartment because it is in the flatter part of the region, although living here adds a 4 extra miles to our commute.

We live next to a fairly transited 55mph rural road. So we don't get a lot of quiet. But the shoulders are paved and wide enough to fit a car. This makes commuting on them pretty safe. Since we are a bit out of town, the scenery is quite nice. We are at the top of a hill, and we get some nice views of Cayuga lake.

The coolest part of where we live is that there are miles and miles of rural roads with very light traffic behind us. It's great being able to do all sort of long rides starting form our front door.

KD5NRH 11-06-17 11:48 AM

Relatively quiet residential 3 blocks from the university's main campus. The occasional college brat and/or drunk, but those usually don't last long. I'm in a garage apartment (and I get the garage too, so my bike lives indoors) with a 180x80' back yard, though my front yard is almost all driveway for the apartment and the main house.

Been trying to convince the neighbor kids to play soccer in my back yard instead of the street, partly for their safety, but mostly because if they'll trample down the grass from time to time it'll cut down on the mowing.

Roody 11-08-17 01:45 AM


Originally Posted by KD5NRH (Post 19975715)
...
Been trying to convince the neighbor kids to play soccer in my back yard instead of the street, partly for their safety, but mostly because if they'll trample down the grass from time to time it'll cut down on the mowing.

Yeah, I don't get that either. My neighbors' kids play in the street all the time even though they have a huge fenced back yard with nice trees and grass.

Jim from Boston 01-09-18 07:20 AM


Originally Posted by gerv (Post 9902747)
Tell us about the street you live on...

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 9907445)
I live on Commonwealth Avenue (Comm Ave) considered to be one of the most beautiful boulevards in America, modeled on those in Paris.

Kenmore Square is the home of Fenway Park, so on game day, street and subway traffic is horrendous. It is also home to Boston University, so all-in-all is a lively place…

Gotta love the place. Bicycling? Don't get me started.

Originally Posted by Machka (Post 19960613)
Haven't heard from you since June ...hope you're OK.



Hi Machka et al,

You posted the above question on October 29 last year, and thank you very much. I have really wanted to reply but I was very busy (as I explained on my PM to you) until now. I have lived a cycling lifestyle for about 40 years, including cross-country touring, and year-round cycle commuting in Boston. I have been off the bike since your post but with an increased desire to ride, to begin this week after the brutal cold in New England abates.

After about nine years posting on BikeForums, I have dropped off posting to the public forums. This has been a good thing for me and has freed up a lot of time, since I invested a lot of time and effort to post. I resumed a more active riding schedule this summer (though as usual too little with my busy work and family life and posting is at least vicarious cycling).


Nonetheless,I still read my favorite subforums daily, particularly posts by my many favored subscribers, as well as those I consider grumps. I still like to reply, as a PM, when I read a post that particularly resonates with me.

I was particularly prompted to reply now, because this recent thread popped up on Fifty-Plus, ”How do we know when it's time to stop?.” I was amused that some of the replies thought it meant to stop cycling, and some thought it meant to stop posting to BF, or stop drinking. FYA, see my reply to that thread.

Machka 09-03-18 02:54 AM


Originally Posted by Machka (Post 19953291)
We've moved since this thread, and we're now in the middle of a hill, so our street hits about a 14% grade roughly in front of our place.

It's interesting watching cyclists go past ... about half of them walk it, and half of them are strong mountain goats who ride up. I have actually made it up once since we moved in here, but I'm usually among the walkers.

But it is a favourite for kids on skateboards to go screaming down. They're braver than I am!!

And there are quite a number of people who go for walks. There is a small mall at the bottom of the hill, so I often see people walk past, and then return with bags of groceries or whatever.

There is also a reserve (natural park, green space) quite close so people often walk there with their dogs.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4df11431d9.jpg

Rollfast 09-24-18 11:56 AM

No major earthquakes, floods, terror acts or other stuff, boring is good.

Love your place, Machka.

fietsbob 09-24-18 01:48 PM

Also on a slope , 1/2 way between a 4 lane highway , and a 2, well one lane after a landslide closed one lane,
street parallel to the highway.. , walk up a half block & I can coast for 6 blocks on the street , to town center/PO/
coming back Use the sidewalks along the highway , because its curb to curb on the main road..
then a half block up to my house..
no garage 1Brm. one step to porch so easy to roll my bike in the front door..




....

Machka 09-26-18 02:43 AM


Originally Posted by Rollfast (Post 20583172)
No major earthquakes, floods, terror acts or other stuff, boring is good.

Love your place, Machka.

Thanks ... it is a bit of a challenge for cycling, but it has a nice view and it's interesting. :)

Rowan has been doing a lot of work in the yard, bits and pieces at a time.

alpharalpha 11-30-19 03:42 AM

A lot of places here in FL are not very bike friendly; when I lived in Sarasota back in the early 90s it was pretty risky, but traffic wasn't as bad; moved to Colorado for college and Boulder/Denver both are very bike friendly, lots of bike paths and people expect to see cyclists; now back in FL, traffic is crazy, if I didn't have 30 yrs experience wouldn't recommend it to a newbie. I am in the old downtown so low residential and makes everything very convenient to get to on bike (most people don't even know this is the original downtown, no real signs of it anymore besides outdated sidewalks in the oldest part.)


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