With the release this year of the White House Climate Change Report, there was a lot of talk in the media about the topic of climate change and environmentalism. There's the usual talk about the consequences of climate change and some of the ways we can start to slow down its effects (since honestly, at this point it's probably unavoidable). In light of this, I again start to think of the massive green-washing that's taken place and the false environmentalism that many progressives seem to believe in. While I'm normally a fairly optimistic person, I can't help but feel that if the most progressive among us can't make actual "green" life choices, we're pretty much SOL.
Want an example? That Prius you're driving might be getting better gas mileage than the SUV someone else drives, but you're still likely driving it far too often. About half of the trips people in metro areas make are less than three miles and over a quarter are less than one mile. Yet autos are still by far the dominant mode of travel for these trips. Let me emphasize - THIS IS INCREDIBLY UNNECESSARY. One more time - if you're traveling under one mile, there's almost no reason to drive. Only your biggest loads couldn't be carried by bike or foot. Even if you're driving a Prius, it's still an unnecessary drive and a trip that could easily be avoided. Not only are trips of this distance unnecessary, they're some of the worst environmentally. Your car has yet to warm up and produces far more pollutants. With some small changes in behavior, a huge number of the trips currently taken by automobile could be replaced by walking, biking, and transit. Would this solve our climate problems? Not by a long shot, but it would represent a significant change in the right direction and one that's currently not happening to a large enough extent. Increases in mileage efficiency are great, but the most efficient car is still far less so than going by bike or foot.
The term RINO gets tossed around by Tea Party types to signify someone who is a Republican by title or name, but not in behavior and voting (at least by their standards). But the opposite of this also exists - what I would term either the EINO or PINO (Environmentalist or Progressive In Name Only). How can we expect conservatives, who don't even "believe" in climate change, to change their behavior when most progressives don't either. While many out there are working hard to bring about real change at a personal and larger level, far too many of us aren't. It's time to change that, bring about real, progressive change. Get off your butt - walk or bike to those close destinations. You'll feel better about yourself mentally and physically. Plus you'll actually be taking cars (and their emissions) off the road. Truly stand up (really, I mean it, get up and walk!) for what you believe in and make change happen. Remember - don't be an EINO!
Friday, July 20, 2018
Blackstack Brewing
As I mentioned previously, I'm going to work on detailing (and rating) bike parking options at St. Paul breweries. Some are awesome (I'm looking at you, Dual Citizen and Urban Growler) and some well, suck. For the first in the series, I'm starting at one that is pretty far toward the "suck" end of the spectrum, Blackstack Brewing.
Blackstack has potential. To begin with, it's pretty accessible by bike. While Minnehaha and Prior aren't the nicest bike facilities, like most in St. Paul, they exist and neither road is terrible to bike on. Plus, you can access it from nice quiet neighborhood streets from the interior of Hamline-Midway. I guess technically you can get there via the "bike lanes" on Pierce Butler, if you like biking through debris while being passed by a steady stream of high speed cars and semis. Though I bike there at times, I'm assuming most people avoid those "lanes". But again, by St. Paul standards, probably a B for accessibility by bike.
Then there's the situation once you're there. You start in a pretty tight parking lot that's always crowded (good for them and Can Can Wonderland). Up until recently, they had no bike parking. This for a location with a brewery, mini-golf, coffee roaster, axe throwing, and tool library. So just on that aspect alone they probably should fail. The first time I went I complained about there being no parking to all three of the main businesses in the complex at the time (Can Can, Blackstack and True Stone). They seemed aware and sympathetic and even said I could bring my bike inside if needed. I was told the building owner was "looking into adding some". Which is always a bad sign. Building owners clearly almost never ask anyone who actually rides a bike what good bike parking should look like. Or seem incapable of finding any of the excellent resources available FOR FREE from Dero about bike parking. So I was sadly not surprised when some of the worst bike racks ever showed up. Now granted, they did *technically* add bike parking. And the times I've visited, it has been well used. But I will never park on it because it's almost completely insecure.
Above we have Blackstack's bike parking. The Marin is parked in about the most secure way possible, but I'm still guessing you could clip that bar curving up pretty easily. The next few bikes, not so secure.
Unless I missed it, this Trek is literally not even locked to the rack. So while someone couldn't ride it away, being locked to itself, you could easily throw it in a car and run. Really tough to secure it with that rack being so low.
Next, this bike could also easily be stolen. Granted, those aren't quick release, so it would take a little more work, but barely, and all this poor sucker would come back to would be a front wheel. Bummer.
The parking is also rather tough to access. While the bollards might actually help a bit and provide some protection from drivers parking their cars, they also make the overall space really tight and tough to maneuver, especially given the lack of overall space for the bike parking here.
And if all that isn't enough, you're also right next to the smokers' pole. So if someone is taking a smoke break while you arrive or leave (or recently finished and didn't put out their cigarette), you get to enjoy secondhand smoke with your bike parking - BONUS! But seriously, this is just another factor in making this some of the worst bike parking I've seen.
Blackstack has potential. To begin with, it's pretty accessible by bike. While Minnehaha and Prior aren't the nicest bike facilities, like most in St. Paul, they exist and neither road is terrible to bike on. Plus, you can access it from nice quiet neighborhood streets from the interior of Hamline-Midway. I guess technically you can get there via the "bike lanes" on Pierce Butler, if you like biking through debris while being passed by a steady stream of high speed cars and semis. Though I bike there at times, I'm assuming most people avoid those "lanes". But again, by St. Paul standards, probably a B for accessibility by bike.
Then there's the situation once you're there. You start in a pretty tight parking lot that's always crowded (good for them and Can Can Wonderland). Up until recently, they had no bike parking. This for a location with a brewery, mini-golf, coffee roaster, axe throwing, and tool library. So just on that aspect alone they probably should fail. The first time I went I complained about there being no parking to all three of the main businesses in the complex at the time (Can Can, Blackstack and True Stone). They seemed aware and sympathetic and even said I could bring my bike inside if needed. I was told the building owner was "looking into adding some". Which is always a bad sign. Building owners clearly almost never ask anyone who actually rides a bike what good bike parking should look like. Or seem incapable of finding any of the excellent resources available FOR FREE from Dero about bike parking. So I was sadly not surprised when some of the worst bike racks ever showed up. Now granted, they did *technically* add bike parking. And the times I've visited, it has been well used. But I will never park on it because it's almost completely insecure.
Above we have Blackstack's bike parking. The Marin is parked in about the most secure way possible, but I'm still guessing you could clip that bar curving up pretty easily. The next few bikes, not so secure.
Unless I missed it, this Trek is literally not even locked to the rack. So while someone couldn't ride it away, being locked to itself, you could easily throw it in a car and run. Really tough to secure it with that rack being so low.
Next, this bike could also easily be stolen. Granted, those aren't quick release, so it would take a little more work, but barely, and all this poor sucker would come back to would be a front wheel. Bummer.
The parking is also rather tough to access. While the bollards might actually help a bit and provide some protection from drivers parking their cars, they also make the overall space really tight and tough to maneuver, especially given the lack of overall space for the bike parking here.
And if all that isn't enough, you're also right next to the smokers' pole. So if someone is taking a smoke break while you arrive or leave (or recently finished and didn't put out their cigarette), you get to enjoy secondhand smoke with your bike parking - BONUS! But seriously, this is just another factor in making this some of the worst bike parking I've seen.
Given all this, it's not surprising that like myself, you often see that people have locked their bikes to the railings of the entrance. Given that people clearly want to bike here, Blackstack really needs to add capacity and up the quality. This goes for the entire complex, Can Can and True Stone aren't immune from these issues either. While the site earns a St. Paul B for access, it gets a solid D- for parking, simply because it does actually have some, and really should get an F. Though it's the closest brewery to my house, I pretty much avoid the place because I don't feel welcome as a person cycling there, which is really too bad as it's among the easier breweries to bike to in the city.
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Bike Parking in St. Paul
The types of bike parking you find vary drastically by location and to me, too often reflect how much a given business (or the property owner) value or acknowledge that people might arrive at their business by a means other than driving. As an example of this, and as a resource to other people biking hopefully, I'm going to do a series of posts featuring different bike parking options at breweries in St. Paul, Minnesota.
But before jumping into that, I'd like to offer a couple of examples that do a good job documenting how people who bike are treated in St. Paul. Yes, we have a few bikes lanes (mostly narrow, door-zone lanes) and some great MUP options, but in general, the city is a long way from being a safe-biking mecca, let alone a place where anyone but the "strong and fearless" rider type feels comfortable.
Again, the above pictures pretty well illustrate what it's like to bike in St. Paul. You are tolerated, and in some cases have basic accommodations made for you, such as squeezing in the most basic bike lanes or a bike rack added here or there. But as soon as any conditions deviate from optimal, right when you need those facilities the most, they disappear. People freely block the bike lanes, hardly even making an effort to get closer to the curb and bike racks are ignored and not cleared of snow, in addition to being bent and damaged and basically unusable. While these things are absolutely complaints and damning about how seriously our city takes its commitment to improving conditions for people cycling, I'm also going to try and highlight the work of awesome people who are doing things right and setting us on a path for a new standard of bike infrastructure.
But before jumping into that, I'd like to offer a couple of examples that do a good job documenting how people who bike are treated in St. Paul. Yes, we have a few bikes lanes (mostly narrow, door-zone lanes) and some great MUP options, but in general, the city is a long way from being a safe-biking mecca, let alone a place where anyone but the "strong and fearless" rider type feels comfortable.
Again, the above pictures pretty well illustrate what it's like to bike in St. Paul. You are tolerated, and in some cases have basic accommodations made for you, such as squeezing in the most basic bike lanes or a bike rack added here or there. But as soon as any conditions deviate from optimal, right when you need those facilities the most, they disappear. People freely block the bike lanes, hardly even making an effort to get closer to the curb and bike racks are ignored and not cleared of snow, in addition to being bent and damaged and basically unusable. While these things are absolutely complaints and damning about how seriously our city takes its commitment to improving conditions for people cycling, I'm also going to try and highlight the work of awesome people who are doing things right and setting us on a path for a new standard of bike infrastructure.
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