There is an extensive Boston Globe article coming out on Sunday, discussing a bike share for Boston and comparing it to Velib in Paris. The comment section is already heating up! I hope that it doesn't turn into too much of a cyclist-slam, as previous Boston Globe comment sections have done.
I appreciated the author's ode to bicycling in Boston:
Boston is a different city on a bike. As the fresh air hits your face, you see things you would miss from a car: the sun reflecting off a historic church steeple; an old lady who wears a different, outrageous hat every day; intricately carved brownstone doorways. If you look closely, it doesn't feel like New York or Chicago or Los Angeles. I always swear I must be in London or Paris. No other American city has the history and architecture and grandeur of ours, and it's best seen on two wheels.
And I'm cheering for Menino, mayor of our compact, flat, historic city:
"Boston's not like other major cities; we're the most European city in America," Menino says when I meet with him. "We have 300,000 college students in Boston. One out of three Bostonians is 20 to 34. No other city can say that. We will follow Paris's lead, and Nicole (Freedman) will get us there."
Transportation cycling is important for so many reasons - community, health, the environment, financial liberation - I hope the rest of Boston can understand these multiple benefits to such a simple choice. One of the commenters touched on my position there:
"If you walk or drive all the time, you should want more people biking in Boston-- every biker means less traffic, more open parking spots, and fewer people on the T for YOU. Some people are so close-minded that they can't even think beyond their immediate reaction of "ooh I hate bikes, I'm never going to ride one, so I am against the whole idea" to realize that it's in their own personal self-interest to have other people ride bikes."
Three cheers for more bikes!
