Category: Education

Bike shops’ social responsibility

February 5, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Bike shops have a responsibility to teach their customers safe cycling.

This is because the bike shop salesperson has the customer’s attention, and it’s when the customer will be most receptive to tips, advice, and training. The bike shop salesperson, in many cases, will be the first and last person the customer talks to about biking. Lastly, it’s because the bike shop is a community center with a wealth of knowledge and experience – all of which should be shared.

The customer’s family is probably not a good resource and websites and friends can only teach them so much. But a bike shop salesperson has two advantages over other friends, family, and the internet: the customer’s time and trust.

Each bike shop should take it upon themselves to teach each new customer how to ride safely and legally on the street, the local laws regarding its operating and accessories (buy some lights, please!), etiquette for multi-use paths (like Chicago’s Lakefront Trail), and proper locking techniques.

  1. All bikers will, at some point, have to ride on the street in mixed traffic.
  2. It’s unreasonable to expect cyclists to know the laws applicable to cycling when they’ve had very little experience cycling and when there are no widespread institutions that teach cycling.
  3. Multi-use paths are fountains of rage and dangerous commingling. 
  4. The cyclist will be in a situation that requires them to secure their bicycle.

No matter how adamant the customer is that they won’t be riding in the street, they will. The sidewalk is illegal territory in so many communities, and isn’t safe for the cyclist themselves or the pedestrians they might run over. On sidewalks or on multi-use paths, they will have to cross streets with automobile traffic. It’s a little different than being a pedestrian and crossing these streets because you are operating relatively heavy equipment and you move at a different speed. Eventually, this cyclist will graduate from scaredy-cat to coffeehouse comfortable, biking to a café down the street. Talking one on one about these things, using diagrams from a brochure will influence the new cyclist that safe cycling matters – for themselves and those with whom they’ll interact. Then show them how to read a map.

Bicycle laws are not handed to 16-year olds in high school (actually, they most likely are, but who reads that?). That might have been 10 years ago, and they won’t remember that a front headlight but only a rear reflector are required for post-dusk riding. Or that red lights are for all street users (and really dangerous to disobey). Don’t forget that some bicyclists were taught to ride against traffic, facing cars down on the wrong side of the street.

Those customers who might be telling the shop salesperson that they won’t be riding in the street probably think they’re only going to ride on the multi-use path. These customers need trail etiquette stressed to them. They need to know when it’s safe to pass, what to say to those they’ll pass, the right speed to travel, and when to stop or slow down. The trail is not a speeding zone; rollerbladers, children, strollermoms, teams in training, walkers, and in some places even horses and their riders, will all be groups with whom the cyclist must interact and take care of – this mix is fun to watch and be around, but path users must pay attention to each other. 

Real locking techniques may be one of the most useful things you can teach any cyclist. They won’t be cyclists if they can’t keep their bike! The City of Chicago offers a guide on theft prevention and proper locking, two unique but related concepts. You shouldn’t do one without the other, because they enhance the overall “theft-proof-ness” of a bike. The salesperson can spend five minutes demonstrating to the customer cross-locking, and then having the customer practice. They can also quiz the customer on appropriate locking locations. What structures are secure and which ones aren’t? Why or why not?

Preface this lesson to the customer that “in 20 minutes, you can become a bicycling expert!” The bike shop-customer bond will strengthen and you’ll have proved to them your service is necessary and appreciable. Because you took the time to show a customer how much you care about them, their new bike, and the sport or utility of bicycling, they’ll spread the word and come back.

Sources for urban planning-related articles

November 19, 2007 / / 0 Comments

What sources do I read for urban planning issues, research and articles?

The New York Times is a great place to begin one’s search for urban planning articles. The Times doesn’t exactly categorize their articles as such, so a search for them must involve a specific city’s name. Architecture will be a topic appearing more often than “urban planning.” It’s great, though, that architecture is often closely related to urban planning, or at the least, urban design.

Other large newspapers around the world (like San Francisco Chronicle, Guardian and Observer and Times in London) serve as venues for authors of urban planning articles. India is a notable place because the amount of growth and wealth in that country is expanding rapidly – this makes for a lot of writable experiences and observations. Out of all the large newspapers, the NYT is by far the best. U.S. cities that have a history of good urban planning (namely Portland and Seattle) have excellent representation of the profession in their mainstream media.

On the web, Planetizen has done the hard work of filtering the thousands of articles from mainstream media and picking out those of interest to the urban planning members of the website. I like the thrice-weekly email updates of new news articles the site editors have selected.

My last source is Streetsblog. This is quite strictly a New York City-only blog but it’s updated more quickly than the local mainstream media about events and happenings that are even closer to home – for example, what’s happening in your own block.

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Classmate discussion: The UIC campus

November 15, 2007 / / 0 Comments

I read through classmate Karen C’s blog.

I first wanted to answer her question, “Have you been to Rogers Park?” I would answer, “I haven’t” and the entry would be done. I didn’t know where to go with that. I’ve heard many things about the place, and that it’s right next to Andersonville, one of the city’s major gay ‘hoods. I think there’re some great bakeries up there, and there’s a Metra stop. It’s going on my never ending list of places to visit – it even has the benefit of being extremely easy to get to. My bike job will probably take me there soon.

Now I will be responding to her post, “UIC development. Blog 27.”

She included a picture taken from the second level of the Student Center East looking west onto the lecture center and I guess what you would call our “university quad.” To digress briefly: does every university have a quad or is that some movie gimmick featured at Ivy League schools?

Her point is that UIC’s buildings are nothing to look at or pay attention to, and in fact make you want to turn away. The lecture centers have a neutrally-appealing design – they aren’t horrible, but they still aren’t inviting. Prominent in the photo’s background is the UIC Daley Library. It’s one of the larger buildings that shares the Sovietesque, monolithic design seen everywhere on campus (University Hall and Science and Engineering Labs being the other two).

The lecture centers could be improved by removing every other column and hanging ivy or some greenery from the roofs. The library is a different story. It also suffers from an outdated and non-functional lobby design as well as an entrance plaza. The plaza should be removed and made smaller. More trees and planters should be added to divert our eyes away from the building. The lobby should be redesigned to better funnel people where they need to go. Putting aside the exterior design, the internal spaces of the library are very confusing and do not lead people to their destination. Most things students need in this library are not on the first floor and there is one tinny escalator whisking people up and dropping them into the middle of a study and research area. Elevators are out of the way and finding bathrooms might take a few mistakes to find the right one.

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UIC and the Urban Planning school

September 29, 2007 / / 0 Comments

UIC has a notable graduate school for Urban Planning. It works closely with the city and several metropolitan planning organizations to settle itself in the regional planning community in order to create networking contacts for students with potential employers and to enhance the education the school offers students.

That’s a great marketing statement for the school I just made up on the spot now. I recently submitted my application to the school – it’s due tomorrow, Monday, October 1st, 2007. I hope I get in. However, I’m not sure if I would be disappointed if I don’t get in. I feel that I will have more options for graduate school should I be rejected. For one, I will have to apply to other schools for the Fall 2008 semester, and two, I will take the GRE before reapplying.

UIC is one of the few schools which I’ve investigated that allows students to join the program in the spring semester. Arizona State University doesn’t accept students for spring and neither does Portland State University, both schools I’ve briefly considered. The one school in which I’m interested but haven’t checked for application deadlines is the University of Washington in Seattle.

I looked into ASU because my dad resides in Mesa, Arizona, next door to ASU’s hometown of Tempe. I’ve researched PSU because Portland, Oregon, is a great city, as is Seattle – I also enjoy the weather of the Pacific Northwest. A few years ago, I was planning to go to the University of Washington for my undergraduate studies, but the non-resident’s tuition cost kept me away.

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