Commuting 101: Learn your local “village”
March 7th, 2008 by Noah 
I personally think that commuting by bike is more than just the to-and-from work daily grind. It’s about cycling for transportation in general: Utility Cycling, if you will. A while ago, Warren introduced us to Clif Bar’s 2-Mile Challenge. To those of us who live in suburbia and are in the process of reducing our car usage as newer bike commuters (like me), it can be temping to drive to places that you are used to going to simply because those are the places you go, and they’re too far or too inconvenient to get to by bike for what they offer. Often, there are similar places close to home that you don’t even know about yet. Or, maybe you do, but as a creature of habit you’ve have passed them by.
I can only use personal examples in my own life, but I’m sure they apply to many newer bike commuters. Instead of driving to the place I usually get my hair cut (about 8 miles from home), I could try one of the several barbers that are a lot closer. Instead of going to the big, fancy market grocery store with all the premium deli brands, I could try one of the budget stores down the street. My favorite Buffalo Wing shop is quite a ways away, but there’s a local bar just a few intersections away that makes some decent wings. My old primary care physician is almost 15 miles from home now, but the organization has a small branch practically sharing a parking lot with my apartment complex. I’d need to switch physicians, but then I can walk to the doctor’s office.
Day in and day out, I would drive past countless little strip malls. They seem to be peppered around the Kansas City suburbs, spread out in one- or two-mile intervals. Take the time to ride through and really look at what types of shops are close to home. Almost anything that I really need or want can be had within a two mile radius: Dentists, post office, a branch for my bank, doctors, dining establishments, grocery stores, a coffee shop, electronics and clothing stores, and even a big discount club (like Sam’s Club or Costco).
Learning your local “village” is a big step towards using your bike more and your car less. It will also allow you to make a few quick stops on your way to work or home to run quick errands, saving you even more time since you’re already out and about. You don’t always need to give up things that seem too far for a bike. You can probably find something a bit closer to home that meets your needs.
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…or one could live in the city, where many shops located within reasonable distance, and a proper street grid makes for safer riding and multiple route options.
Of course! Because anyone can simply get out from under their lease or mortgage and cram their family into a loft downtown. Why didn’t I think of that?
Noah,
You hit it when you said “Utility cycling” I have always looked at my bike(s) not as a toy or sports equipment, but as a tool.
Since I don’t own a car, I often refer to it as “life-style cycling” rather than “utility cycling”.
One other thing, get to know not only your neighborhood villiage, one thing thay has helped me many times is getting to know the area around your work.
LOL. Ya, I’m with Noah on this one. K6-III, the concept of your idea is a decent one but to add to what Noah said, many of us with families don’t see the city as an ideal place to raise children and the negatives of such an idea may outweigh the positives (for some of us). The suburbs are plenty convenient and I agree with Noah on the idea of making some sacrifices to reduce your car usage. It all comes down to what we really need not what we want or prefer. I would love to have an acre or two but in order to do that it would most likely require moving out to the country, putting nearly everything further from my reach thus increasing my dependencies on a car which has played a major factor in my decision to remain in the ‘burbs.
So what do I have to say to those living in the country who don’t have the luxury of bike commuting? You could live in the suburbs, where many shops are located within reasonable distance, and a proper street grid makes for safer riding and multiple route options.
Indeed. A lot of times, lunch is a good time for recreational riding, errands, riding your bike to lunch of all of the above. Not to mention the places you might want to go on your way into or out of the office. And to K6’s point, I do work in the city core where everything is pretty close. But whereas I have four grocery stores within 2 miles of my apartment in the suburbs (two Hy-Vee’s, a Price Chopper, and a Dillon’s a.k.a. Kroger) there are ZERO grocery stores within five miles of the lofts and apartments in KC’s downtown loop. Right now, those people have to go to the Westport area, Roeland Park or North Kansas City to get groceries. Fortunately for them, a reasonably reliable bus service is available so they still don’t need cars to get groceries.
Since I have a 14 mile ride each direction, I have also learned about some cool places along the corridor which I use to get back and forth. There’s a decent bike shop within two miles of my place, but there’s an even better one just off the beaten path I use to get home in the evening. There’s also a decent bike shop a mile from my office, which is easily walkable over lunch if my bike is having problems.
And sometimes, living in the city actually takes you further away from the places you can go.
For example: I lived in a suburban neighborhood in North Carolina and could walk or bicycle to a grocery store, nice restaurant, post office, Court House, etc (practically everywhere I’d need to go except my office). I’ve recently moved into downtown Jacksonville and can’t safely walk or bicycle anywhere except a Court House and post office.
That doesn’t stop me, just makes me more cautious. And more active in getting some city-smart urban planners into the local government.
Right on, Noah. Glad folks are thinking about stuff like this. One idea to add to the original post: explore the community around your workplace, too. You spend so much time there, why not take advantage of it?
A couple of lunchtime leisure rides around my office opened up an easy route to a Target, a grocery store, and some great restaurants that I thought I’d never be able to get to on a bike without risking life and limb on an expressway.
For years, every time that I’ve switched my job, I’ve also switched my dentist. Currently, my dentist’s office is right across the street from my office. It’s great. And if I’m going to put up with the pain and agony of a dental visit, the least I can do is miss some work.
Great post, Noah. Riding a bike enables me to discover things close to home that I likely would never notice otherwise. Think back to when you were a kid — you know *all* the secret hideouts and places. As adults, we know eight different routes to work in case there’s a traffic jam somewhere, but I think we’ve lost a lot of the local knowledge.
Sorta related — navigating all of those local streets also makes you smarter.
You make a great points there. Especially noteworthy would be for people to think about the “savings” of driving to the MART stores….to buy milk instead of the corner gas station. So you save .50 cents a gallon on milk; did you spend .50 cents on gas? Could you survive by shopping a bit more often at the corner grocery and doing it by bike instead of loading up the SUV with a month’s worth of supplies? Ah…soap box time done. Hopefully more people will start to see the light.
Great idea Noah. There are all sorts of ways to increase the number of trips by bike and this is one I want to work on more.
I was thinking about sponsoring a recurring “scavenger hunt” sort of ride that would locate themed destinations such as “Best place to get a gallon of milk” or “Best Appetizer Value”. Bonus points awarded for bike racks.
Yup, it can be a discovery process to find your local village. I just moved across town from a third tier suburb (where there were no sidewalks and only highway and two-lane county roads in and out) to a second tier suburb where dang near everything I want can be had within 2 or 3 miles. It’s also in the middle of a great trail system so I can often ride with very little road time if I want. Nearly everything was impossible to walk and too long bike ride to be practical. I know everyone can’t up and move but you don’t have to live downtown to be close either. Just for kicks, here’s my before and after distances:
Before - what - after
4 miles - Barber - 3 blocks
4 miles - Post office - 4 blocks
3 miles - Vet - 4 blocks
8 miles - LBS - 1 mile
2 miles - Grocery store - 1.5 miles
25 miles - CostCo - 2.5 miles
8 miles - Menards - 2 miles
8 miles - Home Depot - 2.5 miles
8 miles - Target - 2 miles
Mark
I moved about 9 months ago as well, but for many reasons, moving to the urban core wasn’t even close to a viable option. I moved 9 miles closer to work, but basically just to a different suburb of a similar size that’s further north.
The place we were living was undergoing massive development. Before this development, there were a few banks and smallish shops within two miles. Within three miles there was a Target, best Buy, border’s my bike shop and some other good stuff. Moving put me closer to more amenities and reduced my “epic” 50 mile round trip (ridden in its entirety only on occasion, I mostly did bike/bus commuting) to a daily-ridable 28 miles.
There’s a lot of good brainstorming and idea building among you guys. I like it.
Great post Noah. While I’d love to have cool people like you here in the core of KC, I understand everyone has different circumstances. Although I have to say I managed to find a three bedroom house with large yard and two car garage in a great urban neighborhood outside of Downtown. Not all of the city is high rise apartments.
Anyway, the point I wanted to make was that even the burbs there are often opportunities for a pedestrian lifestyle. Most cities have original streetcar suburbs with compact downtown areas, surrounded by single-family housing. Further out, many of the newer suburbs are former small towns that still have downtown or Main Street area with shops and services.
Going forward, the 20-mile American commute is going to become a lot less sustainable. We have to make some hard choices about the geography of where we live, work, and play. At least are there often more options than we sometimes realize.