Comments on: Commuting 101: Learn your local “village”

By: Allie

Allie — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:41:59 +0000

This is an awesome concept! Echoed by a lot of initiatives going on out there now…

Ex. Trek’s non-profit is encouraging people to pledge to go by bike for any trips less than two miles.
http://www.1world2wheels.org/go-by-bike-challenge

Incredible to see and track the difference you make!

If more people can be introduced to this notion, it might motivate a bigger change…

By: The Opoponax

The Opoponax — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:37:03 +0000

This is something that can be an issue for us urban dwellers, too, and I don’t think it’s as simple as “city = close to everything”, “suburbs = a million years in the car”. For one thing, everything in the post is spot on. When I visit family in the suburbs, it kind of weirds me out the way that they’re willing to drive further just because they think someplace is “better”, when it’s usually pretty much the same as everywhere else.

Also, in a suburban landscape, too, you can have some neighborhoods or homes that are further away from the places you, yourself, like to go. And, yeah, that should be a priority when looking for a home. Why live across town from your whole life, just because this house had 3 bathrooms or a slightly bigger backyard?

By: rodney

rodney — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:48:16 +0000

Another good tool for the “villages” is http://www.walkscore.com. Not really for biking, but give you amazing detail for grocery, inconvenience stores, retail businesses, and such. I scored a 55 out of 100 for my location. Its 100% bikeable for me. 85% of all I need is with a 2 mile radius and no more than a 30 minute ride to the farthest place.

By: JD

JD — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 01:56:43 +0000

I rode around my town for a few days and located every establishment that had a bike rack. I tried to go to only these stores. But on Nov. 4 the wise folks of El Cajon, California voted us a sale tax increase that makes us the town with the highest sales tax in the nation. I guess I’ll have to start riding to the three surrounding towns and find their bike rack establishments.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:55:16 +0000

I’ve managed to give up my car for all but journeys that are really out of biking range. Hairdresser visits are now on foot and Supermarket vists are by bike (using a backpack for the shopping, except when they have Ben and Jerrys on offer….then it’s the car )

I used google earth to plot a radius for a Saturday bike ride, then rode around that raidius ( about 6 miles) and seeing what local shops..etc I could easily bike to.

Once you get to know your local biking area you never have to use the car for the “Just popping down to the store” excursion ever again. Loads of people laugh at me for giving my car up but each month I’m laughing when I’m not paying for 4 petrol fill ups.

By: TB

TB — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:56:36 +0000

I agree with the article. I live in the “older” part of my city (close to the downtown) and I used to drive out to the suburbs to go shopping at all the fancy new big box stores. Now, I find I do most of my shopping locally. It’s amazing to realize how many cool and unique little shops are right under your nose! Some of them have been around here for over 100 years! I feel good about supporting them.

I certainly wouldn’t bike 5 miles anymore to the Home Depot, just to buy a wrench and a half-bag of nails … there’s a much closer local hardware store for that. But sometimes I still have to drive a car to those places because I’m buying bulky items.

It’s funny because if I’m in the car, I’ll go straight for the Home Depot 5 miles away when the local hardware store is right around the corner. I can’t really explain it.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:29:19 +0000

Great blog. I live in inner-city Minneapolis and commute everywhere on a bike. Moving to the inner-city urban America makes much more sense than many realize. And it doesn’t necessarily mean living in a loft. Ours is a two-story house from a century ago. And, oh yeah, I have a wife and two kids, who attend the local public schools.

Joe

By: clemone

clemone — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:09:07 +0000

all of these places are within a 2 mile radius

a large park, a couple smaller parks, five museums, two grocery stores (one of which is 24 hours), eight corner stores (three of which are 24 hours), five cafes (one of which i work at, nine if you want to count starbucks), a teahouse, three pizza joints (one which is only open from 5pm to 3am), five adult/headshops (one open late another is open 24 hours), four 24 hour restaraunts, 20+ restaraunts with normal hours, five bars, countless gay bars, three bike shops, five thrift stores, an art supply store, a hardware store, three universities and one community college, four tattoo parlors, four upscale boutiques, a couple of venues etc. etc.

this is just the stuff i can remember off the top of my head, i am missing plenty. this is what happens when you do not have zoning laws in a city. i love houston.

By: Darrin

Darrin — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:54:33 +0000

Wow! I want to move now. I work 2 miles from my home, any kind of shopping I could need. Movies,food stores, clothing stores, hardware, discount stores, anything! I got it too easy, sorry folks. I feel bad now. I thouhgt I was doing soo good by riding everywhere I went. Not bad when it’s only a 7-8 mile round trip. some folks have it hard. I really am thankful for what I have at this point in my life. Life on a bike can be a great joy.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:39:28 +0000

AKAMIE,

Out of curiosity, what general part of ATL did you move to that is ideally suited to a bike?

It seems a little difficult to find areas over here on the East side which are low on hills and high on amenities.

Are you somewhere along or close to one of the MARTA rail lines? I find that the MARTA buses are waaay to unreliable and slow.