Raise the Hammer

sounds great but that will neve work here - this is hamilton!

after all, we have (circle one for each):

more|less snow

more|fewer people

more|less traffic

higher|lower density

more|less land within our borders

more|fewer cyclists

more|less brains

Comment edited by seancb on 2011-12-09 08:11:15

You forgot to include our "Alp like" escarpment as another squelch worthy barrier to change.

im a cyclist. I moved here because of the "Alp like" escarpment as opposed to in spite of it . Remember every time you go up it , you get to come back down..

My favorite part of the day is usually the morning ride down the hill!

insult spam from banned user deleted

How do you think avalanches start? One small shift...

my 87 year old grandmother in Copenhagen still cycles. Last summer one day she went 37 km. Everyone cycles there. Oh and she lives 25 km out of the city, it's mainly trips to corner store, park etc, but about the same or lower density as any hamilton neighbourhood.

It helps that to buy a car there costs circa $50,000 minimum for a small car with a 1L engine, and the gas price is double.

The point that you failed to glean from his post (presumably because it wasn't smashed over your head for you) was that we've sent the wrong price signals here, making driving much easier and WAY cheaper than it should be.

And the extension of this is that we have a population where 87 year olds can't ride to the store (even if they are physically capable of it) because there's no safe route to get there.

And the further extension is that the way we do things now is bringing us down (which clearly you are fine with since you don't want us to change what we are doing).

insult spam from banned user deleted

keeping in mind that all gas taxes go to roads

That's not really true in that the governments rarely sequester revenues like that.

More important, not all roads are covered by gas taxes and other vehicle fees. For example, the roads which we are discussing are maintained by the city of Hamilton, so gas taxes have precisely NOTHING to do with the situation.

insult spam from banned user deleted

"Sorry but this isn't Copenhagen kids!" -B Kelly.

insult spam from banned user deleted

Here we go with the escarpment again... No biking allowed in Hamilton because "just don't get it" can't ride back up to his mommy's house at stone church and wentworth after his shift mopping floors at the jackson square mcdonalds!

"Less than 50% of the population is even physically capable of cycling." This is an interesting statistic. Where did you find it?

Sean, that is unfair of you to ask for proof to back up statements! Just look at the info coming out of the mayors office.

Hey Allan, weren't you banned from this site?

Maybe more people are choosing to cycle as a way to save money because of a weak economy the past few years?

another mispricing situation. Cars should cost what they cost. Roads should cost what they cost. If Dalton's having trouble balancing the budget then enough with the handouts to auto and road makers!!!

I wonder if this study controlled for the increasing number of hipsters worldwide

I don't understand the downvotes - I for one appreciated the joke and I'm borderline hipster...

The recession has indeed been wonderful for the cause of pedestrian environments and the growing appreciation of life's little pleasures.

The rapid expansion of bike lanes under Sadik-Khan (made possible in part by her "streamlined" approach to community consultation) can also be credited for the stats. As the NYT noted in on Sept 10, 2011, "Since the mayor appointed her in 2007 and she began to bring her agency’s work more closely in line with his vision of a greener New York, the city has roughly doubled its miles of bike lanes, to about 500." So right there, you've got a reason for the numbers, turgid economy or not.

And yes, the synchronous eagerness to leave a legacy has been helpful, no doubt. Despite his reputation as a nanny statist par excellence, Bloomberg installed JSK and has generally been supportive of her initiatives. Having billions in the bank, after all, does provide one with a certain amount of insulation against the practical considerations of late-term politicos, who often start pandering in the hopes of jumping to the state or federal stage. As long as he is in office, JSK will probably be A-OK.

Never let it be said that a plutocrat who squashes term limits is a bad thing.

Oh Ryan, you and your facts. You and Sean have a crazy notion that for something to be presented as true, you need evidence to back it up. I can’t imagine that would be the process at universities, labs, or research centres. If people wasted all their time gathering all this info it would take forever. Better to just gutfeeling it and make it so.