more bikes in the newz!

Shaggz

A strong 7
this underscores the the short sightedness of municipalities to provide the infrastructure and safe corridors to promote bike access.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
People focus on the negative, it sells. That's just the way it goes. By posting it you're really only driving up the hit count of that article on that site, and when we all click through it makes the hit counts go up, which just reinforces the Negative Selling they prmote.

JMO...
 

Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
this underscores the the short sightedness of municipalities to provide the infrastructure and safe corridors to promote bike access.

What? Portland is the #1 most bicycle progressive city in the United States and has the most developed bicycle infrastructure in the US.

Tensions may be increasing in other cities because of increased volume and lack of infrastructure, but dude, that ain't Portland. It probably has more to do with the average tension rising because of economic conditions. Of course, tense in Portland is still comatose by NJ standards :)

Perhaps folks are frustrated because their favorite Starbucks is closing.
 

clutch

New Member
People focus on the negative, it sells. That's just the way it goes. By posting it you're really only driving up the hit count of that article on that site, and when we all click through it makes the hit counts go up, which just reinforces the Negative Selling they prmote.

JMO...

Did you read the whole article?

The surge has by and large been safe. Last year, 29 people died walking, driving or riding a bike in traffic accidents in Portland, said Greg Raisman, traffic safety specialist with the city. In 1996, the number was 59. Injuries to cyclists has remained flat even with double-digit increases annually in their numbers over the last several years.

Sure the byline "A surge in bike ridership spurs a new kind of road rage" is a bit sensational, but overall I'd say it's a reasonably balanced article
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
When I see a headline like that I tune out. If the article has a different tone than the headline it's clearly trying to be sensational which I have little reason to follow up on.
 

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
i totally see your points norm, i just choose to look at the headlines as advertising for an article, however sleazy it may be. i just throw up bike articles i see online for whatevah. maybe its because i'm a fan of mike meyers character linda richman from SNL... ok... i'm getting vahklempt... here's a topic, bike and motorist conflicts, read away, discuss... mmmm bikes... like butta.

a writer wants to get his stuff read to improve his business... sure the title stinks, and it starts off sensationalist (all about fighting) but i think the article is at least worth reading, or at least knowing its out there. i dont subscribe to newsweek, i just generally poke around and if i come across something, i will throw it up. the two articles this week aren't insanely awesome reading, but i think its on topic...

distorted headlines may be a crappy way to get something read, but if you have a couple minutes, and want to read something, i figure, why not check out an article on bikes? i don't mean to perpetuate the negative selling you're talking about. i would copy and paste the article onto the site to avoid adding hits, but when i see a copyright at the bottom of the article, i dont like to just copy and paste it... being a former musician, i'm a bit touchy on copyrights... and if an article is on the homepage of MSN, i figure it will get enough hits on its own, whether or not i link to it. i know its stupid, but its copyrighted.

i just figure its on topic and of interest. there's been a lot of bike stuff in the news lately. honestly, i think we are going to see more bike news as long as the gas prices stay high. unfortunately, i think most of the articles that will come will be on conflicts between motorists and bikers, versus something like "a bike commuters success story".

talking to the article - i hate to hear the crazy stories, but i admit there is some cheap entertainment value in it. the youtube link is pretty nuts. there are some critical mass ride discussions going on over on emptybeer, and i think this article kinda starts off riding the coattails of those kind of stories. anyway, having been to portland, it is a real bike friendly town - if you look at some of that stats they through out, its relatively interesting... especially this stuff:

"The numbers of new cyclists on the road are staggering. City officials track the growth on four bridges that cross the Willamette River, connecting the east and west sides of town. Last year, 14,500 cyclists crossed the bridges, an increase of 21 percent over 2006. In May, the number of cyclists who crossed the Broadway Bridge was 24 percent higher than the peak in 2007. Eighteen percent of the vehicles that crossed the Hawthorne Bridge last year were bicycles."

18% is pretty awesome. imagine if that were the brooklyn or the verrazano.

after reading that, all sensationalism aside, i figured it was worth sharing.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Sorry, don't want to suggest you don't link. I'm just pretty desensitized to media sensationalism at this point. In general the writer doesn't usually write the headline. So there's a disconnect there as well.
 

Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
Eighteen percent of the vehicles that crossed the Hawthorne Bridge last year were bicycles."

18% is pretty awesome. imagine if that were the brooklyn or the verrazano.

The Hawthorne Bridge connects the "crunchy-sheik" areas of Southeast Portland with downtown. I wouldn't be surprised if this has always been the most bicycle crossed bridge in the nation. SE is full of eco-conscious liberal types who can't quite commit to it and still love their money who work downtown. There are some lesser expensive areas off Hawthorne as well with folks who could commit, but have to go into downtown for jobs. The lesser expensive areas of SE Portland are also full of "older" Portland State students (PSU is downtown).

When I go to Portland on business (west Portland burbs), I cross the Hawthorne almost every day I'm there to visit my old friends in SE (oddly, that is where my friends have congregated, even the ones who don't know each other). I've always been amazed at the number of bikes I see on the bridge, regardless of weather.

Luckily, Portland gets less rain than us most months of the year (except during the winter months). That's right folks, north Jersey gets 8" more rain a year than rainy Portland does (48" vs 40")...and they get much less in the summer months (less than half on average). So, if you're in commuting range of work, there aren't a lot of excuses to not ride there.
 
Top Bottom