Bike corrals: on-street bike parking hits San Francisco (and Durango?)

 

Crowded bike rack

A crowded bike rack | flickr user phlyingpenguin

Recently, my complex doubled the amount of bike parking available on my side of the building. That parking immediately filled up with bikes. My guess is that if they knocked out another car parking spot, yet another 12-24 bikes would materialize and be parked there — bikes that people are currently storing on their balconies or in their kitchens or wherever else. 

Think about that as a business. If your business is located somewhere with very limited parking — let’s say, downtown Boulder — would you rather have one car parked outside or 12 bikes? The safe bet is that 12 customers are better than however many fit in that hypothetical car. (Needless to say, you’re making the automobile parking situation just a touch worse by making the switch.)

Maybe that’s why San Francisco is moving ahead with on-street bike parking, according to the Bay Citizen:

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