Organic Bike Parking Continues on West Ponce
Decatur Metro | September 9, 2011
After I noticed a lot of – what I called – “organic bike parking” in front of Farm Burger on West Ponce back in May 2010, the Marlay and its property owner were gracious enough to install a bike rack at the corner of their property. I excitedly deemed it the city’s first “crowd-sourced bike rack”.
Now I’ve walked by that rack many times in the past 8 months and am always cheerful when I see a bike chained to it. But sometimes the organic bike parking continues around Farm Burger in spite of the rack, as Al captured in the pic above.
What’s the cause? Is it a visibility thing? If so, perhaps someone – they city? – could make off-street bike parking more obvious to cyclists by painting some sort of symbol on the sidewalk or street? Or maybe organic bike parking will persist regardless of racks? Will a sign post closer to a business entrance always get more use than a rack slightly further away?
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That one in front of Farmburger is always there. I think someone who works nearby wants to keep an eye on it.
I agree – I think a lot of cyclist like to be able to see their bike – it can be so easy for a thief to steal a bike even if it is locked up. Plus those bike racks closer to the Marlay are not so obvious to everyone – I think some signs would not hurt.
I think it’d be helpful if the bike rack marked by the green arrow was painted an eye-catching color. We rode our bikes to The Marley last weekend for brunch and even though I knew the bike rack was there (thanks to DM’s previous story), I had to search a bit to find it because it blends in with the surroundings. Or maybe I was distracted by my the complaints of my children saying they were hungry!
I guess you can lead a Schwin to a bracket, but you can’t make ‘em link.
I had a hard time finding the bike rack by the Marley when I went looking for it a while back. I knew it was there, so I persisted my search until I found it.
I think shady organic parking is always preferable over a bike rack in the sun.
I never noticed a bike rack, I will look for it next time! Thanks for the heads up.
@Golazo: You made my night. Thanks.
I think that bike in front of Watershed is abandoned. I walked by it today and the chain is messed up.
How about secured bike parking? I never stop when I ride, because someone might steal my bike, which I’ve had for 30 years. Have the bike rack under lights or, if you have valet parking, valet and watch over the bikes, too. The Wrecking Bar does that.
That’s a great idea. I was thinking of that seeing all the creative bike parking during the Book Festival. Could we establish a cadre of valet volunteers and Decatur Active Living partnership to man a valet bike park for City events? I’d volunteer for that.
is it wrong to not use a bike rack, just because it;s there?
i mean you don;t have to use bike paths either, assuming they ever go where you want to go
wle
That’s true, but there’s an expectation that the city will probably invest in additional bike racks over the next several years so it’s helpful to get a sense now of what does and doesn’t work. Simply to reduce money potentially wasted.
Some fun options to consider.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqnjvvVmBbU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTPFrww6zdA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcSD5MsQuVo
Have to confess, I cycled the the Marley yesterday and after looking around (unsuccessfully) for a bike rack, I ended up locking it to the railing along with the half dozen bikes that were chained up there. Are we sure this crowd sourced bike rack actually exists and is not just a cruel Photoshop trick being played on us by DM?