Yesterday, in "Windshield Bias," I described the way bike issues are covered in the media and how it's affected public perceptions and policy. I focused on how the stories are covered in Boston because the question of media coverage came to my attention via a Boston Streetsblog stories.
One thing I touched upon is the perception vs. reality of "bicycle friendliness." I mentioned that it's a relative term. Sure, there are bike lanes and "safety" laws in some jurisdictions. But, on the whole, the US is a motor-centric country and most policy and planning is done by people who don't cycle, walk or even take mass transportation.
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| Photo by Samantha Carey, for Boston magazine. |
Recently, Boston was chosen as America's eighth- most "bike friendly" city by Clever, a real-estate data company. Of course, such a study by a real estate data company is suspect. Still, some will give it credibility. But not everyone, according to a survey done by Boston.com.
Respondents echoed many of the observations and complaints I've made in this blog, including bike lanes that appear and end abruptly, snow that is plowed and debris dumped into them, and hostile drivers. On the other hand, other respondents echoed what you hear from bike-phobic folks everywhere: "They're taking away our parking spaces!"
What the survey confirms, for me, is something that one respondent expressed--and I've said, as recently as yesterday, on this blog: "bicycle-friendly" is a relative term, at least in the United States of America.
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