Unbridled Hostility
Blessings to you and your strength. Blessings to cyclists everywhere that
face those same selfish claims to the road replete with hostility and life threatening behavior on almost every ride. Blessings to all those people who don't cycle because of their experience with that mentality. Most of all blessings to those all over the world who have the "I me mine get out of my way" mentality so prevalent these days. "Claire Petersky" wrote in message m... Dear friends, I'm going to lay it all out here -- skip the next few paragraphs if you don't want all the background information, and realize this is going to be a long post. Recently I attended a barbecue and picnic that our city hosted to float out its proposed improvements to West Lake Sammamish Parkway (aka, the lake road)(http://www.ci.bellevue.wa.us/press.asp?view=20904). The lake road is a relatively flat road that connects the end of the Sammamish River Trail, a popular multi-use trail, with the I-90 Trail, another multi-use trail that is primarily used by cyclists and is one of the primary bike commuter corridors of the region. The lake road is shady, has lots of trees, and peak-a-boo views of Lake Sammamish and the Cascade mountains. When I was a kid, Lake Sammamish was a location for little summer cabins. Now, there are multi-million dollar chateaux on the lake. Lakeside slopes on the other side of the Parkway, originally thought too steep to build on, now have fancy homes with views of the lake. The existing roadway was installed about 50 years ago. Since this time, the road bed has been patched here and there. About 20 or 25 years ago, a bike lane was added on the west side of the street, and the idea has been ever since that this lane was to accommodate bike traffic going both north and south. The east side of the roadway is a mess for cyclists -- deterioriating and patched concrete; uneven and cracked pavement, especially near the fog line; illegally parked cars, boats, and trailers on the public right-of-way; shoulders that suddenly disappear with no warning; a roadway that crumbles at the fog line at times, with an immediate gutter and grass (and therefore no bail-out room). Traffic volumes on the road have skyrocketed over the years, as the road helps connect suburban homes with the Microsoft Corporate Campus. Speeding is endemic. If you are headed north and choose the road over wrong-way cycling on the bike lane, you will have people passing you on a narrow roadway at 40+ mph. The high motor traffic volumes and speeds are potentially deadly to pedestrians. One of my child's classmates, an 8 year old boy named Billy, was struck by an SUV this last school year while attempting to cross the road to catch a school bus. He survived, but still struggles with brain injury-related disabilities. The north end of the lake road runs through the City of Redmond, and I assisted in the successful political effort to repave the roadway, and create a pedestrian and bicycle facility on the east side of the road. These improvements will stop dead now at the City line. From my perspective, West Lake Sammamish improvements are a no-brainer. Right now it looks like the side road to Bubba's Moonshine Shack, not a proud boulevard running by multi-million dollar homes. Of course the roadway needs to be resurfaced. Of course we need a safer environment for cyclists and pedestrians. More traffic means more we need to improve the road, not keep it in a deteriorated condition, hoping that all those cars, bikes, and pedestrians will just go away. The bbq was not widely publicized -- it was mainly aimed at people who live along the Lake Road, as opposed to spandex-clad activists. I found out about it surreptiously. Respecting the City's wishes not to rile up the residents attending, generally I did not reveal myself to be the chair of the city's Bike-Ped Advisory Group. Instead, I came up to people and said things like, "Oh -- do you live on the lake road? What are your concerns?" I was stunned by the unbridled hostility from the lake side residents. They hate bicycles. Cyclists don't care about property values. Cyclists don't have to ride bikes. They certainly could choose to ride somewhere else. Who cares about safety. Safety is not important. No children are ever going to want to walk on West Lake Sammamish anyway. (Since Billy was struck, that might be true -- how many parents are going to have their child catch the school bus on that road these days? Hm? They're going to drive that kid in the SUV to school instead, doncha think?) Repaving the road will just encourage more speeders. Adding a shoulder or bike lane will just encourage more speeders. We will hire lawyers. We will fight these improvements tooth and nail, and we have the money to be able to do that. The City had better watch out. In sum: we hate bicyclists. We hate pedestrians. We hate anyone using the road for any other purpose other than to drive to their lakeside or lake view home. And the operative word here is *hate* -- the level of emotional venom was bracing. After the bbq, I felt I needed a decontamination room from absorbing so much bad feeling. And this without saying, "hi, I'm a cyclist who was an activist regarding the Redmond effort", or "I chair the city's bicycle/pedestrian advisory group". This was without stirring up their hornets' nest of hostility. When people voiced their feelings, I did not do any defense of the proposed improvements, the needs of non-motorized transportation, etc. I just listened. The day and lord knows, the hour will come, when I will not be just sitting there politely listening. I will be actively organizing, testifying, writing, facilitating. There may have been only a few bicycling and pedestrian activists at the bbq, and we kept our profile pretty low. There will be scores of them at other fora, just like we had in Redmond, and we will speak out. The prospect of this level of negative emotional energy that I am going to provoke is scary for me. I will need to draw on my meditation training to keep myself logical, focused, and at the same time, compassionate and open-hearted. Pray for me, friends, pray for me. Warm Regards, Claire Petersky ) Home of the meditative cyclist: http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm Singing with you at: http://www.tiferet.net/ Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at: http://bookcrossing.com/friend/Cpetersky |
Unbridled Hostility
I'm going to lay it all out here --
snip OK, how was the food? -- _______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly, the Texas Elvis"------------------ in.edu__________ |
Unbridled Hostility
In article ,
(Claire Petersky) writes: Adding a shoulder or bike lane will just encourage more speeders. We will hire lawyers. We will fight these improvements tooth and nail, and we have the money to be able to do that. The City had better watch out. If they can afford lawyers for all that, they surely could afford to put up for some traffic calming measures, which can be quite decorative (double-duty as planters, etc). Such beautifications can actually enhance property values. Better than a shabby, decrepit old road, anyways. In sum: we hate bicyclists. We hate pedestrians. We hate anyone using the road for any other purpose other than to drive to their lakeside or lake view home. And the operative word here is *hate* -- the level of emotional venom was bracing. Sounds like the old gated community/seige mentality thing, and hate springing from fear of the "different" people (viz: cyclists and pedestrians). The City of Vancouver has addressed such fears as increased speeds, increased crime and decreased property values along our bike routes, with an online FAQ for residents along such bike routes. Here's an excerpt: (http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/engs...residents.htm_ --- "4.How will a bicycle route affect my street or neighbourhood? Will crime increase? Will property values decrease? You likely will not notice much change on your street. For example, we have observed over 60 cyclists per hour during rush hour on many existing routes in Vancouver. In comparison, a typical local street may have 100 automobiles during that same time. Traffic calming measures (such as medians, diverters and traffic circles) are proposed to reduce non-local car traffic on the bikeway and are often viewed by residents as positive additions to a neighbourhood. Previous studies indicate that property values and crime rates are not affected by bike routes. Cyclists on bike routes, like commuters in cars, are generally headed to a specific destination and are not interested in lingering in neighbourhoods. Unlike automobile commuters, cyclists travel at slower speeds and may provide an 'eyes on the street' presence in the neighbourhood." --- So, maybe these Lake Road residents can be sold on the idea of the road improvements, with a little, gentle, marketing approach. Gotta be gentle with scaredy-cats. cheers, Tom -- -- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca |
Unbridled Hostility
The resistance of the mansion-dwellers to bikes near their homes is due to simple, primitive thinking. They feel that if people on lowly, cheap vehicles can pass nearby, then their most substantial display of conspicuous consumption will be degraded. In their minds, their million dollar plus houses are there to put them at a status level untouchable by common folk. They're mostly Nouveau Riche-----lots of newly-acquired money and few of the redeeming qualities of the better types of humanity. Don't bother confronting or trying to reason with them, but find ways to ignore or bypass them. They contribute little to bettering society outside of their own elitist interests. Figure out how to avoid pulling their chains too hard and you won't likely hear much from them. However, if the current bill in Congress to abolish bikepath funding and rail-conversions passes into law, this type of fat-cat will score a big one over us and much of what I've said will be moot. There must be a few hardcore right-wingers out there who are also serious bicyclists. Can you imagine how confused and frustrated their thinking processes must be these days? Steve McDonald |
Unbridled Hostility
On 2003-07-25 at 17:23:04 PST Claire Petersky
) wrote: The prospect of this level of negative emotional energy that I am going to provoke is scary for me. the answer is easy: seek strength in numbers. organize NOW to turn out riders from all over the seattle area at the hearing(s). get the cascade bike clubs advocacy folks working with you to turn out as many riders as possible. recruit other cyclists who ride the route to carry flyers with them and hand them out to all the other cyclists. finally, do some advance legwork to find out how the city council and county council members involved stand on the issue. if necessary, find cyclists close to them (in business, as acquaintances, or politically) to speak to them personally. if you can determine the undecided council members, make sure they get a LOT of mail on the topic (in my past organizing efforts around community planning issues, i've found that check-the-box pre-addressed postcards work VERY well, and they are easy to hand out). now that you've heard all the bogus arguments, prepare logical statements to counter the emotional arguments. talk about fairness. talk about the fact that there's no way to eliminate the road, so it should be fixed to be safe. |
Unbridled Hostility
In sum: we hate bicyclists. We hate pedestrians. We hate
anyone using the road for any other purpose other than to drive to their lakeside or lake view home. =v= The word "impede" derives from putting shackles on feet. Similarly, the word "expedite" derives from freeing the feet. Those driving that road are shackled to their polluting beasts and all that entails, and are insane with rage over those who are free. _Jym_ |
Unbridled Hostility
I think what Claire has run into is your typical people who think, now
that they're wealthy (or maybe because they've always been wealthy), they can throw money at anything they personally don't like, for whatever reason, and make it go away. Sounds like the spoiled brats need to learn a lesson. -- Trudi "And, with that cryptic comment, I'm going to bed." --Mike, Mystery Science Theater 3000 ____ Say NO to secret judging and corruption in skating -- support SkateFAIR! http://www.skatefair.org |
Unbridled Hostility
"Eric S. Sande" wrote in message ...
I'm going to lay it all out here -- snip OK, how was the food? Grilled weinies, buns, condiments and the usual collection of what our family terms "hot dog vegetables" (sauerkraut, relish, pickles, onions); chips; sodas and water. I think watermelon would have been a nice touch, would have complemented the summertime feel of the event, would not have significantly added to the expense, and would have balanced out the junk food on offer. But this is the City paying for all this free food (and for people who could well afford to pay for it), so you can't demand too much. I noticed it was the few cyclists there who were trying to get more than their allotted share of one weinie. Warm Regards, Claire Petersky ) Home of the meditative cyclist: http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm Singing with you at: http://www.tiferet.net/ Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at: http://bookcrossing.com/friend/Cpetersky |
Unbridled Hostility
|
Unbridled Hostility
(Dennis P. Harris) wrote in message . ..
On 2003-07-25 at 17:23:04 PST Claire Petersky ) wrote: The prospect of this level of negative emotional energy that I am going to provoke is scary for me. the answer is easy: seek strength in numbers. Actually, we have strength in numbers. We got 500+ people to join Friends of Lake Sammamish (http://www.lakesammfriends.org/) as a part of the Redmond effort. We had dozens of people for every Redmond City Council meeting ready to testify. The Redmond City Council requested us to please, please, please *stop* all the damn letters and emails because they were being snowed under by all the people (primarily bicyclists, some pedestrians) contacting them in support of the project. One of the things that was very helpful was having *local* residents speak on the behalf of the project. As a Bellevue resident, I mostly kept my mouth shut publicly, and having a Seattle person speak would have been at best neutral. One thing that will help is that out of my forty-ahem years of life, all but ten of them have been spent as a Bellevue resident. You know about the popsicle index? It's a measure of the quality of life for a community, and it works like this: it's the percentage of people who would feel comfortable sending their kid to the local convenience store to buy a popsicle. When I was a kid, my best friend lived on the lake (when normal people could afford to live on the lake), and we'd walk from her house to the Little Store to buy popsicles. I can tell that story, and ask, what's the popsicle index for that road today? Outside agitators, especially spandex clad and from Seattle, are highly, highly suspicious. If you say you are a local resident, when you come in with your kids, when you talk about safety for your children, not just yourself -- these are winners. What would be great would be to find a lakeside resident willing to speak on the behalf of the project, but peer pressure is very great. On the Redmond project we had lakeside residents tell us privately that they supported the City's improvements, but didn't dare say anything because they have to live next door to all these people for the rest of their lives, and don't want to stick their necks out. I am fairly confident about having the numbers, but that doesn't mean that I won't be a target for all this hostility. In fact, the more numbers, the more we'll of course rile them all up. These improvements were floated about 8 or 10 years ago, and there was a huge firestorm, and the whole thing was abandoned. The city planner associated with the project quit. The advocates on our bike-ped group who lived through it back then all say they want nothing to do with it this time. finally, do some advance legwork to find out how the city council and county council members involved stand on the issue. if necessary, find cyclists close to them (in business, as acquaintances, or politically) to speak to them personally. The mayor does a little recreational riding herself, which is more than you could usually hope for. now that you've heard all the bogus arguments, prepare logical statements to counter the emotional arguments. talk about fairness. talk about the fact that there's no way to eliminate the road, so it should be fixed to be safe. They wouldn't want to *eliminate* the road, just put gates on either end of it, and keep the non-residents out. As for the arguments, they're pretty clear: enhance property values, increase safety for everyone (bicycles and peds, sure, but also motorists too), support cycling to *reduce* the numbers of cars that are commuting (the residents on the road consider car commuters to be close to agents of the Dark Lord). Yes, we don't have to ride our bikes past their homes. If rb*'s own Dane didn't ride his bike past their houses on his way to work, he might be driving his car. If I didn't take my kids on our tandem on the bike lane on that road on the weekend, maybe I'd be driving past their house, driving ourselves to a different location to ride bikes. Who makes a smaller impact -- more cars or our bikes? The argument I don't have is that widening the roadway for the bike lane will steepen already very steep driveways. Basically, people have built homes on slopes that are nearly clifflike. If you make a larger flat area where the road is, some people's driveways will get even steeper. It's physically the only way it can work. Already, firefighters can't get their trucks up and down these driveways. They have to connect hoses from the road to be able to reach the homes, either up from the road or down from the road. They can connect hoses very fast -- that's their job -- but considering how long these driveways are, it may not be fast enough. One family's fancy house burnt to the ground because the driveway was too steep for the fire trucks. My gut feeling is, it's your own damn fault for buying a house on a slope that shouldn't have been built on in the first place. Erosion and its results have damaged the ecology of the whole area. Your trade-off for your great view may be an increased risk of having the thing burn to a cinder -- live with it. But I can't say that, now can I? After all, the counter is: you enjoy riding your bike, you have the increased risk of being whacked by cars -- live with it. Warm Regards, Claire Petersky ) Home of the meditative cyclist: http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm Singing with you at: http://www.tiferet.net/ Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at: http://bookcrossing.com/friend/Cpetersky |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 03:10 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
CycleBanter.com