http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/12/17/livable-streets-are-good-for-health-in-the-heartland-too/ Covering the New York City Streets Renaissance Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:07:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/12/17/livable-streets-are-good-for-health-in-the-heartland-too/comment-page-1/#comment-60719 John Deere Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:51:40 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/?p=5146#comment-60719 Yeah, this has got to be the dumbest post of the year on what has become an increasingly whiny streetsblog. What is this road built for: driving, moving farm equipment, hauling grain to market, moving cattle between pastures, walking, and biking. It can do all of that (unless you live in streetsblog's alternative universe). 30 years ago, I grew up on a farm road like this, and somehow managed to bike, walk, ride horseback to our pastures, fields, and neighbors without Streetsblog's help. It's got traffic density of say, one vehicle an hour. Do you guys who post this stuff on streetsblog actually *ever* ride bikes on roads that don't have bike lanes? I have to wonder, because the "party line" here has been that a road only becomes bikeable once there's a special marking for bikes. Makes you wonder how people actually rode bicycles before streetsblog came along. I'd love to bike on a road like this (except for the occasional dusting). My relatives are farmers in Nebraska, and they go for casual walks on roads like this. Oh, and did you know that the longest planned rail-trail in the USA is in Nebraska? Oh, and let's not to mention the complete lack of being in touch with basic reality here: does a lightly populated rural state like Nebraska have the tax base to put in a sidewalk and bike lane to every rural resident? Can most people bike to their jobs 20 - 30 miles away in some town every day? Yeah, this has got to be the dumbest post of the year on what has become an increasingly whiny streetsblog. What is this road built for: driving, moving farm equipment, hauling grain to market, moving cattle between pastures, walking, and biking. It can do all of that (unless you live in streetsblog’s alternative universe). 30 years ago, I grew up on a farm road like this, and somehow managed to bike, walk, ride horseback to our pastures, fields, and neighbors without Streetsblog’s help. It’s got traffic density of say, one vehicle an hour. Do you guys who post this stuff on streetsblog actually *ever* ride bikes on roads that don’t have bike lanes? I have to wonder, because the “party line” here has been that a road only becomes bikeable once there’s a special marking for bikes. Makes you wonder how people actually rode bicycles before streetsblog came along. I’d love to bike on a road like this (except for the occasional dusting). My relatives are farmers in Nebraska, and they go for casual walks on roads like this. Oh, and did you know that the longest planned rail-trail in the USA is in Nebraska?
Oh, and let’s not to mention the complete lack of being in touch with basic reality here: does a lightly populated rural state like Nebraska have the tax base to put in a sidewalk and bike lane to every rural resident? Can most people bike to their jobs 20 – 30 miles away in some town every day?

]]> http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/12/17/livable-streets-are-good-for-health-in-the-heartland-too/comment-page-1/#comment-60678 Shemp Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:50:49 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/?p=5146#comment-60678 You guys may want to work on your laugh-tests and cultural versatility a bit more before making big statements about photos like the one above. Should the NE State DOT really swoop into unpopulated places with sidewalks, bikeways and bus service? What would be wrong with walking down the edge of a deserted rural dirt road as is? Would it be that terrible on a mountain bike? There's probably a reason they haven't bothered to pave it. You guys may want to work on your laugh-tests and cultural versatility a bit more before making big statements about photos like the one above. Should the NE State DOT really swoop into unpopulated places with sidewalks, bikeways and bus service? What would be wrong with walking down the edge of a deserted rural dirt road as is? Would it be that terrible on a mountain bike? There’s probably a reason they haven’t bothered to pave it.

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