These things are self-reinforcing because as things stand bikes can't be used for commuting by most people because the infrastructure doesn't exist. Make it easier and safer to bike, and you'll see the demographics shift.
Another part of this problem is affordable housing. People can't live close to where they work. Reduce this problem along with improving biking infrastructure and you'll see an uptick in biking.
"Several businesses along Valencia Street have posted signs in their windows that read[...]"
Sure. Several businesses said the same thing about protected bus lanes, but studies have shown it's increased business for those on the path, because it makes it possible for _more_ customers to actually access their businesses.
Cars are fundamentally worse than public transportation or biking for small businesses as a whole, as they reduce density, and further consolidation, which favors larger businesses and hurts small businesses. The problem is that business owners tend to be drivers and their biases don't line up with reality, which is why you tend to see their personal politics interfere with their business interests.
This is one of those things that smacks of HN people thinking the world operates to their whims and fancies.
Go over to Amsterdam and see how little bicycling actually gets done outside of the core that HN loves to throw up as this cycling utopia.
Real people have real world needs. Bicycling meets very few of those. Especially in places that have barely four months of precipitation-free bicycling weather. Please stop thinking the world is like the urban cores of a handful of cities.
In the Netherlands around 30% of people cycle to their work. [1]
In Belgium around 32% cycle to their work. [2]
I would think that is a significant amount no?
I cycle to my work every day. It is around 9 KM and takes me around 20 minutes. For rain you have a rain suite, for winter you have a jacket. The amount of times I took the car in rainy Belgium is 4 times in 2023 because of storm conditions.
As more and more people are starting to see the hassle free transportation method of cycling, they also start taking the bike and infrastructure keeps improving.
I live in Seattle and have a mid tail cargo bike. I regularly shop at the local nursery, hardware store, or Costco on my bike. My bike configuration can carry about one full but not overflowing shopping cart. Because I don't need to stop at stop signs (wa state law) I make roughly the same time to my destinations within about 5-8 miles. I also never need to worry about parking.
I have a seat that a kid can sit in comfortably for school drop off.
I carry rain pants and a waterproof shell in my cargo pockets on the bike, and my helmet has a magnetically held visor. Once you have a waterproof shell, weather is really not a deterrent until it's physically difficult to move the bike.
So, it's a mode of transport that covers nearly every trip, in nearly every condition, nearly year round.
When I go to the country to visit family, I take my bike. I can navigate just as well, but much slower in rural areas (most people drive faster on rural roads than in urban areas and the distances are longer.)
I'm also (believe it or not) a real person. Bikes absolutely work for real people who live real lives.
One of the comments in the article says “The times I've visited Munich, the thing that stood out the most was seeing regular-ass working folks in business attire, dresses, whatever, riding every kind of bike you can think of- mostly old, well maintained steel” this has been my experience in various German cities, seeing guys going to work on a construction site riding a bike.
Are you talking about bicycling as it exists in the US / Canada as you previously constrained your post to? or are we now talking about the usefulness of a bicycle globally?
I live in Groningen, NL and most people I know (of all income brackets) cycle to work if they have a job in or near the city. It’s the default form of transportation in this city (and often much faster than going by car).
woziacki’s income bracket also doesn’t apply here. You can get a decent second-hand bike here for 200-300 Euro (more than an order of magnitude cheaper than a car) and maintenance is much cheaper than a car, plus no vehicle taxes, road insurance, etc.
I love Utrecht. It's a wonderful city to live in and it's what Amsterdam claims to be in the tourist brochure. There are wonderful coffee shops like the village, bicycle shops like repack, microbrewery like de krommerharring, there's a nice collection of restaurants, and I can walk basically everywhere I don't actually need a bike. If you are bored in the weekend you can take a kayak and float around the canals. And when I do ride, it's less than ten minutes before you get out of the city into trails in the forest or roads. And it's only a 60km ride to the beach if that's your sort of thing. Utrecht is a happy place to live.
Maybe you should take a step back, and reconsider whether arguing that people who ride bikes "are not real, or do not have real world needs" makes any sense.
Nothing that you have written is original. These are the usual arguments against micro-mobility. They don't stand scrutiny, and they are actively being disproven across a growing number of locations around the world, small and large.
I'm not sure this is true. It's very common that people cycle in the rain, from towns 15-20+km away, all seasons, in the Netherlands. People further away commonly take the train and take one of the ov fiets for the last bit. I would like to see statistics from the Dutch government before I believe your anecdotes. The bike parking garage at my work in Utrecht seems to be full no matter what is going on outside.
Another part of this problem is affordable housing. People can't live close to where they work. Reduce this problem along with improving biking infrastructure and you'll see an uptick in biking.
"Several businesses along Valencia Street have posted signs in their windows that read[...]"
Sure. Several businesses said the same thing about protected bus lanes, but studies have shown it's increased business for those on the path, because it makes it possible for _more_ customers to actually access their businesses.
Cars are fundamentally worse than public transportation or biking for small businesses as a whole, as they reduce density, and further consolidation, which favors larger businesses and hurts small businesses. The problem is that business owners tend to be drivers and their biases don't line up with reality, which is why you tend to see their personal politics interfere with their business interests.