The basic premise is that if you make it a place that people want to ride bicycles and walk and hang out you will attract people and make money. The full article is here:
There IS a Bicycle Economy, Two Cities Find
for the record the article is written by A.K. Streeter for Treehugger.com and pointed out to me by the local Bicycle Preacher!Here's another version with a little bigger write up I just found:
How Bicycling Creates Economic Impact: A Tale of Two Cities
By Leon Kaye | October 4th, 2012
Protected bike lanes in New York have boosted local businesses
I live over in Carson City and this last week I heard one of the oddest comments from a worker at Grocery Outlet. I had biked over there on my way to a doctors appointment to pick up snacks. There's no bike rack! I tied my old faithful up to a sign and remarked to a worker that I had gotten to know from past years, that there was no bike rack and why not?
ReplyDeleteShe quickly looked around and said 'because it attracts the homeless and other riff raff'. WTH? I said 'I'm not homeless or riff-raff'. 'I know', came the reply, 'but there is a lot of that around!'