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Bike Walk Life Archive - page 4


Mobility as a Hobson’s choice

As more people want to live somewhere with better transportation choices, many communities are promoting their walkability and similar features. But every time a person moves to a “walkable” or “bikeable” neighborhood, they end up driving everywhere anyway. I think our towns are presenting us a Hobson’s choice. keep reading →


Braess’s paradox: why traffic seems to always get worse

If you’ve ever wondered why our overall traffic congestion never improves, no matter how many new roads we build, then the answer is Braess’s paradox. It states that adding more roads to a network can actually slow down traffic. That may seem counter-intuitive, but we can plainly see it happen in all of our modern towns. keep reading →



Biking for Coffee #7.

Biking for Coffee: Coffeeneuring 2021, trip #7

This is the seventh, and final, entry in my 2021 Biking for Coffee series. As part of this year’s Coffeeneuring Challenge, I’m documenting each of my rides on video to show what a typical bike commute can look like in my community. keep reading →


Biking for Coffee #6

Biking for Coffee: Coffeeneuring 2021, trip #6

This is my sixth video in my Biking for Coffee series. As part of this year’s Coffeeneuring Challenge, I’m documenting each of my rides on video to show what a typical bike commute can look like in my community. keep reading →


Biking for Coffee #5

Biking for Coffee: Coffeeneuring 2021, trip #5

This is my fifth video in my Biking for Coffee series. As part of this year’s Coffeeneuring Challenge, I’m documenting each of my rides on video to show what a typical bike commute can look like in my community. keep reading →


Biking for Coffee #4

Biking for Coffee: Coffeeneuring 2021, trip #4

This is my fourth video in my Biking for Coffee series. As part of this year’s Coffeeneuring Challenge, I’m documenting each of my rides on video to show what a typical bike commute can look like in my community. keep reading →




Biking for Coffee #1

Biking for Coffee: Coffeeneuring 2021, trip #1

I'm experimenting with a new project for the Coffeeneuring Challenge this year. I'll document each of my rides with a GoPro camera. The idea is to show the good, the bad, and the ugly of bike commuting, or at least of biking for coffee. People who don't bike commute often have difficulty imagining what biking is even like, which then gets reflected in our haphazard infrastructure. Hopefully, videos like this can demystify some of the bike commute experience. keep reading →


A satellite map showing parking lots.

Parking lots, our nationwide addiction

The average American is suspicious of, if not hostile to, public transportation spending. Sometimes these feelings are practical concerns based on past failures, and sometimes they're ideological. But that opposition all goes out the window once we discuss parking lots. keep reading →


A photograph of three homes, chicopee.
Photo credit: Chris Arnade, from his "Walking America, part 1."

Chris Arnade's "Walking America" blog shows what it's like to walk through American towns.

Chris Arnade has been writing about America's poor communities for a while now. His book, Dignity, is was one of my favorite books in recent years. Now he's started a new blog on Substack called Intellectual Inting, where he is publishing a series of posts called "Walking America." keep reading →




"Good morning!"

One big rule of bicycle etiquette is to warn other people when you approach to pass them. Most cyclists around here shout "on your left." I use a bell, since I don't like shouting at people, but either one works. This past week, I encountered another technique in the wild. keep reading →