Please nominate feedback by replying with “remark of the week” or “COTW” so I can extra simply discover them through search. Thanks.
This week’s COTW is about the advantages of bicycling that aren’t all the time front-and-center in debates about coverage, tasks, and politics — and why these advantages don’t change relying on geography and shouldn’t succumb to the whims of what “is sensible” for an elected official. Reader Lois Leveen’s preliminary remark touched off a energetic set of responses and he or she followed-up with an evidence of why she believes bicycling is necessary and worthy of help citywide.
I’ve shared her follow-up remark under:
Maybe my preliminary remark misled individuals into pondering that local weather disaster is the one measure of public well being or public good. It isn’t. I bike commute 18 miles roundtrip to my job. My office is just not very simple to get to on public transit and bicycling requires a selected dedication due to our location, even for people who reside nearer to our office. But my colleagues who commute by bike typically describe their commute as among the best components of the day. I haven’t heard that from any of those that drive to campus, regardless that they’re the overwhelming majority of my coworkers. Oh, and though it’s anecdotal, I’ve seen my driving coworkers get sick much more than I do. So sure, we want individuals to grasp the emotional, cognitive, psychological, and bodily advantages of bicycling and strolling. And the social advantages of all of these and of taking public transit. I typically work together with mates/acquaintances I occur upon throughout my commute. I additionally get to work together pleasantly with strangers simply by saying hey as I move them. Transit riders can have the identical social interactions (please spare me the feedback about how harmful public transit is; statistically, drivers of motor automobiles are injuring and killing and threatening far more than individuals on transit).
And likewise only a reminder, even with considerable clear power (which we don’t and certain by no means can have), electrical vehicles, vans, and SUVs would nonetheless pollute, as tires on the street trigger devastating air pollution and so does the manufacture of electrical automobiles. And electrical automobiles nonetheless injure and kill when pushed recklessly; in actual fact, drivers’ potential to speed up sooner in electrical automobiles — even when not pushed aggressively — makes them deadlier in collisions. So, um, yeah sorry to disappoint everybody who went sideways in response to my preliminary remark however public good/public well being takes many types and authorities ought to advance relatively than undermine it.
They don’t name it the “comedy of the commons”, nor the “romance of the commons”.
I selected this remark as a result of I recognize when somebody stays engaged with a thread and doesn’t simply comment-and-run. I additionally like how Leveen took time to increase on her level and shared her views with out going destructive on different street customers (or readers). As for the contents of her remark, I feel provided that societal breakdown is the reason for lots of our issues, the constructive affect of non-driving modes on group (re)constructing is one thing that deserves extra consideration.
There have been some very energetic, high-volume remark threads currently. (I’m undecided why.) However with only one moderator (hello!) as of late, I’m very grateful at how productive and considerate nearly all of them are. Thanks everybody for serving to make BP feedback a helpful platform and useful useful resource.
Keep in mind to answer with “remark of the week” or “COTW” if you wish to nominate a remark this coming week.
