Show me your rack...

You've waited so long, you've been so patient. So here it is:

THE RACK RANT

Shoreline, show me your rack. Not that one! I can see that one at the coffee stands. No, show me your bike rack. Is there a local business with a bike rack? Not many. In fact I can literally name every business in this town with a bike rack because those are the business I frequent the most. And even those racks are woefully inadequate.

For example, the Safeway on Aurora Ave. N, does indeed have a bike rack. However, the rack is not at all in any way shape or form, secured to the cement it stands on. Numerous emails and in-person requests have failed to get this issue addressed. Oh and watch out for rats when you lock up there.

There is not a single coffee establishment in Shoreline with a bike rack. Businesses that do enjoy bike business either didn't install them (came with the property) or rely on customers being willing to lock up to a sign. Have you ever made the horrible mistake of locking up to a handicapped sign because it was the only stable place to lock? I have.

Earth forbid you try to eat at a local establishment. You're definately lockig up to a sign now. Or a post of some kind. This pretty much tells every cyclist passing through Shoreline "Your money isn't good enough," you could be willing to spend hundreds in their establishment, your bike could've cost you thousands. But a place to lock up? Pshaw! Your own fault if you didn't have the luxury of buying a folding bike. Oh, and good luck taking that folding bike inside, as the news has so recently shown, someone could call the cops on you. I once went to that little Greek restaurant and grocery by the Goldie Casino and had to lock up by the dumpster. Talk about unappetizing.

With a critical trail running through Shoreline you'd think there would be bike racks and bike parking aplenty. You would be hilariously mistaken. In spite of the hundreds that pass through our fair city, few stop, few would want to stop, and even fewer would endure such elitist treatment. Never mind that lost business, the cyclists who would rather ride to or live in Seattle, Redmond, etc.. than deal with the crap Shoreline throws at them.

But I'm not just going to tell you what's wrong. Besides our just amazingly stupid bike rack design at City Hall which still has not been fixed in spite of numerous attempts to convince them its dumb as fuck,

No, dear reader, I'm going to give you a solution, nay the most simple equation to fix this problem:


For every 5 car spots there needs to be one bike rail. For every 10 parking spots there needs to be a bike rack.

No exceptions.

Its that simple. Businesses don't want to install them? Then those businesses don't get car parking allotted to them. Think your businesses doesn't need bike parking? Ask your employees. Rent your space of business? Demand the property manager install them.

Until there's a bike rack you can kiss off getting my business or getting my recommendation.

Now, show me your rack, baby.

Shoreline City Hall, Bike Racks, and Hilarity

     Shoreline is an awkward area. Part suburb, part conglomerate shops, and a dash of industrial. But you can measure a city's enthusiasm for cycling by how well it directly accommodates, well, cyclists. Before I come across as a grumpy curmudgeon, I love art. I am well acquainted with whimsy, in fact the charge of being eccentric has been leveled against me many a time. That said, the bike rack in front of Shoreline City Hall needs an overhaul. I get that they were going for reeds, reeds are kind of a big deal here, and they're super pretty. But reeds evolved to be reeds, not bike racks. I'm not even going to start on the problem of locking a bike side to side. In the below pictures you'll see my bike. What you won't see is my fiance's bike, who could not lock up beside me. I guess the holes in the top are supposed to be for your handle bars, which sadly angles the bike so that its impossible to park next to, and that brings me to the glaringly obvious problem.

I honestly can't imagine how this got installed in the first place. There's nothing preventing a thief from lifting your bike and negating whatever lock you have, U-lock or chain, as they quickly make off with your ride. Below is the discussion, via twitter, I had with the City regarding the rack: 

This was on Sept. 26th 2014, or thereabout. I plan on biking out this week to see if there's any changes. I'm not going to get my hopes up. This is the city of incomplete sharrows, the town of missing racks (ever try to park your bike at the Shoreline DMV? No really, some of us just need an I.D.), and the center of the forgotten sidewalk (bonus points if you've ever narrowly missed hitting the lamp pole in the middle of the sidewalk on N. 145th) 

I have very little faith that something is done. What will probably be done is just a regular rack. One of those standard-bars-too-close-together affairs. I'd like to see something else though, I think Shoreline should try again for an artistic design, but this time aim for something that can actually be used. Who knows, maybe people who work at City Hall might start biking to work themselves if they had a place park. 

You can help me by tweeting at Shoreline City hall to demand change, or by making hilarious videos of locking up to the rack and post them on the web.