i wish that every American who wants to ride a bike without constant fear could live in Cambridge with me. It's def not perfect, but it's not too far from it.
‘Take the lane’ just isn’t a strategy that needs to be deployed very often. Cargobikes hauling kids everywhere. Few places you can’t get to directly and safely. More places can do this.
@bikepedantic We need to make it more affordable for people to move to Cambridge. We also need to build many more Cambridges around the country, so everyone can benefit, not just those who can afford to live in the handful of places like this.
@db @bikepedantic The AHO (and it's expansion) and parking min elimination plus the MBTA communities law are excellent compliments to the CSO
@DemonHusky definitely on both counts. a more ambitious Alewife Quadrangle plan than what i've heard snippets of would be my biggest unmet desire. @db
@bikepedantic @db Mass Ave with buildings only 1 story is the biggest lack of ambition in the city. Serious ability to increase car-light housing, lowering the cost of living here
@DemonHusky this resident less than 200' from a one-story vacant building fronting onto Mass will be ranting in favor of skyscrapers when teh N Mass Ave plan ever kicks off @db
@bikepedantic @DemonHusky @db In practice, there is just no desire to really think of Cambridge as a city. Councillor Mallon today was speaking against tall buildings for affordable housing. While I have long been a supporter of hers, if she can't wrap her head around the value of enabling affordable housing via height and density, the chance of success more broadly is just so low that I lose hope.
Porter Square should look like North Station, and the surrounding area should mirror that.
@crschmidt yes to all. That is really really disappointing to hear about Mallon. @DemonHusky @db
@crschmidt @bikepedantic @DemonHusky @db Porter should look like Union.
@Ofsevit @bikepedantic @DemonHusky @db Union right now is not a thing I would aspire to. But maybe it will be good in a decade or two.
@crschmidt @bikepedantic @DemonHusky @db it's certainly tall!
@Ofsevit @bikepedantic @DemonHusky @db Not one of these buildings is even 2/3rds of the height of Avalon North Station.
And while one of them can reasonably be called tall, the other two aren't even that.
@crschmidt @bikepedantic @DemonHusky @db yeah but taller than 9 STORIES OMG YOU WILL KILL MASS AVE
@db @bikepedantic Somerville and Boston are following Cambridge's lead with bike infra, Belmont and Arlington are even making some progress. A true regional upgrade is a work in process
@bikepedantic I only ever take the lane around here when an unprotected lane is blocked by a car.
@Kevin and then you can look at a calendar, and see when that unprotected lane is getting its required-by-law upgrade
@bikepedantic yeah it’s pretty fantastic
@bikepedantic @Kevin I want to be happy for you, but we're supposed to be getting 50 miles per year *by law* and our meathead cop mayor is just like "what are you gonna do, write me a mean letter?" 😭
@Andres4NY a sketch--comedy show with a cast entirely made up of NYC mayors would be such a big hit, just such a parade of awful @Kevin
@bikepedantic @Kevin Or a sitcom. de Blasio as Kramer, Bloomberg as Jerry or Elaine, and I can't decide if Adams or Giuliani should be George.
@adamfishercox otoh, de Blasio's tall and wears goofy outfits and dropped a groundhog like some kind of furry Junior Mint.
@bikepedantic
Yes please