bike parking hall of fame/hall of shame (was bike parking at stores, libraries and other major destinations)
I previously started this topic with a slightly different focus. I'd like to keep the info we've already gathered and encourage you all to add more. The goal is to collect data for a project I'm pursuing with a few folks to improve bike parking in the city.
Please post comments about Chicago businesses whose bike parking is either good (to say thanks) or needs improvement. Include identifying information - name of business, address, and what is good or not so good about their bike parking.
Photos are useful if you can get 'em. If you have multiple businesses you'd like to mention, feel free. They can be big chains (Jewel, Dominick's, Walgreens, Home Depot, etc.), franchises (hardware or fast food stores, for examples), or independent businesses.
If you talk to a store manager about the issue, tell us if you got any positive results.
Thanks for all your info! It would be great if we can get better bike parking at the majority of stores and restaurants in bike-accessible locations in the next few years. Your info can help make that possible.
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I've had an ongoing discussion with a few people about the lack of good bike parking at most grocery stores, drug stores, etc.
County Fair (a family-owned independent) at 108th & Western has city racks out front. Riding there to shop is a piece of cake.
Jewel and Dominick's stores typically have no racks at all or one rack installed so close to a wall that it can only be used by a few bikes, or one rack in a location where it's always surrounded by shopping carts - not bike friendly. Walgreens stores near me have wheel bender racks similar to this.
The nearest CVS has a city rack out front near the door, which is well used, but the one on their own property is so far from the flow of traffic and installed so close to the wall that it's never used.
There's a new public library on 95th St. that opened less than a year ago. It has a 10-bike rack near the front door. Guess what? It's installed so close to the wall nothing with wheels larger than 20" can be secured to it with a U-lock. It usually has no more than 2 bikes locked to it, then people start locking to the nearby benches and fence.
Meanwhile, another perfectly good 10-bike rack goes unused, because it's tucked away in the corner of the parking lot, out of sight from where most cyclists approach the library.
Which grocery store, pharmacy and library are your usual stops? Do they have good bike parking? Tell us about what's good or bad about the bike parking at these places or other frequent destinations. Curious minds want to know.
Please post comments about Chicago businesses whose bike parking is either good (to say thanks) or needs improvement. Include identifying information - name of business, address, and what is good or not so good about their bike parking.
Photos are useful if you can get 'em. If you have multiple businesses you'd like to mention, feel free. They can be big chains (Jewel, Dominick's, Walgreens, Home Depot, etc.), franchises (hardware or fast food stores, for examples), or independent businesses.
If you talk to a store manager about the issue, tell us if you got any positive results.
Thanks for all your info! It would be great if we can get better bike parking at the majority of stores and restaurants in bike-accessible locations in the next few years. Your info can help make that possible.
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I've had an ongoing discussion with a few people about the lack of good bike parking at most grocery stores, drug stores, etc.
County Fair (a family-owned independent) at 108th & Western has city racks out front. Riding there to shop is a piece of cake.
Jewel and Dominick's stores typically have no racks at all or one rack installed so close to a wall that it can only be used by a few bikes, or one rack in a location where it's always surrounded by shopping carts - not bike friendly. Walgreens stores near me have wheel bender racks similar to this.
The nearest CVS has a city rack out front near the door, which is well used, but the one on their own property is so far from the flow of traffic and installed so close to the wall that it's never used.
There's a new public library on 95th St. that opened less than a year ago. It has a 10-bike rack near the front door. Guess what? It's installed so close to the wall nothing with wheels larger than 20" can be secured to it with a U-lock. It usually has no more than 2 bikes locked to it, then people start locking to the nearby benches and fence.
Meanwhile, another perfectly good 10-bike rack goes unused, because it's tucked away in the corner of the parking lot, out of sight from where most cyclists approach the library.
Which grocery store, pharmacy and library are your usual stops? Do they have good bike parking? Tell us about what's good or bad about the bike parking at these places or other frequent destinations. Curious minds want to know.
Views: 3887
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on
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Man, I hope so. If the GOP agenda included the wanton destruction of shitty, useless excuses for bike racks I might feel compelled to vote again.
On a more rational note, has anyone considered the possibility that what is pictured there might be the result of bike theft?
Duppie said:Is this indicative of what will happen to bike racks in Chicago if you vote republican?
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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on
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That was exactly my thought. Some bike thief may have broken this poor excuse for a rack to steal bikes. Either that or it got hit by a car.
Michael Perz said:On a more rational note, has anyone considered the possibility that what is pictured there might be the result of bike theft?
Duppie said:Is this indicative of what will happen to bike racks in Chicago if you vote republican?
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Permalink Reply by samantha on
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I don't know how I missed this discussion before , but I'm glad I found it! I blog a little about bike parking on my bike blog - I focus on grocery stores and have made a recent foray into Walgreens. I hope you don't mind if I borrow your hall of shame idea and feature a store/location that lacks decent bike parking about once a week on my blog? Also, just so you know, the city of Chicago has some great resources for businesses that want to install bike parking:
1). Request a city-installed bike rack on public property near your establishment (individuals can request too)
http://www.chicagobikes.org/bikeparking/index.php
2). A nifty pdf brochure on "bike parking for your business"
http://www.chicagobikes.org/pdf/bike_parking_business.pdf
3). Complete specs on the best type(s) of bike racks to install, how to install them, and where, with what spacing, etc
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/provdrs/bike/svcs/b...
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I'm aware of those resources, but thank you for mentioning them again so that people newer to this discussion are aware of them.
If you want to feature the hall of fame/hall of shame idea on your blog, go for it! We can collectively promote these ideas: that bike parking will bring more customers for less cost than car parking, that more shopping by bike will reduce traffic congestion, and that shopping by bike is better for your health than shopping by car. The more we get this idea out there to fellow shoppers and to store owners and managers, the sooner we'll see improvements. Raising awareness is our biggest hurdle right now.
Could you post a link to your blog? Other Chainlinkers might want to check it out.
I live in Beverly (far south side), where there are some other like-minded people who use bikes as their primary transportation. Too many others are in their minivans and SUVs. When I take my cargo trailer for groceries, it almost always starts a conversation or two. I use those opportunities to raise awareness a few people at a time.
samantha said:I don't know how I missed this discussion before , but I'm glad I found it! I blog a little about bike parking on my bike blog - I focus on grocery stores and have made a recent foray into Walgreens. I hope you don't mind if I borrow your hall of shame idea and feature a store/location that lacks decent bike parking about once a week on my blog? Also, just so you know, the city of Chicago has some great resources for businesses that want to install bike parking:
1). Request a city-installed bike rack on public property near your establishment (individuals can request too)
http://www.chicagobikes.org/bikeparking/index.php
2). A nifty pdf brochure on "bike parking for your business"
http://www.chicagobikes.org/pdf/bike_parking_business.pdf
3). Complete specs on the best type(s) of bike racks to install, how to install them, and where, with what spacing, etc
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/provdrs/bike/svcs/b...
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Permalink Reply by magomawe on
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I can't believe people have trouble with the racks at Performance. I actually like them. They take up less space since the bike is somewhat vertical, you don't have to bend over as far, people can't block bike parking by putting their bike longways across several spots, and they're pretty easy to use. My u-lock easily locks up my frame and front wheel (though a mini u-lock probably wouldn't work well). The racks aren't as thick as other wavy ones, but I'm not locking my bike up this for hours on end or overnight. Sure they look confusing at first, but I'd find it hard to believe that it would take someone more than a few seconds to figure out where the wheel goes.
Anne Alt said:That's exactly what I was wondering when I was standing in front of those racks.
Davo said:Im confused. What would be the proper way to lock to one of those racks? They look like they just welded metal hangers upside down to a piece of tubing all willy nilly.
Liz said:performance has had those terrible racks for years. No one can use them properly. I've seen many nice bikes unlocked outside that store simply because there aren't many good ways to lock. One would think a bike shop would try and install usefull racks for its customers.
Anne Alt said:Last night I stopped at Performance on Halsted for a few things. For years, they had one rack that was only suitable for end locking or over-the-top placement. Haven't been there in a while and discovered they now have 3 racks, none of them easy to use for secure locking.
There were 2 of these goofy racks I wasn't sure how to use (vertical bike placement?) and one wheelbender. It was obvious that I wasn't the only one who couldn't figure these out and didn't want to use the wheelbender. Will Performance ever get
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Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on
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> The bike rack spaces at Performance are spaced too closely together so nearby bikes conflict and touch. I guess the spaces can slide along the rack, but bike rack users shouldn't have to "operate" a bike rack except for the ones like at the Millennium Park Bike Station that assist the user in loading their bike into the top rack.
> The bike rack is wobbly.
> The bike rack only holds the front wheel and doesn't reach my frame so I can't lock it correctly.
> The bike space wheel well isn't fender-friendly - the rack interferes and kind of crushes the fender or stretches the fender guides (okay, this part is hard to explain).
> The bike racks are too close together and only one person can be maneuvering their bike in or out at once.
This is a better rack choice for when there's no suitable mounting surface.
Matt Wehrmann said:I can't believe people have trouble with the racks at Performance. I actually like them. They take up less space since the bike is somewhat vertical, you don't have to bend over as far, people can't block bike parking by putting their bike longways across several spots, and they're pretty easy to use. My u-lock easily locks up my frame and front wheel (though a mini u-lock probably wouldn't work well). The racks aren't as thick as other wavy ones, but I'm not locking my bike up this for hours on end or overnight. Sure they look confusing at first, but I'd find it hard to believe that it would take someone more than a few seconds to figure out where the wheel goes.
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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on
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This thread is new to me.
It might be lack of proper caffination levels this morning but try as I might I can not find a link to this "hall of fame" anywhere in this thread. I haven't yet searched each and every page thoroughly but I've spent 5 minutes looking for it and can't seem to locate anywhere.
I'd like to see it.
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I put this thread out there for gathering "hall of fame/hall of shame" info, so I have not posted any link up to this point. Steven Vance recently put a related page online. Thank you again, Steven!
James Baum said:This thread is new to me.
It might be lack of proper caffination levels this morning but try as I might I can not find a link to this "hall of fame" anywhere in this thread. I haven't yet searched each and every page thoroughly but I've spent 5 minutes looking for it and can't seem to locate anywhere.
I'd like to see it.
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Permalink Reply by David on
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I'm not the biggest fan of the bike racks at Performance, but I also think that bike parking analysis should consider the nature of the business and nature of the traffic rather than just look at the rack in isolation. Performance fits a lot of possible bike parking into a very small space, putting U-racks into that space would dramatically reduce the amount of parking. Yes, it gets crowded and bikes can touch at busy times, but that's better than running out of parking. Besides, only one bike at a time is going to be able to get in and out of that small space regardless of the type of racks you put there.
I agree that bike parking at performance doesn't provide for secure locking, but that's significantly ameliorated by the fact that visits are usually very short, there's constant theft-aware traffic, and the parking area is visible from inside the store. I could be reading the registry wrong, but I don't think there's ever been a reported theft from outside Performance.
On the flipside, I'd say the worst bike parking in the city is outside Union station/Ogilvie, even though it consists of a very large number of supposedly excellent U-racks. But the fact that most Union Station parking is somewhat long-term combined with the placement of those racks in non-trafficked isolated areas makes Union Station the bike theft center of Chicago.
Steven Vance said:> The bike rack spaces at Performance are spaced too closely together so nearby bikes conflict and touch. I guess the spaces can slide along the rack, but bike rack users shouldn't have to "operate" a bike rack except for the ones like at the Millennium Park Bike Station that assist the user in loading their bike into the top rack.
> The bike rack is wobbly.
> The bike rack only holds the front wheel and doesn't reach my frame so I can't lock it correctly.
> The bike space wheel well isn't fender-friendly - the rack interferes and kind of crushes the fender or stretches the fender guides (okay, this part is hard to explain).
> The bike racks are too close together and only one person can be maneuvering their bike in or out at once.
This is a better rack choice for when there's no suitable mounting surface.
Matt Wehrmann said:I can't believe people have trouble with the racks at Performance. I actually like them. They take up less space since the bike is somewhat vertical, you don't have to bend over as far, people can't block bike parking by putting their bike longways across several spots, and they're pretty easy to use. My u-lock easily locks up my frame and front wheel (though a mini u-lock probably wouldn't work well). The racks aren't as thick as other wavy ones, but I'm not locking my bike up this for hours on end or overnight. Sure they look confusing at first, but I'd find it hard to believe that it would take someone more than a few seconds to figure out where the wheel goes.
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Ah, I see.
I blame lack of coffee.
It would be nice to see such a site -but I"m afraid it'll be just as unused and unloved as the Chicago section of MyBikeLane.com.
It's be cool if people actually cared enough to use it and it actually did some good.
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Throwing this out there in case you, or anyone else, wants to improve the bike parking at Union Station. Amtrak owns Union Station and would be in charge of any facility changes. There's a large indoor space (in the older building) that was originally designed to be an indoor kiss & ride drop off area for people driving. This was/is considered for interior, sheltered bike parking. Write or email Amtrak.
David said:On the flipside, I'd say the worst bike parking in the city is outside Union station/Ogilvie, even though it consists of a very large number of supposedly excellent U-racks. But the fact that most Union Station parking is somewhat long-term combined with the placement of those racks in non-trafficked isolated areas makes Union Station the bike theft center of Chicago.
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Well my friends, I have launched my own Bike Parking Hall of Shame on my Chicago Biking Blog. My goal is one post every Friday. If you've got photo's and locations send 'em to me at ddlr at dingdingletsride dot com. If you don't mind me re-posting any of your mentions here, let me know. I'm going to keep my focus on Chicago locales...and yeah, I'm focusing on the 'shame' part not the 'fame' part. ;-) Thanks!
Here's the link to my first entry: http://dingdingletsride.com/2010/11/19/bike-parking-hall-of-shame-a...
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