Bikes don’t work well in rural or suburban communities and so if you are for it, then you are one of the “urban liberals” and so I must oppose you at all costs.
Of course there are also urban conservatives that are against cycling but we have a name for those, idiots people with a financial interest in the current car centric infrastructure
Bikes don’t work well in rural or suburban communities
It can work to an extent in some of those places too, it’s just the infrastructure and sprawl has gotten so bad. Small towns in Europe often have quite good cycling infrastructure and public transport, for example.
But I agree with your overall point that the culture and politics of surburban/exurban/rural areas are a big part of it (along with the history that drove people from the cities to these areas in the first place).
The major problem against cycling for rural/suburban, people have a commute that makes cycling impossible. I happen to work in the same small town that I live in but I still can only bike to work during the summers when the kids are out of school and my wife is home.
rural communities also used to have better rail infrastructure as well. With our current car prioritizing infrastructure, you are going to have a hard time convincing rural people give up the agency that a automobile gives them with regards to being able to have a career, grocery shop, get their kids to school, etc.
Hopefully remote work can fix that first problem as that will help the other issues as well.
It’s pretty much just rural vs urban divide.
Bikes don’t work well in rural or suburban communities and so if you are for it, then you are one of the “urban liberals” and so I must oppose you at all costs.
Of course there are also urban conservatives that are against cycling but we have a name for those,
idiotspeople with a financial interest in the current car centric infrastructureIt can work to an extent in some of those places too, it’s just the infrastructure and sprawl has gotten so bad. Small towns in Europe often have quite good cycling infrastructure and public transport, for example.
But I agree with your overall point that the culture and politics of surburban/exurban/rural areas are a big part of it (along with the history that drove people from the cities to these areas in the first place).
The major problem against cycling for rural/suburban, people have a commute that makes cycling impossible. I happen to work in the same small town that I live in but I still can only bike to work during the summers when the kids are out of school and my wife is home.
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Pretty sure bikes have serviced rural communities since well before cars were a thing
rural communities also used to have better rail infrastructure as well. With our current car prioritizing infrastructure, you are going to have a hard time convincing rural people give up the agency that a automobile gives them with regards to being able to have a career, grocery shop, get their kids to school, etc.
Hopefully remote work can fix that first problem as that will help the other issues as well.
The safety bike was invented in 1885 and the model T was invented in 1908. So the precar bike heyday was pretty short.
Nah, people love bikes in the suburbs where I live. Maybe it varies by state!
The Mennonite rural communities near me are all absolutely dependent on bikes to maintain their lifestyle.