A Spring Treat


The first bike corral in my neighborhood in NW Portland was installed today in front of the Dragonfly Coffee House at NW Thurman and 24th…

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(appologies for the cell-phone quality photos)

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20 responses to “A Spring Treat”

  1. appologies for the cell-phone qualify photos

    Those are actually pretty decent quality. Maybe not as great as my phone (a Motorola MOTORAZR Maxx VE selected primarily based on the camera), but that’s OK since we’re taking about the JesusPhone. Also, doesn’t the JesusPhone or whatever you posted this from have spell check?

    Moreover, my issue with corrals like that one is that they have no protection from traffic.

  2. (apologies for the cell-phone quality photos)

    Mr. Smith;

    This sort of mediocrity is UNACCEPTABLE!
    Why bother posting such TRASH as those pictures!
    I just can’t believe that you would stoop so low!

    TTM-JK

  3. The only thing missing are the parking meters.

    (Yeah, I know that is probably a free area)

    Thanks
    JK

  4. Jason McHuff Says: Moreover, my issue with corrals like that one is that they have no protection from traffic.

    Maybe the work is incomplete. The corral on Belmont and 34th(?) is surrounded by poles (plastic and breakaway, so no help if a car plows through, but still. . .) and I thought this was a City standard.

  5. All Sam Adams has left is his bicycle agenda.
    Who came up with the word corral anyway?
    I’ll say one thing for Portland, it sure is a funny crazy kinda of city.
    After all, we do want to keep PORTLAND WEIRD!

  6. Great spot to put them. I was getting sick of walking into the street to get around all the bikes, tables and people that end up in front of that place. Nothing against them, it’s just a good idea to clear up the clutter.

  7. What’s missing are the bikes.

    The thing had literally just been installed. A few hours later there were already one or two bikes per staple.

    And, no I arrived on foot when I took the photos, so it was someone else’s bike :-)

  8. JK:The only thing missing are the parking meters.

    ws:It was a no parking zone before, and parking is way too close to the curb in NW. Cars should be more than 35 feet from the curb. Taking a turn in NW is a bit scary because your view shed is blocked of oncoming traffic.

  9. A few hours later there were already one or two bikes per staple.

    Wait a gosh darn minute there pardner, if them there bikes are parked in a corral they’d be in a stable not staple right?

    YEE HAAAA!!!!!!!!!
    RIDE EM BIKEBOYS!!!!!!!!!

  10. Anthony Says: What is so special about this? It just looks like a bike rack on the street to me?

    It’s a high-capacity bike rack and, as noted above, it keeps the parked bicycles off the sidewalk, which is particularly valuable in neighborhoods like this.

    It was also accomplished without taking away auto parking (which some would strongly object to) and dirt cheap.

  11. Indeed, I’ve seen as many as 20 bikes crammed into a bike corral on Belmont, although I think a more reasonable maximum is 15.

    Suppose for a moment that such a corral were created out of a previously for-pay automobile space.

    At the going public rate (subsidized) of $1.25/hr, that makes a bicycle spot in the former space worth 8.3 cents an hour. Hardly worth the cost of collection/enforcement. Can I use the current meters to put 8.3 cents on my debit card?

    The nice thing about bike corrals is that they can be fit into spaces where a full automobile stall is not practical, therefore coexisting peacefully in the streetscape.

  12. Maybe the work is incomplete.

    That could be. I should check out some of the ones downtown to see if they have gotten any protection.

    stable not staple

    Chris is referring to the individual racks. Those kind are called “staple racks” because they’re a little like a giant staple.

  13. Ive seen one of these on Belmont and it looked pretty trashy… most of the bikes were of the thrift store variety and they were really piled up [more then 2 per “staple”]. In a city that concerns itself in aesthetics over function, its amazing something like this could be built.

  14. Ive seen one of these on Belmont and it looked pretty trashy… most of the bikes were of the thrift store variety and they were really piled up [more then 2 per “staple”]. In a city that concerns itself in aesthetics over function, its amazing something like this could be built.

    Following that logic, I guess we should:

    1) Install more bike corrals, so they are not “piled up”.
    2) Removing auto parking spaces whereever someone parks an old junker car.

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