Dear Boston Developers, Build These Awesome Bike Friendly Buildings

Written by Boston Biker on Sep 30

Seriously check these amazing bike friendly buildings out!

from the WSJ:

A bike valet will offer tuneups and tire changes to spandex-clad commuters and residents at Hassalo on Eighth, a multiuse residential and office complex in Portland, Ore., expected to be completed next year. At the new Vélo North Loop, a high-end rental building in Minneapolis, tenants can use the “bike kitchen”—a bicycle repair area with tire pumps and spare chain links, as well as a bike wash. A shop with trail maps and energy bars is in the works. The Cliffs, a series of golf-resort communities in North and South Carolina, has enlisted a 17-time Tour de France rider to offer group rides for homeowners and potential buyers through the surrounding countryside of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The rising popularity of cycling is driving a new type of housing: the luxury, bike-friendly development.

As cities, suburbs and rural communities race to add bike-share programs and lanes and trails for cyclists, developers and home builders are rolling out amenities designed to woo more bike riders and stand out from the competition. And by bulking up on bike-friendly amenities, developers can go after both ends of the demographic spectrum—20- and 30-somethings who want to live closer to work as well as older baby boomers looking for a more walkable, bike-able lifestyle.

Seattle’s Velo building in Fremont is built right off the Burke-Gilman bike and recreation trail. Opening this weekend, the 171-unit building, like Vélo North Loop, takes its name from the French word for bicycle (the two buildings are unrelated). It offers a bike-maintenance area as well as a bike wash and storage, both in the garage and on the main level. Apartments will also have bike-storage niches.

Read the rest here.

I don’t even care if its a “luxury” apartment, in fact I would prefer if it was an affordable one, as I am not rich. But its so easy and cheap to include bike friendly aspects to your housing design and I wish it was the standard practice for all new housing being built around here.

Things like bike rooms, bike storage areas, secured outdoor parking out of the elements, and more are easy and cheap to include in large apartment complexes, or condo builds. There is no reason that they shouldn’t be as standard as parking spaces.


submit Dear Boston Developers, Build These Awesome Bike Friendly Buildings to reddit.com Add to Reddit.


Tags: , ,
Posted in bostonbiker, news | Comments Off on Dear Boston Developers, Build These Awesome Bike Friendly Buildings

Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.