The pro-parking manifesto that the Center City Resident's Association board is pitching is extraordinarily regressive and at its core it sniffs: "You bicyclists and pedestrians only got the bike lanes and traffic calming measures because we privileged Pine + Spruce property owners allowed it back in 2009 – out of the goodness of our hearts. Don't ask for more." • What has happened since 2009?: automobiles have gotten bigger (an average of a foot wider and two feet longer), heavier (now averaging 4,000 lbs) and faster ( the average 0-60 mph time is now under 8 SECONDS even for SUVs, with EVs pushing even faster). Worst of all, automobiles are getting taller (40-inch and up hood heights are common.); this means children, women and shorter pedestrians and people riding bikes are more like to be crushed underneath and seriously injured/killed when motorists drive into them. We need to be protected from these machines, whose owners may not even realize their deadly potential.
• Beyond car design, the convenience/delivery economy, boosted by the years of Covid isolation, has skyrocketed. • The residents and property owners of Spruce and Pine would be hard-pressed to find a better location to live car-free or car-light. AND YET (in a move that echoes the phony MAGA victim culture) CCRA and the Society Hill Civic Association leaders (ignoring much of their younger membership) declare that their very lifestyle depends on maintaining illegal parking in bike lanes (a dishonest "compromise" that was wangled 16 years and 4 Mayors ago). They turn their heads from the awful toll of traffic violence, and insist that easy automobility is more important than the lives of Philadelphians who bike and walk these same streets.
• As a Business Member of the CCRA, I (and many others) DO NOT SUPPORT this selfish push against protected bike lanes by a tiny motorist minority (they are obviously such, as space prohibits all but a few from jamming an SUV into Center City; those motorists count on the rest of us walking/biking/using transit/carshare and especially, just staying out of their way).
•• For years now, real traffic calming measures, especially protected bike lanes, are saving lives (and slowing climate change AND raising property values) all over the globe: in Paris, Amsterdam, London, and yes, in Jersey City and NYC. • It's long past time for progressive leadership at the CCRA and Society Hill Civic, leadership that doesn't place the convenience of an already-privileged few over the safety of so many Philadelphians who walk and bike the streets of our beautiful Center City.
Sincerely, – Michael McGettigan (PHL pedestrian since approx. 1955, CC resident since 1997, owner of Trophy Bikes since 1998).
I was at the meeting where CCRA decided to fight this (OTIS presented their plan for no stopping and concrete barriers). First, someone spoke on behalf of the recently killed CHOP doctor Barbara Freides noting how concrete would have saved the life of their friend and amazing human being. The next person to speak was this guy who lives on Spruce who literally said if they put the concrete, he wouldn't be able to drop off his camping equipment in front of his house. This is the privilege we're dealing with here.
No one wants bicyclists killed in our neighborhood. For elderly Rittenhouse residents, however, double parking alongside a bike lane and jay walking across it to off-load stuff to a residence risks very significant injury. They are slower and brittle, and bicyclists do run down pedestrians.
The City should require bicyclists to have liability insurance. It's a relatively inexpensive and progressive product that socializes risk. Some bicyclists may have this coverage under a homeowners or renters insurance policy. It is rather unwise to self-insure this risk.
I've never seen the opposite- someone who lives on the opposite side of the street as the bike lane stopping their car in the roadway. No, it's always stopping in the bike lane, and in that case, crossing a far more dangerous lane of car traffic.
One of the saddest aspects of the pro-parking CCRA (and Society Hill Civic) is their refusal to recognize that the motoring lifestyle has an expiration date. We had to "ground" my dad, pretty much, and at 70, I am nearing the end of my safe driving career. Many, many CC residents do not and cannot drive – and they are certainly slower and more brittle than the tall front end of a silent, fast, hybrid SUV being driven by a older motorist with slow reflexes and vision issues. Mr. Faust's absurd call to require insurance for cyclists reveals that he simply wants to clear away the cyclists that he imagines hinder his progress. He may not know how under-insured the majority of drivers are in PA, nor care about the incredible carnage a single vehicle can wreak – as has become increasingly common in our city. (Consider how many autos have we seen UPSIDE DOWN on Spruce and Pine sidewalks after horrific crashes!) We don't need to imagine a more civil town– we can see right now what Paris – and Jersey City – and NYC are doing with protected bike lanes and traffic calming. Let's build it now and make us all safer. - mcget/trophybikes PHL (SWCC homeowner and Business Member of the CCRA – which never asked my opinion of their Parking Preservation Drive!)
Mike, it's not absurd to call for bicyclists to carry liability insurance. It is prudent and responsible. If you run down a wealthy resident, you potentially may without coverage incur financially destructive liability. If you run down and badly injure an elderly person of modest means, their finances will be eviscerated. Bicyclists may presently self-insure, but that is folly.
Bicyclists do not hinder my progress. Our family does not own a car and we very rarely drive a rental. We have a bike lane on our side of our street. We supported it when a number of neighbors objected.
Dear Mr. Faust: Kindly name one Western country where cyclists carry liability insurance. Such calls are a dog whistle to bike haters. Conversely, as a lifelong Philadelphian, I have lost count of the lives changed and ended by traffic violence. THAT is why our laws require motorist to carry insurance. You seem to have no regard for that, and instead conjure up the minuscule threat that cyclists cause, as they are aboard machines that are slow and weigh far less than the 3-and 4-ton monsters that are the number one (or number two, depending on how GUN deaths are counted) killer of American children. Can you name the last three motorists who killed Philadelphians? Please put your efforts into completing a protected bike lane, AND more traffic calming AND more loading zones on EVERY block of Spruce and Pine, and enjoy a safer, more humane Center City. It works in Paris and Portland and Germany and Jersey City. It will work here as well. Thank you. Sincerely, Michael McGettigan / trophy bikes PHL
The pro-parking manifesto that the Center City Resident's Association board is pitching is extraordinarily regressive and at its core it sniffs: "You bicyclists and pedestrians only got the bike lanes and traffic calming measures because we privileged Pine + Spruce property owners allowed it back in 2009 – out of the goodness of our hearts. Don't ask for more." • What has happened since 2009?: automobiles have gotten bigger (an average of a foot wider and two feet longer), heavier (now averaging 4,000 lbs) and faster ( the average 0-60 mph time is now under 8 SECONDS even for SUVs, with EVs pushing even faster). Worst of all, automobiles are getting taller (40-inch and up hood heights are common.); this means children, women and shorter pedestrians and people riding bikes are more like to be crushed underneath and seriously injured/killed when motorists drive into them. We need to be protected from these machines, whose owners may not even realize their deadly potential.
• Beyond car design, the convenience/delivery economy, boosted by the years of Covid isolation, has skyrocketed. • The residents and property owners of Spruce and Pine would be hard-pressed to find a better location to live car-free or car-light. AND YET (in a move that echoes the phony MAGA victim culture) CCRA and the Society Hill Civic Association leaders (ignoring much of their younger membership) declare that their very lifestyle depends on maintaining illegal parking in bike lanes (a dishonest "compromise" that was wangled 16 years and 4 Mayors ago). They turn their heads from the awful toll of traffic violence, and insist that easy automobility is more important than the lives of Philadelphians who bike and walk these same streets.
• As a Business Member of the CCRA, I (and many others) DO NOT SUPPORT this selfish push against protected bike lanes by a tiny motorist minority (they are obviously such, as space prohibits all but a few from jamming an SUV into Center City; those motorists count on the rest of us walking/biking/using transit/carshare and especially, just staying out of their way).
•• For years now, real traffic calming measures, especially protected bike lanes, are saving lives (and slowing climate change AND raising property values) all over the globe: in Paris, Amsterdam, London, and yes, in Jersey City and NYC. • It's long past time for progressive leadership at the CCRA and Society Hill Civic, leadership that doesn't place the convenience of an already-privileged few over the safety of so many Philadelphians who walk and bike the streets of our beautiful Center City.
Sincerely, – Michael McGettigan (PHL pedestrian since approx. 1955, CC resident since 1997, owner of Trophy Bikes since 1998).
I was at the meeting where CCRA decided to fight this (OTIS presented their plan for no stopping and concrete barriers). First, someone spoke on behalf of the recently killed CHOP doctor Barbara Freides noting how concrete would have saved the life of their friend and amazing human being. The next person to speak was this guy who lives on Spruce who literally said if they put the concrete, he wouldn't be able to drop off his camping equipment in front of his house. This is the privilege we're dealing with here.
Why no mention of the loading zones that are going in for drivers so they won’t suffer while allowing cyclists and pedestrians to live?
I hate that CCRA purports to speak for all Center City residents. They've never asked me what I think.
The next step should be a concrete divider river to river.
No one wants bicyclists killed in our neighborhood. For elderly Rittenhouse residents, however, double parking alongside a bike lane and jay walking across it to off-load stuff to a residence risks very significant injury. They are slower and brittle, and bicyclists do run down pedestrians.
The City should require bicyclists to have liability insurance. It's a relatively inexpensive and progressive product that socializes risk. Some bicyclists may have this coverage under a homeowners or renters insurance policy. It is rather unwise to self-insure this risk.
I've never seen the opposite- someone who lives on the opposite side of the street as the bike lane stopping their car in the roadway. No, it's always stopping in the bike lane, and in that case, crossing a far more dangerous lane of car traffic.
One of the saddest aspects of the pro-parking CCRA (and Society Hill Civic) is their refusal to recognize that the motoring lifestyle has an expiration date. We had to "ground" my dad, pretty much, and at 70, I am nearing the end of my safe driving career. Many, many CC residents do not and cannot drive – and they are certainly slower and more brittle than the tall front end of a silent, fast, hybrid SUV being driven by a older motorist with slow reflexes and vision issues. Mr. Faust's absurd call to require insurance for cyclists reveals that he simply wants to clear away the cyclists that he imagines hinder his progress. He may not know how under-insured the majority of drivers are in PA, nor care about the incredible carnage a single vehicle can wreak – as has become increasingly common in our city. (Consider how many autos have we seen UPSIDE DOWN on Spruce and Pine sidewalks after horrific crashes!) We don't need to imagine a more civil town– we can see right now what Paris – and Jersey City – and NYC are doing with protected bike lanes and traffic calming. Let's build it now and make us all safer. - mcget/trophybikes PHL (SWCC homeowner and Business Member of the CCRA – which never asked my opinion of their Parking Preservation Drive!)
Mike, it's not absurd to call for bicyclists to carry liability insurance. It is prudent and responsible. If you run down a wealthy resident, you potentially may without coverage incur financially destructive liability. If you run down and badly injure an elderly person of modest means, their finances will be eviscerated. Bicyclists may presently self-insure, but that is folly.
Bicyclists do not hinder my progress. Our family does not own a car and we very rarely drive a rental. We have a bike lane on our side of our street. We supported it when a number of neighbors objected.
Dear Mr. Faust: Kindly name one Western country where cyclists carry liability insurance. Such calls are a dog whistle to bike haters. Conversely, as a lifelong Philadelphian, I have lost count of the lives changed and ended by traffic violence. THAT is why our laws require motorist to carry insurance. You seem to have no regard for that, and instead conjure up the minuscule threat that cyclists cause, as they are aboard machines that are slow and weigh far less than the 3-and 4-ton monsters that are the number one (or number two, depending on how GUN deaths are counted) killer of American children. Can you name the last three motorists who killed Philadelphians? Please put your efforts into completing a protected bike lane, AND more traffic calming AND more loading zones on EVERY block of Spruce and Pine, and enjoy a safer, more humane Center City. It works in Paris and Portland and Germany and Jersey City. It will work here as well. Thank you. Sincerely, Michael McGettigan / trophy bikes PHL
Mike, you may now parry with others. I'm going to do some work.