Comments on: Today’s Headlines http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/10/30/todays-headlines-208/ Covering San Francisco's livable streets movement Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:16:10 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: tommy http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/10/30/todays-headlines-208/comment-page-1/#comment-51811 tommy Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:12:37 +0000 http://sf.streetsblog.org/?p=76521#comment-51811 as a white person, i'm not offended by the "too white" phrase. if you say "diversify," this is vague. ages? genders? social groups? But to make the portland folks feel better, i think the reason is what pylondude pointed out. relatedly: i went on the "san jose bike party" last month and noticed how very many racial/ethnic minorities there were. the ride has gotten so big, this time there were three starting points. refreshingly, one of the three was on the east side, which is mostly mexican as well as vietnamese and filipino. bike party is a great thing for san jose. 4,000 riders last time! as a white person, i'm not offended by the "too white" phrase. if you say "diversify," this is vague. ages? genders? social groups?

But to make the portland folks feel better, i think the reason is what pylondude pointed out.

relatedly: i went on the "san jose bike party" last month and noticed how very many racial/ethnic minorities there were. the ride has gotten so big, this time there were three starting points. refreshingly, one of the three was on the east side, which is mostly mexican as well as vietnamese and filipino. bike party is a great thing for san jose. 4,000 riders last time!

]]> By: pylondude http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/10/30/todays-headlines-208/comment-page-1/#comment-51581 pylondude Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:48:39 +0000 http://sf.streetsblog.org/?p=76521#comment-51581 Bike Portland: "Is Our Bike Scene Too White? Well, I haven't been to Portland for about 15 years but when I did visit, their free weekly Willamette Week, had a cover story that was titled (I am not kidding) "Honky Town!" (it stuck with me all these years) At that time Portland was apparently the whitest city in the country. I'm sure it's more diverse now but it doesn't surprise me that they're asking that question of their bike scene. Bike Portland: "Is Our Bike Scene Too White?
Well, I haven't been to Portland for about 15 years but when I did visit, their free weekly Willamette Week, had a cover story that was titled (I am not kidding) "Honky Town!" (it stuck with me all these years) At that time Portland was apparently the whitest city in the country. I'm sure it's more diverse now but it doesn't surprise me that they're asking that question of their bike scene.

]]> By: mikesonn http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/10/30/todays-headlines-208/comment-page-1/#comment-51531 mikesonn Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:24:11 +0000 http://sf.streetsblog.org/?p=76521#comment-51531 "Too White" sounds like it is white people's fault for biking. While I agree with the premise, maybe saying "How can we diversify our bikers?" would be a better way of stating it. This ties back into the parking issue here in the city, that transportation is a great place to wage the fight for social justice. Also, I find it interesting that people were complaining how limited the capacity on BART is, but don't follow that back to funding issues. People just want whatever mode they are using to be the best funded (doesn't matter that when they drive, they fight against transit funding). San Francisco Transit Oriented Design mentioned something similar to this the other day, but it can be applied to right-of-way as well as funding. http://sftod.com/2009/10/15/modal-bias/ "Too White" sounds like it is white people's fault for biking. While I agree with the premise, maybe saying "How can we diversify our bikers?" would be a better way of stating it. This ties back into the parking issue here in the city, that transportation is a great place to wage the fight for social justice.

Also, I find it interesting that people were complaining how limited the capacity on BART is, but don't follow that back to funding issues. People just want whatever mode they are using to be the best funded (doesn't matter that when they drive, they fight against transit funding). San Francisco Transit Oriented Design mentioned something similar to this the other day, but it can be applied to right-of-way as well as funding.
http://sftod.com/2009/10/15/modal-bias/

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