Submitted by mistersmiley318 t3_z7ynz5 in washingtondc
Reply to comment by firewarner in NPS and DDOT moving ahead with road redesign in East Potomac Park. One vehicle lane on Ohio Drive from the East Potomac Golf Course to Hains Point and back to Buckeye Drive will be replaced with a dedicated bicycle and pedestrian lane. Work expected to begin next month by mistersmiley318
I'm 100% in favor of the bike lane. It makes things safer for everybody. I was responding to the proposal to ban cars- which would very effectively force out a large base of black and hispanic park users who drive there for large picnics.
Different people use the parks in different ways. That's great, and should be celebrated and protected. But the bikers are the whitest and wealthiest group apart from the golf crowd, and the picnic crowd is the poorest and blackest. If you ban cars, you're effectively forcing the picnickers out of the park. And you don't see how that's problematic?
>I'm 100% in favor of the bike lane. It makes things safer for everybody.
Cars are the problem in the park. Cars are what killed 2 pedestrians last year. This paint on the road does nothing to solve the problem.
The fundamental problem is that you cannot get rid of cars without forcing out a huge portion of the park's users who use it for things you need a car to use it for. And that group of users is poorer and blacker than the race bike crowd, by a lot.
Shockingly, the NPS has to balance the needs of different groups of park users in ways that best serve the needs of all users, not just one group of them. You want the park to only serve people like you, which is why you are a selfish and somewhat racist git.
Again, you're fixated on white cyclists for some reason. But if you ever spent time in the park you will see people of all races cycling and walking around the park. How dare they want to do that safely!
And last I checked owning a car is a lot more expensive than owning a pair of tennis shoes or a bike.
Yes it is and that's a reason I am glad to not just have one bike but two of them. I went to the bike shop saw one for what I felt was a decent price when they were scarce and got it. It's mine no insurance, no car note just paid the $500 or so dollars and I instantly have a means of transportation.
This proved to be a game changer because I no longer had to ride the bus and deal with people's shenanigans there. Nor did I have to wait for a bus again I could just take my bike out and do what I needed to do.
During Covid that proved to be even more important as I could avoid people a lot and go out to the National Arboretum and be somewhere I could just relax.
A few months later I got a folding bicycle to make traveling with a bicycle even more convenient.
Again. No car note paid less than $1,000 for both bikes which is a lot less than people are going to even spend on a car in the first place. Don't have to worry about gas either.
You can get an electric bike for $1,000 or even a cargo bike for more but no matter what of those options you take you would save money on a car.
Shoot buy a bike for each family member and you still save a truck load of money
I raise it because this is one of those "structural racism" things the kids talk about.
Yes, the cyclists are a pretty racially diverse group. It's great. But it's a far whiter crowd than the picnickers, who are nearly 100% minority, so forcing the picnickers out would have a disproportionately harmful impact on minority groups.
And while bikes are on average cheaper than cars, the car is a necessary tool for most people, while every bike I see down there is ridden for fun, not for practical transportation. They're $5000+ toys. It's also worth noting that housing close enough to the core to bike to everything is far, far more expensive than the difference between car ownership or not. Recreational cyclists, especially the captial C Cyclists, are a wealthy bunch, no two ways about it.
The fact that you need this stuff explained to you is pretty disturbing, TBH. Did you crash without a helmet one too many times?
Can you read? This isn't just about cyclists. A large number of pedestrians use the park. They would benefit if we closed off part of it to cars.
The pedestrians arrive in cars. So no, they wouldn't.
Hanes Point is an isolated location that is pretty much entirely inaccessible without some sort of personal vehicle. If you ban cars, you are forcing everybody who is not willing or able to bike there out, aka everyone who doesn't use the park exactly like you do. It's not all about you. Learn to fucking share.
Hey dipshit, there would be parking available on the perimeter of the park.
Define perimeter of the park. Because the way I see it, that's exactly how it's configured now. A road around the perimeter with small lots and curb parking.
Do you mean parking on Buckeye Dr, a mile and a half away from the main picnic area, a mile and a half for people to drag their grills, coolers and large tents?
Face it bro, banning cars in the park is stupid and racially discriminatory. Stop digging. The only thing banning cars does is help cyclists. It hurts all other users.
Say that to the people who refuse to drive their motor vehicles in a responsible way. Why is that so hard to do?
Why can't they get off of their phones and pay attention to what they are doing and if they lack the ability to do that then they don't need to be in command of a vehicle that weighs thousands of pounds.
> Say that to the people who refuse to drive their motor vehicles in a responsible way. Why is that so hard to do?
I do do that. But at Hanes Point, I've flat out never seen somebody driving dangerously. People I've seen there drive slowly and cautiously and then park and go about what they're doing in the park. Obviously it happens, but most drivers behave themselves.
And drivers can't share in a responsible way if they're banned. You realize this thread is about a moron talking about banning cars entirely, not sharing, right?
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You do realize you can buy working cars for just $2000 or so, right?
How far would they have to go to do their cookouts if cars were banned?
As far as bikes being $5,000 that doesn't represent the normal folks that are on their bikes every day. Both of my bicycles combined were about $1,000. Paid in full at the time of purchase
I use my bike for recreation, yes and that's not a sin. But to be honest, I do food delivery on it, get my groceries with it bring laundry to the laundry mat. Virtually every thing I need to do or want to do is on a bicycle.
Need to carry extra passengers there are bikes for that kids? There are bikes for that.
> How far would they have to go to do their cookouts if cars were banned?
If you banned cars from the Ohio loop and forced them to park on Buckeye, a mile and a half. From the golf lot, about a mile. It's not a short loop. That is a very long way to walk lugging heavy coolers and whatnot.
> Virtually every thing I need to do or want to do is on a bicycle.
And you think that that even remotely applies or should apply to everybody, you are monumentally delusional and self centered. Not everybody lives like you or is interested in the things you're interested in. Some of them are interested in things you're not interested in, like big family barbecues in a park, moving items over 30 pounds for more than 100 feet, or having access to park space while being disabled. I get that this proposal would benefit you. I don't fucking care. It would hurt a lot of people who aren't you. Each of them has equal right to use the park.
All I'm saying is that you need to realize that a public space like Hanes Point has a variety of users with a variety of needs. Banning cars would force out a huge number of users. It's a disgustingly exclusionary proposal that only somebody who flat out resented the existence of people in any way different from them could make. So, your average capital C Cyclist, I suppose.
I think you need to go outside and take a walk.
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