Originally Posted by
livedarklions
I think we're running into a regional perspective thing here, because that diagram looks like a snow clearance nightmare to me. It kind of makes my point, though, in that the spacing of the bike racks has absolutely nothing to do with the number of and location of the individual store fronts.
Large racks can be placed in parking spots on the street, btw. This arrangement works well in the few places I've seen and used it. One car space can easily accommodate about 5 bikes.
it’s pretty much the standard template for more urban areas in north america. i’m not an expert on snow clearance but this is how sidewalks are done in moderate to high density areas of chicago, milwaukee, boston, new york.
and yes, the spacing of the racks has little to do with individual entrances. like on-street parking for cars, the spacing of the bike parking is based on other fixtures of the public right of way like trees and curb ramps and utility vaults and so on. new construction is still required to provide them in many places but it’s within a radius of the front door, not directly and exclusively adjacent.
agreed that the “bike racks in a parking space” thing works very well in locations with parallel street parking. we have quite a few of those here.
anyway, this is not rocket science. it’s a “problem” which has been solved in a number of ways, very cheaply, all around the world. i’m not just making this up or speculating - as i mentioned above i’m a licensed architect in multiple states and have designed and built projects which in aggregate include a thousand or more bike parking spaces/racks. it’s not an undue burden on a new business or building to add them in nearby public ways, and it’s not a significant cost for the city to add them on their own to areas without them or without the short term prospect of new businesses.