BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

We should have a welcoming party of some sort. Perhaps several sorts. * Join various group rides (Flock, Undies, Critical Mass, Dirty Dozen training rides, weekend hills, Reverse Keg Ride, 3-2-1, etc.). At least observe, if not actually participate. Certainly be aware of. * Guided tours of all the little back-alleys, shortcuts, cattle chutes, spaces between jersey barriers, etc. * Introduce her to the message board, and vice versa * Make two lists, your Top 5 favorite and least favorite things about getting around the 'Burgh, and send it to her ...I'm just getting started.

Welcoming party - in.

Me too, as long as it's not Friday night/Saturday during the day. If we resumed the downtown lunch meetup thing and arranged around her schedule in October that might be a nice meet/greet opportunity.

That's actually a good idea, Ben. I've been thinking about reviving the lunch thingy, too. I hope she signs on to the message board early and often. There might not be 150 regulars on here like there used to be, but I think the 40 or 50 who are on more/less frequently are as aware, informed, and engaged as any set of cyclists around the city you might otherwise find.

Her resume is strong. Did a turn with Gehl Studio architects. For what she does, that's equivalent to going to Eddy Merckx for some "cycling lessons". I am officially intimidated. I think the city may have hit the jackpot. We should have her back.

Perhaps the welcoming-party could be arranged for a (non-Friday) evening after work, so that those of us who don't work Downtown can join in...? (Given enough prior warning, it's possible I could make a lunch meet, though I do have to add 20 minutes either side for travel time.)

More on Gehl architects: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/6770735-74/peduto-urban-gehl I just have to think this is like putting a stick in a hornet's nest for Trib readers. Not only is she being paid, her former employer was European! What's next, universal health care?

More hornets and sticks: "What, a woman telling us what to do? How dare they!"

If you know what you're doing, it's quite easy to kill hornets bare handed before they can even sting. Bring on the sticks I say. I stress that this is purely a metaphor.

What I will say is that I will put my money where my mouth is and enumerate my Top 5 Pro and Top 5 Con lists for cycling in Pittsburgh. I fully expect Ms. Saunders to see this thread, later if not sooner, so let's get started. Pro 1. 713 sets of steps 2. Aging car-centric infrastructure that can handle bikes as part of the rebuilds each will need. 3. Low speed limits on most streets 4. An engaged and informed cycling advocacy community 5. City 311 system (particularly on Twitter) which is responsive to cyclists' needs 6. Bus bike racks Con 1. Too many DZBLs, particularly on hills (Liberty, Beechwood) 2. No enforcement of speed limits 3. Anti-bike sentiment 4. Non-supportive media 5. Cyclists who do not know or observe the rules 6. Expensive cost structure for public transit (a county entity, not the city) Indeed, no, I can't count.

I wouldn't mind doing a ride to work event and treat her to coffee and such in Market Square.

Pros 1. Friendly community vibe 2. Current batch of city leaders are very supportive 3. Overbuilt and decaying infrastructure presents many opportunities 4. Bike friendlier stuff in the east end showing many signs of successful infill... makes life better for many and provides a positive example when selling the vision elsewhere in the city. 5. Many ways to bike geek (diy (freecycle/kraynick's), mtb(frick/wheel mill), speed (oval/velodrome), touring (GAP), nostalgic (bicycle heaven)). Cons 1. Totally missing the boat on obvious first connectors north (east street), west (f'ed up Carson plan and absence of trail that side of the river), and south (wabash tunnel, seldom seen greenway), thus making the vision not sell outside the east end 2., Trails and trail connectors not treated as serious transportation facilities (closure of north shore trail, hazelwood trail just happened, and have been outstanding a long time, the chute and unnecessarily narrow lane up greenfield, sidewalk routing without even handicap curb cuts trail to bates) 3. No direct and new cyclist approachable connect between Oakland and Downtown 4. Hello... steps need runnels! 5. Not sure if this merits top 5, but pet peeve: Highway speeds and interchange design in the middle of Schenley park next to the playground and the purty new cycletrack

Definitely agreed that the lack of _anything_ south of the river is a problem and arguably not only fails to gain us friends but is losing us support.

In front of my house in the burbs the township put in about a 15 foot section of elevated pavement. It's called a speed table. This forces traffic to slow to 25 mph to pass over. If the car goes faster, the car will scrape it's bottom. I'd like to see calming devices like that to help with speed. http://www.huntsvilleal.gov/engineering/TrafficEng/ntcpfaq.html

Hey @scott or @p-rob, any chance you could forward this to her? I'm sure that she'd be interested in this. I could scrounge around and dig up an email that might work, but she might be more likely to take a suggestion from either of you than Some Random Dude Who Says He's From Pittsburgh. Thanks!

"Definitely agreed that the lack of _anything_ south of the river is a problem and arguably not only fails to gain us friends but is losing us support." Oh yes. Definitely yes. And I think some of the hesitation is, well you're through Mt. Washington, but what now? And I think the answer is this. First of all, getting through mt Washington, even if there's not a whole lot else for now, matters a whole heck of a lot. Even the hearty road warriors deserve a break. More importantly, if you can connect to the seldom seen greenway and on the other side to station square/the smithfield street bridge you could have an absurdly successful park and ride near the 51/west liberty intersection. The current city auto pound seems like a perfectly dandy and somewhat poetic candidate. Park and ride would also be absurdly popular on the 19 side if you build a trail and park and ride lot there... it's contiguous green around the horn over to the seldom seen side (loved saying that) so seems possible. Folks in the south hills absolutely LOATHE coming up on the tunnels and the associated snarl. It's their favorite complaint. I can say this because I grew up there. I still like complaining about it even though I never do it anymore. If you can save them even a little of that misery... tada, instant relevance.

Ultra long term goal? Connect from that via an unprecedentedly long and awesome bike/ped flyover bridge over the parkway to parkway center mall. Let the folks determined to take a car into the city stare at the more freely moving alternative above them every single day.

I'm sure we can put together a reading list for her, from message board threads and various books, 'zines, blogs, etc. For starters, she needs to read the Wabash Tunnel thread that dates from 2010.

Right now she's looking for an apartment. http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/09/15/New-overseer-for-walker-bike-program-ready-to-roll/stories/201409150030

The evil goblin that lurks inside me wants to choose for her the closest spot to Grant at Forbes that provides the greatest difficulty. Some leading contenders: * Fineview Overlook area * West End Overlook area * Troy Hill * Top of Barry/Holt/Eleanor area As for those areas that do not require climbing a hill: * Hazelwood/Flowers area * Sharpsburg (technically not in the city) * Esplen * Sheraden Yeah there's a hill, but that's not your big problem: * Brookline, especially the Glenbury/Aaron side * The East St side of Spring Hill * Brownsville Road in Carrick Once you try to commute in from those places, you rapidly find out that a whole lot of places just plain suck to commute from on a bike, unless you also rapidly develop some serious gonads. Meanwhile, since I tie up every morning at the racks on Forbes on the side of the City-County Bldg, I hope to run into her on occasion.

I think the cyclists in any neighborhood would love to have her. But c'mon guys, she's a professional, she can't and won't prioritize her commute. I just hope she finds interesting/useful places all over and chooses to get there primarily by bicycle. A listing of well scattered "worth the ride" destinations seems in order. Bonus if she chooses to vary the routes somewhat.

She should totally do the "Ride that touches every Pittsburgh neighborhood" next year. Even though I haven't. I can tell other people to do it.