Tag Archives: Bikenomics

The fertile plains

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My latest column over at Grist is about bicycling in Las Vegas. The literal translation of Las Vegas is “fertile plains.” Looking back in light of the city’s current landscape of asphalt and gravel, the name seems tragically optimistic. But this city, like any other, has been incredibly fertile for those who were lucky, savvy, […]

Bikenomics zine cover

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My house is full of friends cooking and eating. There’s an amazing pie, an adorable baby, and good conversation to be had. But I’m sitting here at the computer writing about how to internalize the externalities. I took a break to show you the front cover that Joe designed today. Wait til you see the […]

Buddhist economics

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The writing process for my Bikenomics zine (it’s due out in two weeks!) keeps getting derailed by fascinating research avenues. Like this one: a 1955 paper on “Buddhist Economics” by economist E.F. Schumacher. It’s a simple argument for valuing humanity and dignity over goods and capital. The Buddhist point of view takes the function of […]

Quantifying Britain's bicycle economy

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Pashley made the bikes for the Royal Mail and now sells cargo-worthy commuters to the general public. (Photo: Elly Blue) Researchers from the London School of Economics have been looking into the bike economy, and have found it to be thriving.

Biking in Joplin after the tornado

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Photo from the US Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District Joplin, Missouri resident Chris Patrick emailed yesterday to say he’d been thinking about my writing about bikes and the economy in light of his experiences in the wake of the tornado that destroyed a large part of his town this May. He wrote: “Since […]

Bike economics, the book -- almost

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Over breakfast a couple of weeks ago, I decided in between coffee refills that I wasn’t done thinking or writing about the bicycle economy yet. I’ll make it into a book, I decided. The book itself is still a ways off – in the meantime, though, I’m remixing the best parts of the ten columns […]

Minot, after the flood

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Minot before the flood (Photo by Elly Blue) We’re throwing a fundraiser for our friends’ flood relief work in their hometown of Minot, North Dakota. What: Tall Bikes Keep Heads Above Water: Punk Rock Relief for Minot Flooding. When: Saturday, July 30th from 2-7 Where: Microcosm Store parking lot, 636 SE 11th Ave in Portland. […]

Biking to the airport

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Meghan and I like leading bike rides, though it’s not part of what we do with PDX by Bike. Instead, we empower people to explore Portland by bike in the way that suits them best, whether that’s through one of our city’s fine tour providers or on their own. To that end, we partnered with […]

Bicycles and spinning wheels

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My latest column is up at Grist – it’s the tenth and last in the “Bikenomics” series I’ve been writing for them. Many of the columns are about how bicycling creates wealth for individuals, employers, and the government, whereas relying on private automobiles makes a few people and institutions very rich and systematically screws the […]

What would get you on a bike more often?

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That’s one of the questions the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals asked women last year. Everyday riders, racers, and non-bicyclists alike were asked open ended questions; answers were categorized and tabulated. They’ve compiled, categorized, and released answers to three of the survey questions, which you can download from the front page of their site. […]

What's behind the gender gap in bicyclin...

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My latest column on Grist went up yesterday. In it I take on a topic that’s been on my mind for a while – the gender gap in bicycling. Young bicyclist.(Photo by Elly Blue) That gap is getting wider, and the usual line up of explanations and assumptions doesn’t really do it for me. Yes, […]

Women of Portland, in business and on bi...

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It’s been a year since Ellee Thalheimer and I co-founded the Portland Society, a business alliance for bicycling women. In that year, we’ve grown to about 35 members (plus another dozen or so people who are more loosely involved), earned some nice words from the local news media, had amazing monthly meetings, given away $1,000 […]

Coffee and zines

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These are the basic components of what I’m getting ready to mail out to seven of the backers who funded the third issue of Taking the Lane zine via Kickstarter an embarrassing number of months ago. Way back when I was planning the project, I asked Charlie Wicker of Trailhead Coffee Roasters if he wanted […]