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They don't need to be riding their bikes in the street.
Why should they be forced to ride bikes?
Are they supposed to ride on the sidewalk? Have you been in DC? The sidewalks are jam-packed full of..... pedestrians. A bike running over some nice civil servant on her way to work at the Smithsonian would not be good.
The question will be ignored since I did not suggest they should be forced to ride bikes. Your reading comprehension needs a lot of work. Still.
The bike lanes in this case are an expression of a structural problem in society that tends to favor gentrification of older neighborhoods, which is generally at the expense of affordable housing and other things that the poor need. The issue happens to be raised by a church in this case but whether they realize it or not, it is less about the typical fundamentalist narrative of persecution than it is about being a voice of social justice in the neighborhood they serve.
It is not solely that poor churches are being run out of town, but also the affordable nature of housing, and frankly, "downscale" retail and service establishments that the poor can afford to patronize, at least relatively speaking.
What happens is that churches and residents alike can no longer afford property taxes as property valuations arise, nor can they afford to eat and shop at upscale establishments that crop up. Plus if you bought a home for $50K and owe $40K and can sell out for $200K it's a powerful incentive to take the money and run to another poor neighborhood and pay cash for another $50K house. Eventually they are all "driven out". It is an economic process. It is not necessarily all bad, but a lot of it is bad and we are talking the death of established communities and support systems for people who are already vulnerable.
The value proposition for any given municipality is that a run down section of town is "revitalized" and the poverty and crime are palmed off on neighboring communities. It's not often that a municipality works with the existing residents to create opportunity and lift up the neighborhood intact rather than just bulldoze it and build over it in a deniable fashion.
So to the point of this thread it's a political and economic issue, fundamentally. If this church thinks it's religious persecution then it's unusually clueless for an inner city church. Maybe they think (misguidedly IMO) that the religious persecution angle is a good tactical move.
Did you read the article? It specifically talked about churches that blamed the lack of parking as causing them to have to move. If that is the case (and honestly I don't know), then the churches have a legitimate gripe. Why cause that kind of problems just for a stinkin' bike lane?
I posted the article Viz, so yes, I read it. My point is still the same. Please explain to me how losing on street parking can FORCE a church to move. Please, go ahead, explain it to me.
Why put bike lanes in cities? Because people who bike to work need to be able to do so safely. Believe it or not, people outside of your boondocks actually ride bikes to work. I know this is a crazy concept for you, but it happens quite often in actual cities.
I posted the article Viz, so yes, I read it. My point is still the same. Please explain to me how losing on street parking can FORCE a church to move. Please, go ahead, explain it to me.
The article explains it. Perhaps re-read it?
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Why put bike lanes in cities? Because people who bike to work need to be able to do so safely. Believe it or not, people outside of your boondocks actually ride bikes to work. I know this is a crazy concept for you, but it happens quite often in actual cities.
I actually did ride a bicycle to work for a time. I rode on a bike path. Not in the street. The street is not a place to ride a bike.
So those churchgoers should do the same. Hell, maybe they should take up bicycling.
Bike paths are not the solution to the bike problem. They are an excellent supplement but usually go no where useful. We all should be encouraging people to use bicycles instead of making life easy for people driving cars. As annoying as they may be...each bike is one less car you are sitting behind and yelling at.
I actually did ride a bicycle to work for a time. I rode on a bike path. Not in the street. The street is not a place to ride a bike.
It explains how it forces them out? No, it doesn't. It does say, "either by limiting on-street parking for church attendees or by removing a lane of traffic". Neither of these things would force a church to move.
Cities don't have bike paths that lead to everyone's jobs. Plus, that is the reason you have bike lanes, so they aren't "in the street", they are in the bike lane.
Cities don't have bike paths that lead to everyone's jobs. Plus, that is the reason you have bike lanes, so they aren't "in the street", they are in the bike lane.
Exactly.
Which will never be understood by the people who want to cling to their cars. Some people need to cling.....and they aren't happy with the people who don't.
It explains how it forces them out? No, it doesn't. It does say, "either by limiting on-street parking for church attendees or by removing a lane of traffic". Neither of these things would force a church to move.
You do realize that if a church doesn't have people attending...it won't really be able to stay open...right?
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Cities don't have bike paths that lead to everyone's jobs. Plus, that is the reason you have bike lanes, so they aren't "in the street", they are in the bike lane.
Then perhaps people ought not to ride their bikes if it's dangerous. Why must other people be inconvenienced so a few people can play in the street with their toys?
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