Canadian researchers made the case at the Transportation Research Board this past week that improved bike infrastructure and neighborhood gentrification go hand in hand. They used research gathered fromi Portland and Chicago.
Researchers from the School of Urban Planning at McGill University and Université du Québec à Montréal "tried to quantify the connection between gentrification and cycling infrastructure," reports Emily Badger for Washington Post Wonkblog.
Cycling itself, as my colleague Perry Stein has written, has become a heated symbol of gentrification. Bike lanes are treated as harbingers of demographic change, or evidence of preferential treatment, or synonymous with well-off white men (all this, despite the fact that Census data shows low-income commuters are the most likely to bike).
["The people most likely to bike or walk to work are either the least educated in society or the most educated," wrote Badger on May 9, 2014 on the American Community Survey's findings.]
The researchers "mapped cycling infrastructure in Chicago and Portland alongside demographic change in neighborhoods between 1990 and 2010," writes Badger. "In both cities, they found "a bias towards increased cycling infrastructure in areas of privilege."
One sensitive issue was which comes first—the bike infrastructure or the changing demographics? Are new residents demanding bike infrastructure, or are wealthier, whiter, more educated residents attracted to bike-friendly neighborhoods? "The researchers sidestep the answer by suggesting that gentrification and cycling infrastructure 'mirror' each other in these two cities," writes Badger.
Check out the images mapping change in community composition, 1990-2010, showing cycling infrastructure in Chicago and Portland.
In Chicago, (n)eighborhoods with large white populations, or an influx of whites, were more likely to get these bike investments.
In both cities, denser neighborhoods closer to the center of town were more likely to have bike infrastructure.
Read how planners can address the pattern. To read the study, click here [25-page PDF].
Hat tip to Michael Keenly.
FULL STORY: Why bike lanes make people mad
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
Dallas Surburb Bans New Airbnbs
Plano’s city council banned all new permits for short-term rentals as concerns about their impacts on housing costs grow.
Divvy Introduces E-Bike Charging Docks
New, circular docks let e-bikes charge at stations, eliminating the need for frequent battery swaps.
How Freeway Projects Impact Climate Resilience
In addition to displacement and public health impacts, highway expansions can also make communities less resilient to flooding and other climate-related disasters.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.