New Portland grocery store has more parking for bikes than cars

[marmar]

via Grist:



New Portland grocery store has more parking for bikes than cars
by treehugger.com

15 Oct 2010 4:17 PM


New Seasons, an upscale Whole Foods-style grocery store that has enjoyed massive success in Portland, Ore., is opening its seventh store this week. The newest store, in the dense (watch the webcam to see how dense) inner-city Hawthorne Street neighborhood, has something of a surprise. Rooftop parking for cars, and rows of bright blue staples in front of the store for bicycles. Well, perhaps that's not so incredible. What makes it much better is that according to Bike Portland, the sum total of bike spots (50) outnumbers the slim number of car parking spaces (36).

Already during the planning and design of its seventh store, New Seasons knew that it would have to get creative to deal with the extremely dense urban corner that 41st and Hawthorne is, to get along with the city and the neighbors. An earlier store nearby in the Ladd's neighborhood has generated a lot of complaints as the parking lot is narrow and nearly always jam packed, and the traffic patterns to and from the store are egregious.

Get the full story from our friends at Treehugger.


http://www.grist.org/article/2010-10-15-new-portland-grocery-store-has-more-parking-for-bikes-than-cars/

[alphafemale]

1. 50 bike spots would equal maybe 5-10 car spots nt

[DCKit]

5. Assuming people carpooled, which they don't.

Additionally, given the location, people who don't own cars and ride their bikes or public transportation are going to love it. Those who do drive, can park their cars when they get home and ride their bikes to the store. Win-win.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Makes sense

For my part, the amount of groceries from Whole Paycheck I can afford could easily be carried on a bicycle...or in my arms as I hoof it, for that matter.

Kidding aside...

I'm glad to see an urban neighborhood become less dependent on the automobile for everyday commerce. It's a model that will survive, as opposed to the sprawling nature of car-dependent suburbia.

[The Wielding Truth]

3. People being responsible . How refreshing!

:loveya:

[Ron Green]

4. It's a different mindset, to be sure. Remember when a business couldn't get permission to open

without a huge number of parking spaces dedicated to its operation?

This is probably still the case in many zoning jurisdictions.