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Brag about places you've given bike rack requests to!

In this thread tell us what small businesses/organizations you've hit up with rack request cards (or told them verbally or through e-mail)! That way, when your chosen business gets a rack, you get mad street cred and we will all pat you on the back.


I did some errands today and dropped off rack request cards at places I think should have racks. It was actually really fun - I got to hear Bloomfield gossip and meet some small business owners/employees. I found that bringing along some stamps and offering to mail it for them works really well. They can't say no or just throw it under the counter, 'cause you're standing right there with a big smile on your face.


Hitting up businesses multiple times from different folks will probably encourage them to do it even more, so it would be good to remind any of these places again that they should get a sweet bike rack.


Just for reference, here's the linky you can send people to if you're asking businesses to request racks virtually:


http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/cp/bikerack/


Places I hit up today!


Nico's Recovery Room (in the mail!)

Kraynick's (in the mail!)

Abay Ethiopian

People's Indian

Tattoo Noir

(and gave one to a random cyclist to give to his business of choice)


rachel_ding
2009-11-12 19:20:01

paul's cds, smiling moose.


the woman @ smiling moose was sooo stoked too. hopefully she sent it in.


erok
2009-11-12 19:52:37

Mr. Kraynick was really stoked too. I hope the city still fills requests on his stretch of Penn despite next year's street/sidewalk redevelopment in that area.


rachel_ding
2009-11-12 20:01:53

Does anyone think the restaurant on herr's island is a good spot for a rack? I work there in the summer and I lock my bike up to a tree. Also its not uncommon for me to see anywhere from 2-15 bikes parked around the building during a nice summer day.


willie
2009-11-12 20:13:04

Willie, that sounds like a great idea.


rachel_ding
2009-11-12 20:32:52

yeah. really, if the city gets more requests than they have racks, then maybe it's time to get more


erok
2009-11-12 21:03:13

I put one in for our place at the Squirrel Hill plaza.


ndromb
2009-11-13 03:19:59

Mailing cards to Pizza Sola in East Liberty (not sure it would get to the owner any other way) and Riverset Credit Union on the South Side.


dmtroyer
2009-11-13 15:04:59

hows about the Double Wide on Carson? I see bikes tethered to fencing and parking meters around that place a lot.


sloaps
2009-11-13 15:13:27

Im hoping OTB gets some more after the "construction" on carson is done.


netviln
2009-11-13 15:14:57

I'm psyched to see if all of these places have racks at some point...


bradq
2009-11-13 15:22:22

sola in E Lib totally needs one. as does double wide


erok
2009-11-13 16:11:29

Can the place say no to having a rack put in? The reason I ask is because the place I work is actually owned by the marina on the island. Just the building not the restaurant. So pretty much when the restaurant wants to add something they have to go through the marina owner. And from what I understand the marina owner has put the kabash on other ideas such as covering the outdoor tables so people can still eat out there in a rain as well as not letting the restaurant put a sign down on the docks for boats coming in to see. I am going to ask my manager about it when I go back to work next week. Im pretty sure he will be on board but then I think it has to go through the land owners. Any ideas or advice?


willie
2009-11-13 16:37:34

I'd like to see more racks in the Strip. I used to enjoy biking down to the Strip on Saturday, but it's getting harder and harder to find something to lock to that doesn't already have something else locked to it.


lyle
2009-11-13 16:46:43

@ willie: the building owner needs to give permission. also, if it's private property, they might not qualify.


erok
2009-11-13 18:32:52

I'd like to see more racks in the Strip. I used to enjoy biking down to the Strip on Saturday, but it's getting harder and harder to find something to lock to that doesn't already have something else locked to it.


I think it would be beneficial to coordinate the bike racks with Neighbors in the Strip and others. I worry that a rack on penn in many areas would restrict a street vendor and/or inhibit safe passage on the sidewalks on the weekends.


I think by observing the sidewalk usage during the week and the weekend, one may find off street sidewalk locations - say the 21 street side of the Fidelity Bank - that would permit a convenient location for bike parking without restricting the bazaar-like commerce found on penn six days a week.


sloaps
2009-11-13 19:02:00

For the strip in particular, one of those nice bike corrals every other block would be awesome. That way the bikes never hit the sidewalk, no lost of street vendor space.


netviln
2009-11-13 19:20:14

Lawerenceville as well. As I learned today there is hardly anywhere to park your bike when there are no parking meters.


rsprake
2009-11-13 20:02:38

there is NO PARKING in larryville! Where can i get the card? I know some business owners there would be into it, especially Cantina and Dozen. They should have one in front of crazy mocha and belvedere's too, and at least one down by remedy etc. All wards are completely empty of them.


caitlin
2009-11-13 20:07:17

Cantina and Dozen are already in the system and are slated to get racks in the weeks ahead. I'm pretty sure Belve's is on the list too. I think Crazy Mocha, Remedy and the Post Office should get them


scott
2009-11-13 20:40:06

i gave one to crystal on penn. she has a lot of cyclist traffic from daily commuters and not a lot of lock up space. she's been talking about getting a rack for the past few months and i think that this was perfect timing! hoping, hoping, hoping :D (this is also half a block from my work, which has NO bike parking, and doesn't plan on changing that) >:(


maggie
2009-11-13 22:19:19

we are getting our third rack put in. sup. got the racks on lock.


spakbros
2009-11-14 07:15:41

Curious if this offer is just for Pittsburgh proper or will they install one in say, Regent Square?


rsprake
2009-11-14 16:42:57

Good question. If they're Bike Pittsburgh-funded, maybe there's still some leeway. But someone would have to install them, and maybe the city's crews would not go out to the suburbs. Doubly true if they're city-funded.


ieverhart
2009-11-14 17:28:01

well, we donated 100 of the racks to the city, so...really, it's city only.


regent square is strange, there are some parts that are city.


erok
2009-11-14 18:13:41

Just gave one to Ritter's. Hell yeah.

I hate locking up to fences and newspaper boxes every time I go there.


alnilam
2009-11-20 05:04:05

As I was locking to a parking meter outside Joe Mama's in Oakland, an older guy in a real boat of a car pulled up to the curb and said he didn't like it when people locked bikes to meters and street signs and such because "sometimes you have to open your [car] door there." He suggested that Pitt or the city or someone should put in bike racks, and I had to agree.


Then he got onto a tangent about bikes running red lights and that kind of thing. In return, I asked if he always came to a 100 percent stop at every stop sign, to which his wife, in the front passenger seat, unconvincingly said yes.


ieverhart
2009-11-20 06:01:24

Never make it about them cause they will always say the obey the law. You could probably stand right there outside of Joe Mamma's and point out all the drivers breaking the law.


I want a rack outside of D's and the corner store in Regent Square. Neither are city of Pittsburgh.


rsprake
2009-11-20 13:00:11

City Cafe on 45th and Butler needs a rack. Everytime I go past, I see someone on a bicyle arriving or leaving, or a bicycle leaning against the railing.


When I jumped onto Google to confirm the name and location of the City Cafe, I found this from a March 2009 piece by Brian O'Neill:


...I planned to bicycle to Emil Lester's new coffee shop in Lawrenceville yesterday morning. Then I got wind of the chill factor and didn't fancy my fingers being pried from the handlebars.


So I took a couple of buses. I might have taken a company car to the City Cafe at 4502 Butler St., but that is no way to visit Mr. Lester.


He's not merely a cyclist. He would like Pittsburgh to "declare war against the car.".....


He definitely needs a rack!


swalfoort
2009-11-20 15:02:29

Not sure if the Smithfield Street branch of the Carnegie Library qualifies, but I spoke with the manager there, and she's willing and interested, so I sent her the link.


stuinmccandless
2009-11-20 23:54:27

Just saw the new one at Morning Glory coffeehouse tonight.


Looked a little worn already, like it had spent a year outside already?


Ah, whatever, glad to see it, even if I walk there pretty much exclusively.


eric
2009-11-21 02:11:50

Just saw the new one at Morning Glory coffeehouse tonight.


That's awesome. The tree out front will be very happy.


There were a few new ones along Carson in the South Side when I took a stroll during lunch.


bjanaszek
2009-11-21 02:41:09

TOP!


ya'll can thank ME (and jerry) for the one in front of kraynick's.


it's about time!


rachel_ding
2009-12-08 23:36:57

serious. how long has he been there?


helped the cantina get theirs


erok
2009-12-09 02:22:39

are they any left? or are they all claimed?


bikelove2010
2009-12-09 03:57:07

Last I heard, there were racks left. Erok or Scott would know.


If you have a place in mind, you should definitely request it. If the need for racks exceeds the supply allocated by this particular program, maybe that will help the city notice the demand and more bike infrastructure will follow in the future. (I'm being optimistic!)


rachel_ding
2009-12-09 04:56:19

what rachel said


erok
2009-12-09 15:12:39

lets all visit kraynicks this fine wednesday to celebrate!


jk


imakwik1
2009-12-09 16:25:02

Damnit, I WAS planning on visiting Kraynicks today. Now that all you losers are going to be crowding it up...


alnilam
2009-12-09 16:43:18

well, he's closed on wednesdays anyway


erok
2009-12-09 17:20:23

one thing I lament most about my time of unemployment last winter was that I did not spend more time at Kraynicks.


dmtroyer
2009-12-09 20:52:44

Southside DQ. most people lock to the rail on the wheelchair ramp, but they need a rack. You spend more time getting ur bike locked up then you do in line.


bikelove2010
2009-12-12 00:03:02