A bicycle city seems like pure utopia to me. The idea of having everything within walking/biking distance and that's within a relatively short distance of a larger city is such an ideal that it seems impossible that it is even close to a realistic possibility. Apparently though, it is becoming a reality for folks in South Carolina in the very near future.
Bicycle City, South Carolina is preparing for its launch in early December 2010.
From the descriptions of the soon-to-be community, the city will be nestled between the mountains and the beach, and will also be a short 12 miles from the city of Columbia, SC. With a fairly moderate climate, designed mix-use areas, and tons of recreational opportunities, this planned community seems like a dream come true!
I can only hope that this is the wave of the future, and that cities such as this one will be sprouting up all over the U.S. As much as I'd love to live in this type of place, I'm not quite ready to up and move to South Carolina, but it definitely gives me hope for what the future holds.
Ha - I saw an article about this yesterday and had to laugh. While the concept is great, having lived in Columbia for almost 6 years prior to moving to Atlanta, I'm not so sure this will turn out as wonderful as it sounds. For one, Columbia really isn't bike friendly (unless it's changed a LOT since we were there). I'm sure people ride on the university campus, but I honestly never saw anyone riding anywhere else unless it was the occasional weekend recreational rider. I honestly would compare Columbia to Atlanta as for sprawl and poor planning, just on a much smaller scale. Being just 12 miles from Columbia sounds good, however I'm not sure how anyone in this community would actually bike into the city unless they weren't afraid to use the highway - there were no bike lanes anywhere when we were there, but hopefully that's changed. While it would be nice to have biking trails and no cars INSIDE the community, I'd also prefer to be able to get OUT of the community easily and safely on a bike, and I don't see that happening if this is in the area I'm thinking it is. But then, maybe people enjoy just biking for recreation on trails, so will really like the idea - I tend to bike more to get somewhere I want to go (usually a restaurant to eat - haha).
ReplyDeleteSeems like a sweet setup, the weather is nice there... "bicycle city". Seems much more efficient than Minneapolis.
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Thank you for that, Traci. Having never been in the area, it all sounded so ideal, but I certainly agree that my idea of being a "bicycle city" has to do with ease of getting to ALL of the places I need to go and not just within a few square miles of the pre-planned community. Interesting to read your thoughts, so I appreciate it. Maybe one day I'll have to pay a visit to the area to see if they have incorporated more bicycle lanes.
ReplyDelete@Sam - Ugh! Minneapolis was a challenge, but I think it needed a bit more time for us to adjust. The drivers there had to be the most overall crazy-erratic-fast-cut-you-off-for-no-reason I've ever seen, including my years of living in SoCal.
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