neighbors

One of the reasons we chose South Miami - and this particular corner of South Miami - to build our home was the sense of community in the area. We liked the neighbors we'd already met, and we felt that the house could contribute - even if just in a small way - to strengthening the neighborhood's sense of community.

At the same time, we know the house is not going to earn universal acclaim. One woman who drove by the other day seemed particularly disturbed to find out this was a house. She assumed it was some kind of support structure for the park across the street.

But then there's the teenagers who rode their bikes by yesterday. One yelled to the others, "that's a [expletive deleted] cool house!"

We agree.

[pictured: our new steel erector completing the frame on Tuesday.]

more bike lanes

bike lane, SW 72nd Street

Three reasons automobile drivers should love dedicated bicycle lanes:

bike lanes

Props to our local governments – the City of South Miami and Miami-Dade County – for continuing to build bike lanes and better sidewalks in the community. We have a long way to go, but the county’s efforts to provide bike lanes, shade and better pedestrian crossings are gradually improving our streetscape.

The recent improvements to 62nd Avenue are – hopefully – a harbinger of a better interventions to come. They show a good grasp of some important urban design practices:

no biking in the house

It's my house, and I'll bike if I want to.

bicycle pump brilliance

photos by Mauricio Gonzalez

Quietly over the summer, FIU's Office of Sustainability started installing tire pumps at some of the bike racks on the main campus. Kudos to them and the other people responsible for this brilliant idea. The pumps are professional model floor pumps by Park Tool, modified to sit in a steel tube (manufactured by Dero, the company that makes the bike racks) bolted to the existing bike rack. The pumps have a pressure gauge, and work with Presta, Schrader and Dunlop valves.

We have to see about installing these in South Miami.

upcycling

Today we welcomed a new business to our neighborhood, Miami Recycle Bike Shop. Andres Barreda held an opening at his new shop located at 5885 Commerce Lane, which is about 4 blocks from our house in the light industrial area of South Miami. Andres builds and rebuilds bikes out of old frames and parts. Some of them are rare classics, including a double jointed bike style we'd never seen before called a swing bike. The others are just general used bike parts that he can reconstitute into tailor fit designs according to the desires of his customers.

Andres loves all kinds of bikes and wants to share and foster that love in other people. He fixed a flat for free for a neighborhood kid and found used pedals for someone else. In our brief meeting (it was a party after all), he talked about the bike culture in Colorado with the coop bike shops he had seen there. He also mentioned his trip to Amsterdam which according to a quick Google searched statistic claims that there are 600,000 bikes for a population of 750,000.

Andres has also found that he can draw on the talents and resources from the neighborhood. He is in the process of working something out with the auto body shop across the street so that he can use their paint spray booth. He also buys his leather seats for some of his bikes from another local guy. The ostrich ones were sweet!

Welcome, Miami Recycle Bike Shop, we are so glad to have you!

Milan by bike

In honor of Wouter Weylandt, a few thoughts on cycling.

Milan gets better every time I come here. One of the happy new discoveries is a network of bicycle lanes in the city, like these on via Vittor Pisani. The benefits are clear: less fuel consumed and carbon produced, less air pollution, healthier citizens and a more accessible city. Good bike lanes - note how these are separated from traffic by a median and have their own crossings, away from pedestrians - are just a part of the solution.

deepwater horizon and us

Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. This disaster - which took 11 lives and started a five-month-long oil spill - should have triggered more serious discussions of energy and transportation policy. The sixty-year process of crafting a car-dependent society has left us with a well-known litany of problems: social isolation and segregation, climate change, health problems ranging from asthma to obesity, environmental degradation and resource depletion. Let's take a moment to reflect on what we're doing to address these issues at tin box, and what we still need to do better.

biking

Bicycling advocate Paul Steely White is going to lecture at the University of Miami Friday evening. This is well worth attending.

Of course, you could always join us for the second Tweed Ride through Coral Gables Saturday morning...

update: Green Mobility has some photos from the ride. Green Mobility is one of several organizations working to make South Florida easier and safer to bike around. Check them out. And if you have to drive, keep an eye out for bikes.

South Miami Green Task Force

Check out the initiatives of the South Miami Green Task Force, including the weekly farmers' market in front of City Hall, and next Wednesday evening's presentation on urban biking facilities.