So Portland does a MUCH better job than New York City of providing bike parking. This is my understanding, at least, from folks who live in New York City and marvel at the ease with which we Portlanders lock up any old place, relatively unconcerned (compared to New Yorkers) about theft.

But the very fact Portland does such a damn decent job somehow makes the outrage all-the-more palpable when you can’t find parking, right? It’s for this reason I support the civic-improvement efforts well-known video maker/bike guy Casey Neistat displays below.

Yes, NYC heavies made Neistat remove the rack, but that’s NYC. The scenario I envision in Portland plays out thusly:

-You surreptitiously install a bike rack.
-The City doesn’t realize or doesn’t care OR
-The City realizes and cares and asks you to remove the rack, but you jujitsu the whole scenario, framing the city as bike-hating monsters in various press releases and blog posts.
-The City relents.
-You’re greeted as a hero and liberator.

Someone prove me right. I’m too busy to try it.

I'm a news reporter for the Mercury. I've spent a lot of the last decade in journalism — covering tragedy and chicanery in the hills of southwest Missouri, politics in Washington, D.C., and other matters...

3 replies on “Need a Bike Rack? Maybe Install Your Own”

  1. I can’t help but take the bait on this since, at OHSU, I’ve probably dropped more bike parking than anyone in the city who isn’t working FOR the City. There’s one unfortunate flaw with this plan—those racks are the design of choice for thieves. If you can unhinge it from the cement, you can slip off with a bike. This is why NYC’s official racks are now a circular design. A third way is the design OHSU uses. It’s a solid piece like the NY racks but fits 8 bikes and is held down only by gravity. It’s far more difficult to steal than the NYC circle rack but way easier to install than Casey’s guerrilla rack. And in Portland, if you’re willing to buy and install the rack, I guarantee you can convince a nearby landowner to allow it on their footprint.

    Design and diplomacy, I realize, probably kill the punk aesthetic. But that’s my 2 cents.

  3. I like how he both:

    A: Rides like a dickbag on the sidewalks.

    B: still doesn’t know how to lock his bike up properly, even after it’s been stolen.

    While I applaud his effort, and willingness to go the extra mile with the effort, and I feel the city was wrong to force removal. He seems like a smug fuck.

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