When I didn't have a car, I didn't pay car insurance, a car payment, parking costs, the occasional ticket, and general car maintenance and repairs. Also, I didn't have kids back then, so not only was I awash in cash, but I also had time to spend it!

Young people who live car-free are a huge stimulus to local business. Can you imagine Hawthorne, Belmont, Division, Mississippi, Williams and SE 28th if there weren't young, child-free hipster slinging their money around? Not only would these neighborhoods be boring, they'd also be commercially blighted.

My wife and I still frequent these strips whenever we go out, and the money we spend, with 4 mouths to feed, is a lot bigger. But now going out is a rare treat, and gone are the days when we'd hit a different breakfast joint every weekend.

The quicker the local business associations realize the value of young, car-free, child-free hipsters and roll out the red carpet for cyclists, the better off they'll be. And the rest of us will benefit, too, because our neighborhoods will stay vibrant, dynamic and at least a bit more socio-economically diverse.

Is putting a bike corral in front of an auto-repair shop good for them and how so specifically? We need to realize that not all businesses are created equal, though I don't disagree that "bike stuff" in neighborhoods heavy in restaurants and entertainment is not a good thing, but my quick read of this article reveals a somewhat scarce analysis of this issue.

Maybe the study addressed this better than this article reveals.

@WS - Businesses only get bike corrals if they request them from the city. So unless an auto repair shop thinks it will help their business and requests one, they won't wind up with one.

Hahahaha! I'm *hungrier* as a cyclist, that's why I spend more. Just in case anyone's planning to take a survey. Well, and I have more disposable income that isn't sucked up by automotive b.s.