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The Open Planning Project

The New York Observer has a profile of Mark Gorton, the founder of The Open Planning Project (TOPP). Gorton, who made his fortune in the hedge fund industry, has funded advocacy for livable streets in New York City. In fact, the Observer bills him as “The Man Who Closed Times Square to Traffic.” According to the article,

TOPP is a cross between a software start-up and a progressive policy think tank, and is made up of several smaller working groups. One group customizes and provides tech support for open-source mapping software that transit agencies use to keep track of their routes. Another works on applications that make it easier for people to communicate with city agencies-letting cyclists propose sites for bike racks to the city’s DOT, for example. Another group produces Streetsblog, an opinionated blog on transportation issues.

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The Open Planning Project

The New York Observer has a profile of Mark Gorton, the founder of The Open Planning Project (TOPP). Gorton, who made his fortune in the hedge fund industry, has funded advocacy for livable streets in New York City. In fact, the Observer bills him as “The Man Who Closed Times Square to Traffic.” According to the article,

TOPP is a cross between a software start-up and a progressive policy think tank, and is made up of several smaller working groups. One group customizes and provides tech support for open-source mapping software that transit agencies use to keep track of their routes. Another works on applications that make it easier for people to communicate with city agencies-letting cyclists propose sites for bike racks to the city’s DOT, for example. Another group produces Streetsblog, an opinionated blog on transportation issues.

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First indoor velodrome east of the Mississippi

Bicycle Retailer and Industry News reports that a new indoor velodrome (a banked track for bicycle racing) will be built in Cleveland. Not exactly our backyard, but still close enough for a weekend trip. Some details from BRAIN:

CLEVELAND, OH (BRAIN)—Fast Track Cycling, Inc., a Cleveland-based, non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, has entered into a real estate purchase option agreement with the city of Cleveland to acquire a nine-acre vacant site formerly occupied by St. Michaels Hospital in Slavic Village.

Fast Track plans to develop and operate an indoor recreational facility which will include a velodrome—a custom-built, banked bicycle track—as part of its mission to support track cycling and other recreational opportunities and promote health and wellness as well as youth programming.

Cleveland’s velodrome will be only the third indoor velodrome of the 25 in the United States, along with those in California and Colorado.

While looking at the Rochester-to-Cleveland route on Google Maps, I noticed that it passes right through Ashtabula, Ohio, where one-piece BMX-style cranks used to be produced in great numbers (in fact, such cranks are still often referred to as Ashtabula cranks).
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First indoor velodrome east of the Mississippi

Bicycle Retailer and Industry News reports that a new indoor velodrome (a banked track for bicycle racing) will be built in Cleveland. Not exactly our backyard, but still close enough for a weekend trip. Some details from BRAIN:

CLEVELAND, OH (BRAIN)—Fast Track Cycling, Inc., a Cleveland-based, non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, has entered into a real estate purchase option agreement with the city of Cleveland to acquire a nine-acre vacant site formerly occupied by St. Michaels Hospital in Slavic Village.

Fast Track plans to develop and operate an indoor recreational facility which will include a velodrome—a custom-built, banked bicycle track—as part of its mission to support track cycling and other recreational opportunities and promote health and wellness as well as youth programming.

Cleveland’s velodrome will be only the third indoor velodrome of the 25 in the United States, along with those in California and Colorado.

While looking at the Rochester-to-Cleveland route on Google Maps, I noticed that it passes right through Ashtabula, Ohio, where one-piece BMX-style cranks used to be produced in great numbers (in fact, such cranks are still often referred to as Ashtabula cranks).
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Cities for Cycling

Yesterday, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (“BRAIN”) reported on a new initiative called Cities for Cycling:

www.bicycleretailer.com/news/newsDetail/3513.html

According to BRAIN,

Cities for Cycling is a new effort by city governments to promote best practices in urban cycling and to increase the use of bicycles to improve urban mobility, livability and public health while reducing traffic congestion and CO2 emissions.

Bikes Belong and the SRAM Cycling Fund are providing support for Cities for Cycling—a project of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). Cities for Cycling is comprised of transportation and elected officials from Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Let’s hope Cities for Cycling will allow smaller cities like Rochester into the fold.
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Cities for Cycling

Yesterday, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (“BRAIN”) reported on a new initiative called Cities for Cycling:

www.bicycleretailer.com/news/newsDetail/3513.html

According to BRAIN,

Cities for Cycling is a new effort by city governments to promote best practices in urban cycling and to increase the use of bicycles to improve urban mobility, livability and public health while reducing traffic congestion and CO2 emissions.

Bikes Belong and the SRAM Cycling Fund are providing support for Cities for Cycling—a project of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). Cities for Cycling is comprised of transportation and elected officials from Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Let’s hope Cities for Cycling will allow smaller cities like Rochester into the fold.