Barefoot Goes Bike Friendly & Intellectual on Thursday, July 1

Free Poolside Conversation with urban planner Larry Beasley, CM on Thursday, July 1.  Larry will be discussing his work with the City Design Studio to make the area more pedestrian and bike friendly.

Gates open 8pm.  Conversation at 8:30pm

It’s a Bike Friendly Event!  $2 Beer Poolside

Sponsored by North Texas Chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism learn more at www.cnuntx.org

Dallas citizens want more bike lanes

We were just forwarded this image from last months Dallas Bike Planning forum where the public came out to hear the latest information on the future of Dallas’ bicycle network. At the meeting, everyone who attended received four red circle stickers that they were to place on a chart affixed to the wall asking them note what they feel the city should prioritize. The audience of over 300 people handily chose “More Complete Streets” and “Bike Lanes” as seen here with red stickers running off the page and onto a second sheet that was added just for those two categories.

When you pair this with GOOD’s recent infographic showing an increase in bicycle infrastructure paralleled with increased ridership, the identity of Dallas as a “Car Only” city is about to radically change.

GOOD Magazine Graphic Notes Correlation Between Ridership and City Planning

A friend of BFOC forwards along an article from FastCompany that includes this great infographic from GOOD magazine which notes the correlation between the exponential growth in bicycling/walking and the amount of funds directed toward developing communities that embrace these modes. This chart shows how developing for multi-modes creates tangible change for regions.

The Capping

A handful of BFOCer’s were on hand for the capping of the Calatrava bridge at Singleton and Beckley. Other notables in the area were Mayor Leppert, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. One major oversight of the new bridge is its lack of bicycle facilities. Given that the bridges in Dallas can live up to 100 years (Houston Viaduct), it’s a major disconnect to not plan for this at the beginning of the project. Right now, the Dallas Bicycle Committee is working to correct this, but no promises are being made at the moment.

Oak Cliff’s Streets to Plaza Program Announced

(photo from inhabitat.com)

Over at Go Oak Cliff, we officially announced our Streets to Plaza project modeled after San Francisco’s uber-successful “Pavement to Parks” program. The DMN scooped the story late last week, so we’re just now getting around to showing more details of the work. It will be an exciting demonstration project, and if all goes well, will become permanent.

Check back for more details!

Brew Riot Recap

This year’s Brew Riot in Bishop Arts easily eclipsed last year’s in terms of turnout, events, and more. Over 600 people made their way to the district to sample a ton of great homebrews and microbrews. Eno’s unveiled a new bike rack that they’ll officially being placing within an existing parking space…one of the first instances in Dallas where bike rack has taken over a former car space. Thanks in part to the Bishop Davis land study, bicycle parking will now be given as a credit to businesses needing to fulfill their zoning requirements for operation.

Check out the list of homebrew winners on Go Oak Cliff. More pics can be seen here.

Bike Discounts offered at the Greek Cafe & Beckley Brewhouse

We’ve been meaning to update the list of BFOC discounts…additions include:

5% off total ticket at the Greek Cafe in Bishop Arts District when you bicycle.

AND

10% discount on food at the Beckley BrewHouse when you bicycle.

So head out and support these locals. We’ll have BFOC stickers in their windows shortly.

Unveiling of Complete Street Option for Bishop Blvd Tonight

Head out to Hitt Auditorium tonight at Methodist Hospital at 6:30PM to see the city’s proposed options for a redesign of Bishop Boulevard. Among the options presented will be a “Complete Streets” rendering. We haven’t seen the example presented yet, but our hopes are that we’re presented with a “Floating Parking” cycle track that uses existing street ROW and maintains all street trees in place. Roy Appleton over at DMN posted more here.

The Austin Experience

A group of BFOC’ers made their way down to Austin last weekend to enjoy the sights and sounds and test out the new bike facilities in place to get a sense of what is in store for Dallas. The hills proved to be less worrisome than originally anticipated, but the sun around mid-day did require more stops to cool off.

The overall experience was wonderful. Austin has moved far ahead of Dallas in making quality of life a focus. The girls that went on the trip immediately favored the separated bike lanes over the street. There weren’t as many of these in place yet, but more are to come. The on-road bike lanes were hit and miss. Some were far too small and strode the line between the curb and street (Lake Austin Blvd), but others included painted barriers which felt far more comfortable (East Dean Keaton).

The Lamar pedestrian/bike bridge was an incredible facility to ride over. The city created a large curly-q styled ramp to bring bicycles to elevation and benches were placed along the bridge to stop and view the city. It was heavily trafficked while we were there.

At the hottest point of the day, we made our way down to Barton Springs to take a dip in the cool water. This was definitely a highlight of the trip and by bicycling in, we easily rode passed the line of cars attempting to get into the park and bypassed the giant parking lot. The city of Austin describes the park as:

“Three acres in size, fed from under ground springs and is on average 68 degrees year round. Over the years, Barton Springs Pool has drawn people from all walks of life, from legislators who have concocted state laws there to free-spirited topless sunbathers who turned heads in the seventies. Even Robert Redford learned to swim at the pool when he was five years old while visiting his mother’s relative in Austin. Today, Barton Springs still attracts a diverse crowd of people.”

While resting under a giant pecan tree and watching the hundreds of other swimmers who came out to beat the heat, it struck us that Oak Cliff once had two natural swimming pools with Kidd Springs and Lake Cliff Park. The former was fed by two large springs and was regularly visited by people throughout Dallas. At its peak in 1942, the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce held a picnic there that brought out 60,000 people. The following year, the picnic was cancelled for fear of polio. By 1947, Kidd Springs would turn into a “scenic pond” only, though its limestone floor still exists.

Sounds like we may have another project…

Brew Riot in Bishop Arts District with Gold Sprints!

We’re closing down the street in Bishop Arts for the first ever Brew Riot Festival sponsored by Eno’s, with proceeds going to Go Oak Cliff! The event is on Saturday, June 12th from 6PM to 10PM. There’s going to be 8 homebrewer’s on hand giving samples of their brews along with a handful of micro brews including New Belgium, Real Ale, and more.

Once it starts getting dark, Lonestar Gold Sprints will be on hand to hold some outdoor stationary sprints. We’ll also have a giant outdoor chess set, live music, and more. The street closure starts at 6PM, and 75208 is planning on heading a ride from Downtown to the event. We’ll post more details as soon as they’re announced.

View the Facebook event page here.

(Gold Sprints at Eno’s)

(Flickr photo by JocelynAubert)