New Divvy stations are popping up everywhere

by Michelle Stenzel

Chicago's Divvy bike sharing system has been up and running now for eight weeks. At first there were only 75 stations installed, but the Divvy crew are installing more every day, and currently there are more than 160 in use citywide, with a goal of 300 stations by summer's end on September 22, 2013.

Those of us in Lincoln Park are lucky to have had a number of stations since the launch, and you may have noticed new ones popping up in the neighborhood over the past weeks. I went around and snapped pictures of a few of them.

One of the new stations is at the busy corner of Clark/Diversey/Broadway. This 11-dock station is on Diversey, on the sidewalk next to Walgreen's. This is a very busy shopping area, and I'm sure this will be a popular station for picking up or dropping off bikes. 

The Divvy bikes at Clark and Diversey are ready to roll. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

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Good turnout, great ideas at the Clark Street workshop

by Michelle Stenzel

The Clark Street workshop was a great success. About 45 people attended the event, which Bike Walk Lincoln Park co-hosted with Alderman Michele Smith and Active Transportation Alliance this past week. The group included neighbors from Lincoln Park, people who travel through the area on their commutes, and many representatives of the buildings bordering the area being studied.

Alderman Michele Smith addressed the crowd at the start of the workshop. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

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Three more Lincoln Park Kidical Mass rides are coming up!

by Michelle Stenzel

The inaugural Lincoln Park Kidical Mass ride in July was a great success, so three more have been planned, for the last Sunday of the month, in August, September, and October. Mark your calendars now! 

This family social ride will always depart from Oz Park at 10:00 am. The route will vary but always be mostly on quiet side streets. Children of any age, accompanied during the ride by their parents, are welcomed. 

Screen shot from the Chicago Kidical Mass website.

You can get on the Lincoln Park Kidical Mass e-mail list to receive reminders by dropping a note to Lacey Cordero, the main organizer of the rides, at lpkidicalmass@gmail.com

The next ride is Sunday, August 25, and the weather is forecast to be perfect. See you there!

Alderman Michele Smith joined the inaugural Lincoln Park Kidical Mass in July. (Photo: W. Cordero)

Help create a new vision for Clark Street along Lincoln Park

by Michelle Stenzel

Do you walk, bike or drive on Clark Street between North Avenue and Armitage? If so, you may have noticed a need to make the street safer for everyone on it. Well, now you have a chance to speak up: We're very excited to announce that Bike Walk Lincoln Park will be co-hosting a community workshop on how to improve this very stretch of Clark Street! 

Crossing Clark Street at Menomonee is a stressful experience. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Together with Alderman Michele Smith and Active Transportation Alliance, we invite you to participate in the event on August 20. Led by Brenna Conway of ATA, we'll walk along the street to observe, discuss, and brainstorm ideas that can then be shaped into initial recommendations.  -->

"Gifts to the street" make Lincoln Park neighborly and walkable

by Michelle Stenzel

Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park

Once in a while, I read an article or blog post that really stays with me for a while. One of these was Steve Mouzon's post on his Original Green blog called "A Gift to the Street," in which he discusses how the walkability of a neighborhood is enhanced by neighborly features provided by the people who occupy residences or commercial buildings in the area:

There is no greater expression of neighborliness than showing kindness to someone you may never know. We can give gifts to strangers in person, of course, but our buildings can do it, too. Imagine what your neighborhood would be like if every home and shop gave a gift to the street! Wouldn’t it encourage you to walk more, where you could savor those gifts, rather than just zipping by in a car? 

For example, lovingly kept flower boxes provide color and a point of interest to people walking by, while a water fountain on the edge of a park allows people to refresh themselves. In his blog post, Steve provides various categories of "gifts", including gifts that delight, inform, entertain, and more. 

You may have noticed that Lincoln Park is full of these gifts! They make our neighborhood interesting and beautiful, and encourage us to walk. I appreciate the gifts immensely, and thought I'd share some of of my pictures of them with you. (Much more -->)

Fun new bike racks along Clark Street

Have you seen the new bike racks at two corners of Clark and Fullerton? There's a green one at the southwest corner, next to Five Guys.

Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park

There's also a yellow one on the northeast corner, in front of Bank of America.

(Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

These are a nice addition to the neighborhood! As you can see, they're already being very well used. We love the colors, and their urban-architecture theme. On a practical note, the design of the rack allows a user to lock up at various heights, which is a key feature to making a bike rack truly useable.  (More-->)

Improved crosswalk installed on Stockton!

by Michelle Stenzel

Have you noticed the upgraded crosswalk on Stockton Drive at Belden? It's between the Shakespeare statue and the Lincoln Park Conservatory. This is a very busy crossing for joggers, walkers, guests of the Belden-Stratford Hotel, visitors to the zoo, and many others.

The improved crosswalk on Stockton Drive at Belden. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Do you remember what it looked like before? Here's a picture to remind you of its sorry original state:

This "Before" pic shows that the marked crosswalk was very wide, and nearly invisible.
(Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

The improvements include re-painting of the "zebra-style crosswalk markings, of course. However, what makes the most difference is the wide curb bump-outs that narrow the distance that pedestrians are in the roadway.  (More -->)