CdM Bike Racks Coming...

Yesterday the Corona del Mar Business Improvement District board approved a plan that will add 50 bike racks.

That’s an exciting development and certainly it’s about time. Like me, I’ll bet many would ride their bikes as they run errands, if there was someplace to lock up. Take Albertsons, for example. When I shop with my wife my role is to stay in the parking lot watching the bikes. If I were inside with my own shopping basket these bike racks would pay for themselves pretty quickly.

And who doesn’t want to ride to Ace Hardware? But there’s very little to lock onto — there’s a traffic sign on the sidewalk out front, good for one customer.

What’s the likely impact of 50 new bike racks?

Carlsbad’s Bryan Jones calls them “VIP parking places,” because they’re often up front, close to the store entrance. He goes on to say that where they weren’t originally installed, those merchants are asking for them. The economic impact is evident to all.

Bike racks will make shopping in CdM more pleasant. It’ll take the hassle out of parking your bike. If more of us ride then congestion in the village will be reduced, too, nothing but benefits.

All these different designs elicit a variety of opinions. Back to the BID’s design, take a closer look at the crown design — It’s a derivative of the CdM Chamber of Commerce’s logo. I don’t know about you, but I’d never noticed their logo before, the crown with the cross. In the design for the bike rack the cross is more prominent, a real Latin cross. I’m wondering, is this a good idea? Should the crown design be modified to omit any religious implications?

Then the text on the bike rack. Maybe it’s a little too wordy?

Maybe it hardly matters. Once these first fifty racks are installed there’ll be an appeal for more, and in many other parts of the city, too.