Sometimes I think about how the “social engineering” narrative for bike lane (etc.) opponents is so fundamentally false. The opposite is actually true. A thread from biking with my son to his school today

My son’s school is in the densest neighborhood in Minneapolis, Loring Park. Walking & biking there should be easy and obvious choices and were for generations surely. Here’s what used to be the front door

But at some point they expanded a parking lot in the back (probably over green space or play space for the kids). Now parking takes up as much space as the building & more space than outdoor play space

This past winter they remodeled & made it so the front door faces the parking lot in what is describe as a “new safe and welcoming entrance” https://facilities.mpls.k12.mn.us/emerson_spanish_immersion

The entrance is in this area. It’s definitely nicer than this pic, although totally strange for anyone not driving

You have to walk through the parking lot entrance to get to the new “safe and welcoming entrance” and I haven’t seen any bike racks obviously nearby (we park on street signs on the tiny sidewalks). It’s only a safe & welcoming entrance if you drive there.

The streets adjacent to the school are decent for US, but still very auto oriented with narrow sidewalks and unprotected bike lanes with huge gaps.

Everything about this is social engineered to say: drive your kid to school you idiot (or have them take the school bus). Despite the fact that this leads to unhealthy kids, unhealthy planet, & huge personal & societal financial costs and despite this being a dense neighborhood

Despite all that, we bike to the school because it’s crazy to drive 2 miles to school and we have the privilege (time, $, etc.) to overcome all this social engineering to drive

Today, I was biking with my 5-yr old son to pick up some supplies at his school. He was on a trail behind bike because the bike route is not good enough for him to bike on his own.

We got to this point where the bike lane ends because we prioritize parking over biking. The sidewalks are narrow & hard to bike on. We are 2 blocks away & I decide to just take the lane for one block before a break in parking

As we’re going an asshole driver decides to try to pass us with cars coming on even though there isn’t space. He is inches from us & I pull over to the right to get out of his way. I yell at him for endangering my son. He rolls down window & asks “what’s the big deal?”

My son is shaken. He refuses to play on the playground because he said he’s still scared. He literally tells me “This wouldn’t happen if we drove here, dad.”

Now, everyone who primarily walks, bikes, or takes transit has tons of stories like this. Shit like this happens all the time and it’s often worse. It’s way worse for the millions who don’t have all the privilege we have. It’s way worse in most places outside Minneapolis.

Despite that, I’m sure I won’t have to wait long to hear someone tell me again about how adding a bike lane or wider sidewalks or bus lanes or safer streets is social engineering.
It shouldn’t be this hard to make healthy, cost-effective, & planet-friendly choices

Oh, and probably someone will tell me that I shouldn’t bike with my son to his school since it’s unsafe. Another example of the true social engineering: cars over everything.