(letter sent to Habibe on April 27, 2012)
Good Morning, Habibe!
I am just emailing to follow up a conversation we had last fall with regards to the possibility of outdoor covered bicycle parking at Landmark Apartments (2493 Lakeshore Blvd W).
At the time of our last conversation, you had promised to look into it, and since I have heard nothing back, I and many of my cycling neighbours, are eager for an update.
I was irritated recently to read the letter posted to tenants regarding bikes in the parking lot. Of course one has to move through the lot with one's bike in order to get off the property! Perhaps a letter reminding *drivers* to be cautious would have been more appropriate?!
I was further surprised this morning to hear that my girlfriend was given a hard time by our building managers. They were urging her to park her bike underground. Of course, as you and I had discussed last fall, this is not at all practical for a number of reasons:
Good Morning, Habibe!
I am just emailing to follow up a conversation we had last fall with regards to the possibility of outdoor covered bicycle parking at Landmark Apartments (2493 Lakeshore Blvd W).
At the time of our last conversation, you had promised to look into it, and since I have heard nothing back, I and many of my cycling neighbours, are eager for an update.
I was irritated recently to read the letter posted to tenants regarding bikes in the parking lot. Of course one has to move through the lot with one's bike in order to get off the property! Perhaps a letter reminding *drivers* to be cautious would have been more appropriate?!
I was further surprised this morning to hear that my girlfriend was given a hard time by our building managers. They were urging her to park her bike underground. Of course, as you and I had discussed last fall, this is not at all practical for a number of reasons:
1. We both use our bikes daily or almost daily, often to haul groceries or other household items. Dragging everything underground and then schlepping it upstairs is neither healthy for our backs/shoulders, nor is it an effective use of our extremely limited time! 2. Our bikes are relatively expensive; leaving them in a dirty “cage” underground with a relatively easy to break lock is not safe. 3. Our bikes are clean and in good working order, so leaving them in the dirty “bike room” downstairs is not good for our bikes. 4. The bike room as it currently exists is a lot of hassle for someone who uses the bike nearly daily. |
It surprises me that in this day and age, a forward thinking corporation like Homestead in a major urban centre like Toronto would not be at the forefront of environmental leadership. Supporting methods of transportation and commuting that model good stewardship of the environment should be something that Homestead is excited about and planning for in their rental properties, not discouraging by allowing sourly building managers to make off-putting comments to tenants who are trying to live their lives in an environmentally sound manner.
You recently built a giant, wooden “house” for the garbage, recycling and green bins outside, why not make outdoor covered bike parking the next step?!
As I had indicated in our phone conversation last fall, I would be happy to assist with idea brainstorming and practical planning for such an addition to our home, so that it is done properly and safely (let’s learn from the gate to the Lake fiasco from 2010 the hazards of not consulting the people who use the property daily!) Many examples of safe, covered, visually attractive outdoor bike parking exist in our fine city, for instance, the lot outside of MEC on King Street. My girlfriend is an accomplished cyclist and former bike instructor with the City of Toronto, and she has a wealth of information at her fingertips. Please don’t hesitate to use either or both of us as a resource. Other cyclists in the building surely have ideas as well.
We look forward to finding out more about how Homestead plans to responsibly support commuter cyclists amongst their clientele. I will be calling you within the next week to follow up by phone, or feel free to contact me by phone or email before then.
Kind regards,
(Unit 807)