Recently, the City revamped Sally Bird Park, this little parkette on Brunswick near Harbord. They landscaped the park, added bench, and also three strange work-out machines. But what they forgot, and what the City frequently seems to forget in parks, is a place to lock your bike.
There are clear spots for four ring-and-posts in the space where the park's fence is set back from the sidewalk. As usual, when there is no infrastructure provided, people make-do; this time by locking their bikes to the fence. I've seen as many as six bikes locked up here before.
While there is a decent amount of ring-and-posts on commercial streets in Toronto, there is a dearth of bicycle parking along the residential streets in small parks like this one. This means that when people are at a park, or visiting friends on a residential street, they either have to walk awhile to find actual bike parking, or lock up to a fence or pole, which doesn't provide the same amount of security and, I'm sure, is annoying to residents and the City.
I have been recently shocked by the number of bicycles stolen in Toronto. One of them belonged to my daughter - it'so so heartbreaking to see your kid being so much sad. This unfortunate accident happened in Sally Bird Park and I know that the problem is in parking spots there. Meanwhile, parking a car in Toronto is considered to be easy on average (especially when compared to the other big cities of the world), there is a desperate situation for bike parking. I hope competent persons will soon notice the situation and I won't experience the same story with brand new bike of my child again...
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