Sunday, December 18, 2011

Toronto Needs More Bike Parking in Parks


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.

1 comment:

  1. 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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