Shop Blocked
As I was shopping this holiday I went to a mall. And it suddenly occurred to me that, for some reason, I hadn’t gone to a mall in a very very long time.
It’s one of those little lifestyle shifts that has happened with biking. I find myself almost exclusively patronizing small neighborhood shops.
But that makes sense. When you’re walking and biking why go to shopping areas whose entrances send the message “KEEP OUT!”?
People on bike are good for business!! I like to shop at merchants that have bike parking and I spend more time inside if I can also see my bike while shopping.
In the amount of time it takes to walk from Macy’s to Best Buy I can bike from my favorite sandwich shop in Southie, to my favorite clothing store in Cambridge. The whole city is my “mall” just like it was originally designed.
It will be really great if all those bike parkings were placed on the road, not in the sidewalk. Dont you think so? As you manage the layout of your designs, you decide.
Lovely, direct and full of truth draws, as always
Love this! I can’t believe how many areas don’t even have sidewalks let alone bike parking. I will go to the shops that want me there 🙂
I live and cycle in a much smaller town compared to Boston and it’s immediate neighbors, so I have a smaller pool of local shops to patronize, but they do get as much of my business as possible. Not the least of which are my two favorite watering holes. Both of them have a wide selection of craft brews on tap, and one of them has direct access to the local bike trail!