Category Archives: neighborhoods

Neighborhood Cargo Bike Share?

Posted on January 25, 2008 by Anne | 3 comments

Our neighbors stopped by the other day to test ride one of our Xtracycles. They took it for a little spin with their daughter on the back. We love (and even enourage) impromptu Xtracycle test rides. We can’t wait until someone we know takes the plunge. Come on – you know who you are – just go for it!

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Posted in bikes, neighborhoods, sustainability

Tagged bakfietsen, bikes, cargo bike, neighborhood

Neighborhoods and Bikes: Ballard

Posted on January 22, 2008 by Anne | Leave a comment

It’s fun to re-discover neighborhoods by bike. Sunday we took an afternoon jaunt down the Burke-Gilman trail with the kids. We’ve visited Ballard more frequently since we’ve been on two-wheels than we ever did in our car. Some of the things that make the neighborhood a bummer by car (lack of parking, long traffic light waits, and its misfortune of not being on the way to anywhere) actually make it more desirable from a pedal-powered perspective. It’s a 30-minute cruise from our house — far enough away to make it an afternoon destination yet close enough to make it doable with the kids on the back of the bikes.

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Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, Burke-Gilman Trail, extravehicular activities, kids, neighborhoods, seattle, shops, xtracycle

Tagged "weekend outing", ballard, bikes, Family Cycling, kids, outing, weekend

You deserve that treat

Posted on January 12, 2008 by Anne | Leave a comment

The best thing about running errands by bike is you can justify that cookie at the end of the day. We stopped in at the Dahlia Bakery after a day of running errands. I did manage to resist their famous coconut cream pie – which they sell in 4 different sizes including a coco bite for $2 – for those who can’t justify a whole pie. Mmmmmm. Maybe next time.

-Anne

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Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, neighborhoods, seattle, shops, xtracycle

Tagged alternative transportation, Dahlia Bakery, seattle, xtracycle

Yearly Budget

Posted on January 7, 2008 by Anne | 2 comments

I’m doing the dreaded beginning of the year stuff – cleaning out the closets, getting rid of stuff and reviewing our budget. In the process, I ran across our 2007 budget – it was pretty amusing to read it. The budget contained a line item for gas – $200 a month. According to my girlfriend that’s nothing – she pays $200 a week. We’ve only put 2 tanks of gas into our car since the end of August. That’s a lot of walking around money!

In the wake of gas price increases, have you seen your gas expenditures go up or down?

– Anne

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Posted in alternative transportation, gas, Human Powered Politics, neighborhoods, sustainability, traffic

Tagged alternative transportation, bicycle, budget, cycling, gas, walking

Holiday Loop

Posted on December 22, 2007 by Anne | 2 comments

We took the kids to see Santa at University Village yesterday afternoon/evening. It started in the afternoon but ended in the evening but that’s a whole nother story that I’m trying to put behind me. Let’s just say Santa doesn’t have a very good process. The kids enjoyed it all and the four year old got to put in his Santa request for Beef Jerky so all is well.

After the Santa experience, we took the long way home through Candy Cane Lane. Ester is right on – I wouldn’t want all of that traffic clogging up and polluting my street every day for 3 weeks. I’m sure when the tradition started 48 years ago, people walked through the loop to enjoy the lights and decorations. Now, the few hardy walkers are overshadowed by the drivers. We couldn’t help but be annoyed by the drive throughers. They wouldn’t want to get out of their car, would they?

Happy Holidays and keep riding!

– Anne

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Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, kids, neighborhoods, seattle

Tagged , bicycle, bikes, christmas lights, santa, xtracycle

Hardwick’s – a good ol’ fashioned hardware store

Posted on December 13, 2007 by Anne | 3 comments

We are lucky enough to live within biking distance to Hardwick’s.

“Hardwick’s is a family-owned and operated hardware store located in the heart of the University District in Seattle, Washington. Passed down through three generations, Hardwick’s is rich in family tradition. Grandfather Charles Dean Hardwick established the business as a secondhand store in 1932 after he lost his real estate company in the market crash. Starting with his own office furniture as the original inventory, Grandfather Hardwick’s business continued to thrive in the Depression era by including factory seconds and damaged freight from the Milwaukee Road and Union Pacific Railroad and by purchasing goods from the public….”

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Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, kids, longbikes, neighborhoods, seattle, shopping, shops

Tagged , bikes, Hardware, Hardwick's, seattle, tools, xtracycle

30 Minute Load Zone

Posted on December 12, 2007 by Anne | Leave a comment

We parked in the load zone at preschool the other day and our four year old was very concerned we’d been there for longer than 30 minutes. He really didn’t want to get a ticket.

– Anne

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Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, kids, neighborhoods, School, seattle, traffic

Tagged bikes, carfree, School, seattle, traffic, xtracycle

The Year of Living Car-lessly

Posted on November 15, 2007 by Anne | 1 comment

I discovered Alan Durning’s series last year. It was my inspiration for trying to be less car dependent. When I first started reading it, I told myself, ” I could never do that.” (Insert all excuses here). But I was truly inspired. If their family of five can live without a car, I can certainly live with driving less.

We started small – eliminating un-necessary trips here and there, declaring carfree days once or twice a week, doing all errands on one day to eliminate daily short trips etc.

Then we got the Xtracycles. What a truly revolutionary invention. They have changed everything for us. All kid-and-stuff-hauling related excuses evaporated when they were up and running. Now – we barely drive. Maybe once every 2 weeks. Probably less. We’re hooked – wouldn’t go back. It’s so easy and fun.

Give Alan Durning’s series a read when you have a chance.

– Anne

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Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, kids, longbikes, neighborhoods, seattle, sustainability, traffic

Tagged alternative transportation, bikes, carless living, walking

Kids and walkable entertainment

Posted on November 9, 2007 by Anne | Leave a comment

This post has nothing to do with bikes. It does, however, have something to do with carfree days which was the original purpose of this blog.

When a preschooler isn’t in school, you have to find something to do to avoid hearing “I’m bored” all day long. This isn’t hard – we have a lot of fun stuff to do in our neighborhood. Neither Tim nor I are big fans of playgrounds (shhh – don’t tell our children) So, we try to find other, non-playgroundish things to do. Looking for insects, digging in the dirt, playing in the creek near our house, picking up leaves – all highly entertaining. And when you have a four year old boy, seeking out big construction equipment is a must.

My son and I enjoyed a carfree day watching a crew prepare to lift a house in our neighborhood. It was a beautiful day so I enjoyed it as well! We have to return to the site today to watch the actual lifting….ah the things we do for our children.

– Anne

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Posted in extravehicular activities, kids, neighborhoods, seattle

Tagged activities, construction, kids

Election Night Special Edition: Seattle Mayor DOES Want to Show Off His Rack

Posted on November 7, 2007 by Tim K | 1 comment

…at least the new one at University Zoka, spotted this morning by an eagle-eyed, pre-caffeine, carfree-Anne.

If you recall, I posted a while ago about the Seattle Bike rack program. One of my nominated locations was UZ. Low and behold, today we see a single, shiny new rack. Either someone SDOT reads this blog (unlikely), or I just got lucky.

Like any red-blooded, American urban cyclist, I ultimately lust after a nice pair (at least). The demand is there — at 11am. this rack was full, a Zoka-installed rack was full, and bikes were chained to the street trees. Still, I’m a sucker for almost any rack and can’t help but give a frat-boy-sized W00t! to this lopsided offering,

Dare I hope this is a sign of life to come in a post-Bicycle Master Plan world? Nah, I’m not that optimistic. Still, I won’t mind a bit if SDOT proves me wrong.