Carbon Trace

I try to spend an hour or two in the morning hanging out at the Mudhouse about twice per week. It’s a good spot to bump into my cronies, i.e. people I know around town –and good friends — who are willing to spend a few minutes (or one or two hours) chatting. Developing, and then bumping into, cronies is one of the pleasures of urban density. It also happens the be a nexus of ideas.

This nexus is one of the things Richard Florida has in mind when he claims that cities that want to thrive in the 21st century must attract the creative classes. When these folks bump into each other, interesting stuff happens.

OK, I don’t want to make too many claims for me and my cronies. But this morning a few ideas were flying:

1. To go along with the 1-mile Solution, we need something to accommodate people who, for whatever reason, just cannot commute by bicycle regularly or at all. So how about this: Keep a Bicycle at Work. It may be possible for some regular commuters to keep a bicycle at work for short errands. So I started a Facebook group and will put some brain muscle to this idea and come up with a few suggestions. Any ideas out there that might make such a choice easier?
2. We need a regular get-to-know-downtown ride connected with Center City Saturday — monthly happenings on the third Saturdays of the month.
3. We still need a Cycle Chic blogger for Springfield (I’ll help you; just step up!). And we need a Cycle Chic or Tweed ride connected with the First Friday Art Walk.

Oh, yes. Bumping into one’s cronies a a good thing.

Technorati Tags: bicycle blogging, bicycle culture, cycle chic, cycling, Urban density