Westlake businesses need parking, not bike routes, to stay afloat

Taken from Thursday’s edition of the Jason Rantz Show

Bicyclists ride through a busy parking lot on Westlake in Seattle and it’s dangerous, so naturally, rather than tell bicyclists to take a safer route, the city wants to take away a significant portion of parking spots that help keep businesses afloat, reports KING 5.

This is ridiculous; business be damned, we’re going to make policies that push convenience for the people who don’t drive the economy.

This isn’t about safety, this is about forcing a pro-bike agenda, no matter the cost. In this case, it’s a cost of $3.6 million and a probable business hit for those who are losing parking in an area with already limited parking options.

Businesses on the marina need parking. These are not the types of businesses to which people can simply ride a bike.

Turns out, it’s kind of difficult lugging heavy boat equipment to Seattle Boat Works.

It’s not very romantic to bicycle down to China Harbor for dinner with a date, or maybe your grandparents.

When you’re pregnant and want to go to Bella Materna for some maternity lingerie, probably not a good idea to bike a few miles to get there.

When you’re going to take your kids to Lake Union Family Dental, something tells me it could be a bit of a hassle to bring your little kids to get their cavities drilled out when you have to bike to and from the offices.

It’s best for these business that customers there have a place to park, especially when they live far enough away that biking isn’t even an option.

But people with an ideologically driven agenda – and being militantly pro-bike has become an ideology – don’t care about all the collateral damage so long as they get what they want, when they want it.

“In my opinion,” writes Tom Fucoloro, over at Seattle Bike Blog, “the project includes too much concern for parking preservation and misses chances to create new creative public spaces and wider sidewalks. But I suppose that’s what compromise looks like.”

He doesn’t even want compromise and in this case, he’s not doing the compromise, not really. If this plan goes through, it’s the business giving up something and the bicyclists giving up nothing. But see, in their view, they’re owed the bike lane, they’re owed the accommodation, they’re owed whatever it is they want. What are they compromising on? Not getting their demands.

The Stranger’s Ansel Herz sarcastically writes, “some people really, really treasure their parking spots.”

Yeah, as it turns out, you tend to treasure things that help keep you in business. As if treasuring his bike is any different than treasuring a parking spot.

Taken from Thursday’s edition of the Jason Rantz Show