Pease Park
Let's Really Think Green
RECEIVED Mon., June 27, 2005
Dear Editor,
Whether AMD moves to Oak Hill or downtown, there will be a lot of people commuting between the two places [“Y Not?,” News, June 24]. The standing assumption is that all this commuting will be done by car.
What if there was a bike path from downtown to Oak Hill? Or, failing this, what about bike lanes? Or a wide sidewalk? It's not too far to bike to Oak Hill, especially by electric bicycle. I know people who do it (by regular human-powered bicycle). They report that it would be a great ride if it weren't so scary.
We can reduce pollution and make Austin a much nicer place by having a few routes at the edges of town that aren't so terrifying that people don't dare ride them without huge, polluting tanks. This is a serious matter, and it gets completely ignored. People who never go outside get up at meetings and say that it's much too hot to walk or bike in Austin anyway, so bike paths, bike lanes, and sidewalks are just useless frills. People who claim to care about the environment consider parking lots necessary but sidewalks objectionable because of impervious cover.
Austin folks like to think they are “green.” So how about a little support for nonpolluting transportation?
Whether AMD moves to Oak Hill or downtown, there will be a lot of people commuting between the two places [“Y Not?,” News, June 24]. The standing assumption is that all this commuting will be done by car.
What if there was a bike path from downtown to Oak Hill? Or, failing this, what about bike lanes? Or a wide sidewalk? It's not too far to bike to Oak Hill, especially by electric bicycle. I know people who do it (by regular human-powered bicycle). They report that it would be a great ride if it weren't so scary.
We can reduce pollution and make Austin a much nicer place by having a few routes at the edges of town that aren't so terrifying that people don't dare ride them without huge, polluting tanks. This is a serious matter, and it gets completely ignored. People who never go outside get up at meetings and say that it's much too hot to walk or bike in Austin anyway, so bike paths, bike lanes, and sidewalks are just useless frills. People who claim to care about the environment consider parking lots necessary but sidewalks objectionable because of impervious cover.
Austin folks like to think they are “green.” So how about a little support for nonpolluting transportation?
Yours truly,
Amy Babich
Amy Babich
