Biking To Kindergarten

Felixio, originally uploaded by [Zakkaliciousness].

Another photo from Copenhagen website Cycliciousness:

Transporting kids in Copenhagen is an integral part of our bike culture. As mentioned previously in this blog 36% of Copenhageners ride their bike each day on average. This figure is bumped up to 50% between spring and summer. That translates into 850,000 bikes on the streets on a lovely summer’s day.

This fact, coupled with the fact that Danish kids start in daily daycare at the age of 1-1.5 years, means that kids need to be moved around until they’re able to ride themselves (italics mine – SF).

The post has many great photos of various human-powered conveyances allowing adults to transport kids around town (plus this lovely shot of little Felixio, doin’ it for himself). To all those who shake their heads, roll their eyes, and tell me I need to just accept that this will NEVER, EVER happen in New York City… it’s a dream I refuse to give up!

When Danish urban planner Jan Gehl talks about Copenhagen’s gradual shift from streets devoted to cars to the bicycle paradise they enjoy today, he mentions that everyone said it was simply unthinkable, that the Danish needed their cars because they couldn’t possibly walk everywhere — walking was “for Italians”! Copenhagen’s transformation began in the early ’60s, the height of the automobile age, and was something of a stealth operation, spread out over several decades before it was fully recognized as a revolution with no turning back. In my opinion the decline of the automobile age has begun, whether most of the population recognizes it or not; the time has come to start embracing other ways of getting around. New York City has the potential to lead the way, with the highest percentage of car-less households in the U.S., yet cycling is still something of a fringe activity at best here.
Fortunately there are many examples to admire and emulate: in European cities from Amsterdam to Munich to the gold standard, Copenhagen, using a bicycle to perform everyday tasks is the norm, all year round (notice the patch of snow on Felixio’s route to kindergarten). Everyone from small kids to senior citizens does it, and they are only healthier for it.