Ethan, I'm glad you like that bike parking project on N Mississippi. It came out of the hard work of neighborhood advocates and business owners, visionary city employees, and BTA staff. Best of all, it was very inexpensive, and so successful other businesses in that district want one.

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, it's a car parking space converted into a high-capacity bike parking area.

I see on-street bike parking like this as a real complement to some of our best neighborhood business districts that still, unfortunately, suffer from woefully inadequate pedestrian and bike facilities. For example, the crowded sidewalks on SE Belmont and SE Hawthorne are always full of bikes blocking the sidewalk--not that it's our fault, because where else are we supposed to park?

It would be a great way to enhance the bike- and pedestrian-friendliness of the district to help get bikes off the sidewalk while still welcoming bicyclists to the district by providing good, dedicated parking.

Since the number of cars that can park in districts like that is limited, helping more people walk and bike to businesses supports local merchants as well as helping people lead active lifestyles and choose environmentally-friendly modes.

My dream is to have bike parking areas like this all over the city. I imagine one outside of the Laurelhurst theater, another outside of the Bagdad theater, one on Alberta, several downtown (not to appear movie-obsessed, but how about outside of Fox Tower?), Sellwood...the possibilities are endless, and at about $5000 a pop (cheap for a transportation investment) they're very doable.