Hey all,
I'd love to hear stories of community bike shops explicitly involved in
bike advocacy. I interpret "bike advocacy" pretty broadly but am thinking
along the lines of fighting for bike lanes, changing bike-negative laws,
pushing for complete streets policies, etc.
I'm spending some time thinking about the role of community bike shops in
the bike advocacy movement. One theme I've been reflecting on - and I
welcome people's thoughts, comments, push-back, etc - is this. The bicycle
…
[View More]advocacy movement is limited in its potential in part because of the lack
of diverse community leadership and participation from traditionally
under-represented communities (we/they are a bunch of old white men).
Community bike shops have an incredible diversity of experiences and
connections to traditionally under-represented communities, but a lack of
intentional engagement in policy work limits community bike shops' ability
to have a broad-reaching and long-term impact. I'm trying to understand how
really grassroots organizations can have a more broad-reaching impact - and
where community bike shops have succeeded (or failed) in using our networks
to involve people in influencing legislation or government investments.
I welcome any stories that in any way touch on the relationship between
community bike shops to advocacy initiatives!
Jason Tanzman
Cycles for Change
--
Development and Outreach Director
612-232-2737 (cell)
651-222-2080 (shop)
www.cyclesforchange.org
The mission of Cycles for Change is to be an open, accessible space to
educate and empower people to use bicycles as transportation, helping to
build a sustainable environment and community. Volunteer with us to help
build a bicycling movement in the Twin Cities!
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