We at 1304bikes here in Raleigh recently had our shop shut down by the city due to zoning/building code issues. We are currently regrouping and fundraising, while trying to find a new space.
We like to hear from other shops as to what kind of support you get from the cities you are located in (the actual city government, not the people in it). Whether it be donated space, money, or just good will. We are hoping to get some info about relationships that other shops have with their respective cities to use in our attempt to find a new location.
Thanks all!
-Doug
Hi Doug,
Sorry to hear about the shutdown.
Community Cycles in Boulder scored some storage space from two out of the ordinary sources. First, the City of Boulder owns a parking garage downtown. It's the same building that the bus station is in. There is an underused room for storage that will hold several hundred bikes. There's very poor lighting, no external windows, and no heating. It's pretty much a concrete room. Also, it's directly underneath the parking garage. When it's winter, and it snows, the chemicals from the road salt leak through seams in the concrete and corrode metal. Not all that friendly to bikes. We've had the space for several years now, and have some experience with where not to put bikes in that room.
We were also approached by Boulder County with some of their space. The building that houses their big snow plow vehicles and several other large emergency response vehicles was scheduled to be unused for 2 years. In about 2 years, the building will either be torn down or sold. As it would sit unused and empty for 2 years, they called us and offered us the space for the interim. We can't do a lot of our programming out of the space, but we can store and wrench on bikes there. It's an invaluable resource, as it can hold 400 bikes easy, 5 to 6 hundred if we really need it to.
I don't have any specific advice for you, Doug, as both of these spaces sort of fell on us. But I would suggest asking around to everyone you know to see if anyone knows anything, and encouraging them to ask around, too. Just get the word out that you're looking for a space, and make it a desperate plea...In this economy, there are plenty of empty spaces...as bad as that sounds...
Good luck.
On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 5:15 PM, 1304bikes 1304bikes@gmail.com wrote:
We at 1304bikes here in Raleigh recently had our shop shut down by the city due to zoning/building code issues. We are currently regrouping and fundraising, while trying to find a new space.
We like to hear from other shops as to what kind of support you get from the cities you are located in (the actual city government, not the people in it). Whether it be donated space, money, or just good will. We are hoping to get some info about relationships that other shops have with their respective cities to use in our attempt to find a new location.
Thanks all!
-Doug
-- 1304bikes www.1304bikes.org
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
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When we had to move last year we were lucky enough to find a generous Commercial Real Estate agent that donated his time and energy to lead the charge on finding us a new space. This was extremely helpful. He located spaces that were appropriate for our needs and helped negotiate reasonable rent. Some ideas that popped up as an option was an old elementary school building that was being used by several other organizations, and the basement of a church. We wouldn't have looked there if not for someone finding the spaces for us. Finding a landlord that is willing to reduce rent, donate space is a cool thing too. Our landlord I is donating space on the other side of our building for three non-profits to share for one year. And when negotiating our lease, our 'agent' got our rent reduced a little more by agreeing to give our landlord 30 bikes per year she could give to low income people in the neighborhood of her Hmong indoor market and grocery store. It's kind of creative lease that helps get more people on bikes. I guess what I learned from this experience was that there are a lot of different options, because there is so much empty, abandoned space out there, but having a good search and negotiation team will help the most. And it's ok to negotiate creatively. And we got a five year lease, so we would not have to move again soon. That move almost killed us! Moving a bike shop with years of history and piles of stuff is not my idea of fun. Best of luck on your search! John Sibley Bike Depot St. Paul, MN
----- Original Message ----- From: veganboyjosh@gmail.com To: "The Think Tank" thethinktank@bikecollectives.org Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 9:22:57 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] City Support
Hi Doug,
Sorry to hear about the shutdown.
Community Cycles in Boulder scored some storage space from two out of the ordinary sources. First, the City of Boulder owns a parking garage downtown. It's the same building that the bus station is in. There is an underused room for storage that will hold several hundred bikes. There's very poor lighting, no external windows, and no heating. It's pretty much a concrete room. Also, it's directly underneath the parking garage. When it's winter, and it snows, the chemicals from the road salt leak through seams in the concrete and corrode metal. Not all that friendly to bikes. We've had the space for several years now, and have some experience with where not to put bikes in that room.
We were also approached by Boulder County with some of their space. The building that houses their big snow plow vehicles and several other large emergency response vehicles was scheduled to be unused for 2 years. In about 2 years, the building will either be torn down or sold. As it would sit unused and empty for 2 years, they called us and offered us the space for the interim. We can't do a lot of our programming out of the space, but we can store and wrench on bikes there. It's an invaluable resource, as it can hold 400 bikes easy, 5 to 6 hundred if we really need it to.
I don't have any specific advice for you, Doug, as both of these spaces sort of fell on us. But I would suggest asking around to everyone you know to see if anyone knows anything, and encouraging them to ask around, too. Just get the word out that you're looking for a space, and make it a desperate plea...In this economy, there are plenty of empty spaces...as bad as that sounds...
Good luck.
On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 5:15 PM, 1304bikes < 1304bikes@gmail.com > wrote:
We at 1304bikes here in Raleigh recently had our shop shut down by the city due to zoning/building code issues. We are currently regrouping and fundraising, while trying to find a new space.
We like to hear from other shops as to what kind of support you get from the cities you are located in (the actual city government, not the people in it). Whether it be donated space, money, or just good will. We are hoping to get some info about relationships that other shops have with their respective cities to use in our attempt to find a new location.
Thanks all!
-Doug
One thing that I've seen is police donations. Police departments often get bikes that have no clear owner. They'll store them for a while and might sell them at auction, but with space being a premium some police departments will donate these bikes to the local bike collective. It's a win-win for the community.
Not exactly city related, but I've also seen Universities having a keen desire to chip in whether it be space or bike donations. For example, University of Illinois was a very large supplier of bikes to The Bike Project. The school has also shown interest in having The Bike Project run an on-campus bike repair facility... for which they would provide the space.
--sam
On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 5:15 PM, 1304bikes 1304bikes@gmail.com wrote:
We at 1304bikes here in Raleigh recently had our shop shut down by the city due to zoning/building code issues. We are currently regrouping and fundraising, while trying to find a new space.
We like to hear from other shops as to what kind of support you get from the cities you are located in (the actual city government, not the people in it). Whether it be donated space, money, or just good will. We are hoping to get some info about relationships that other shops have with their respective cities to use in our attempt to find a new location.
Thanks all!
-Doug
-- 1304bikes www.1304bikes.org
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
We primarily get general good will in Atlanta. Some city council members know about the organization, what we do, and they know some of us by name. One member made a financial contribution one year for our youth program out of her discretionary fund.
So far, their support hasn't been essential, but it's been very nice to have. It's validating for us and offers some credibility and protection from the kinds of people who like to hate on allied organizations and projects like Food Not Bombs and certain homeless shelters. I'd like to think that if we ran into a jam, they'd help us out.
Good luck, and please let us know if there's anything we can do to help! We're not terribly far away.
-rachael//sopo bikes.
On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 7:15 PM, 1304bikes 1304bikes@gmail.com wrote:
We at 1304bikes here in Raleigh recently had our shop shut down by the city due to zoning/building code issues. We are currently regrouping and fundraising, while trying to find a new space.
We like to hear from other shops as to what kind of support you get from the cities you are located in (the actual city government, not the people in it). Whether it be donated space, money, or just good will. We are hoping to get some info about relationships that other shops have with their respective cities to use in our attempt to find a new location.
Thanks all!
-Doug
-- 1304bikes www.1304bikes.org
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
participants (5)
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1304bikes -
john.carlson＠comcast.net -
rachael spiewak -
Sam Santos -
veganboyjosh＠gmail.com