13 August 2009

Parisian Personal Bikes

Lovely Bicycle asked how the private cyclist population in Paris (not on Vélibs) compares to the cyclist population in Boston.

I would estimate that it is a slightly larger percentage of a certainly larger population than Boston's. I offer as corroborating evidence, these photos of bike parking near the Hotel de Ville for a free summer evening concert by some unknown band. In Boston we only see this kind of bike density for bicycle-related events like the Redbones party. Here one would have trouble finding a spot to park, that's never been a problem for me in Boston. It's worth noting that the nearby Velib stations were also full.

Click to expand the photos; a prize of some kind for the first person who can count all the bikes!

paris bike parking

paris bike parking

4 comments:

Velouria said...

What a nice photo of all those bicycles lined up along the fence! I have never seen that in Boston or Vienna.

We live on the Cambridge/Somerville line, and often the bike racks outside grocery stores, the post-office, and our usual cafe will be full with nowhere to park. But that's only because they have such small bike racks!

spiderleggreen said...

nice pics!

I was in Chicago, recently, and noticed more bikes in the neighborhood that I was in, than I might noticed in my city. But, I also noticed way more cars. So, I doubt that the per capita is that much different.

Carice said...

Love that rear basket on the individual bike shot!

Welcome back from la France, and good luck with your fender painting project- nice match on the colors!

I'm combining comments on multiple posts, but also congrats on the lovely picture of the Parisienne window-shopping. Lovely lighting and very classic- something very retro about her whole silhouette.

lagatta à montréal said...

Hi Charlotte!

You'll forgive me for being amiss in following your blog (and others); it is just because I've been cycling a lot and blogging less.

The demographics of both Paris and Boston must be hard to work out as such a small percentage of the metropolitain area is incorporated into the city proper in both cases.

Even 20 years ago, there was nothing like the current rate of bicycle use in Paris - bicycles were rarer in daily life than here in Montréal. The bicycle revolution in Paris is a key turning point in cycle chic - by which I don't mean anything snobbish but simply people looking urbane as they cycle for urban, utilitarian purposes.

vive la vélorution!