Visions of Mobility, Keys for Social Justice

I think if Salt Lake City were to make a commitment to bicycling and bicycle infrastructure it would do more than we can even imagine. It would strengthen our sense place here in the city and give us reasons to be proud of the collective US, taking pride in our commitments to our health, our environment's health, and our choice to live more sustainable lives. The social justice piece of this is huge as well. Because pretty much everyone can get their hands on a bike here, they don't discriminate. You don't have to be able to afford the gas, car payments, insurance, and maintenance a car requires. Also there's no age requirements or restrictions on bicycling. What does this mean? This means the elderly don't get trapped in their suburban homes because they can no longer drive, it means that the young don't have to depend on their parent to drive them everywhere, and it means everyone has greater level of mobility opening up more jobs and opportunity to all.



A commitment to bicycling in Salt Lake City could not only transform the way we think about our city, but also the way we think about our health and nutrition. When your body becomes the tool, the engine you use to travel, you start to think and care more about what you're fueling it with. And you end up with healthier people, happier people, and more conscious consumers (which is something we need a lot more of here in the U.S.)

We already have the wide streets and the money to make the images in this post realities in our city, we just need the political power and a shift in our ideas about transportation to squeeze the cars here and take back the streets.