Photo gallery
A sample of the collection of photos from my Flickr photostream related to transportation, urbanism, and bicycling. You may also be interested to see my most popular photos.
![Bikes park free at meters](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4815881624_e2fc262ce6_m.jpg "These signs have been popping up on "vintage" parking meter posts. I hear that the community is installing these, and not LAZ or Chicago Parking Meters, LLC.")
![Bike rack too close to sign pole](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3287/3126439945_ac4a2e824d_m.jpg "The situation: We install a bike rack because the streetscape designers ask us to. They point out this location as one they prefer. Okay, fine by us. Rack gets installed.
Days later, this sign pole gets installed within two feet of the "cycle anchor" (UK term I heard in a video).
The situation would never be reversed; that is, we would never install a bike rack within two feet of a sign pole after the sign pole has been installed.
Fortunately, this sign pole is in line with the bike rack and will make only a minimal imposition.")
![A beauty](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4766281817_ec97484bea_m.jpg "Everyone was fascinated by its majesty, color, and condition.
I tagged this with "underground" but we're not. We're just below street level but probably at least 20 feet above the level of the Chicago River.")
![Monthly Carnage: Hit & run in Pilsen is among 5 pedestrian deaths in past 30 days](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/99/4086732358_c8ea819d92_m.jpg "Martha was killed by a driver in a purple 4-door sedan for which police are still searching. If you have any information, please call police at 911, or The Martha Gonzalez Memorial Committee at 312-203-4986. There's a reward for information that leads to the conviction of the driver.
Pedestrian fatalities in the past 30 days:
-Martha Gonzalez, Tuesday, October 13th, 1700 S Halsted Street. Driver at large.
-Larry Nelson, Saturday, October 17th, 1100 S Cicero Avenue. Driver at large.
-Kim Brown (pregnant), 50 N Kostner Avenue (her child was delivered via Caesarean section but died). Driver (James Cox) arrested and charged with aggravated driving under the influence.
-Rachel Gilliam, Sunday, November 1st, 4300 N Lincoln Avenue. Driver at large.
Total: 6 people (that I know about!)
Pedestrian injuries recently:
-Three teenagers (most likely UIC students), Saturday, September 26th, 1220 S Halsted Street (right across from James Stukel Towers dormitory). Driver at large.
Please read what Tom Vanderbilt is <a href=\"http://www.slate.com/id/2234011/pagenum/all/\" rel=\"nofollow\">writing about jaywalking on Slate</a>.
My title is modeled after Streetsblog's "<a href=\"http://www.streetsblog.org/category/the-weekly-carnage/\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Weekly Carnage</a>" posts that list all the collisions and deaths involving motor vehicles.")
![Rezmar site aerial](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3062/3100660683_ba124be573_m.jpg "This photo's filename is "Rezmar site aerial.jpg". I found it on an undisclosed file server. Rezmar is the name of Antoin "Tony" Rezko's shady real estate firm. Well, the firm might not be shady, but Tony is. I don't know which parts of this photo have Rezmar-related properties - that would be very interesting to know.
See notes for some indications as to what is there now.")
![Clearest example of Bike Parking Phenomenon A](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4544738896_018f47609c_m.jpg "If this photo doesn't demonstrate to you Bike Parking Phenomenon A, then I don't know what will.
Read more about BPP-A:
<a href=\"http://project.stevevance.net/appendices/level_of_service#bike_parking_phenomenon_a\" rel=\"nofollow\">One</a>, and <a href=\"http://www.stevevance.net/planning/2010/04/bike-parking-phenomenon-a/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Two</a>. Also, read how <a href=\"http://www.stevevance.net/planning/2010/01/successful-bike-parking/\" rel=\"nofollow\">distance is the most significant factor</a> in bike parking "success."
The owner of the red bicycle is taking a large risk by locking their bicycle to the sign pole. These are easily removed - unscrew the single bolt and the bicycle is yours. It's called "sucker pole" for a reason.
Granted, I was not there when the owner of the red bicycle arrived at this location and proceed to lock their bike to the sign pole. The bike rack MAY have been full. However, I do not believe this to be the case because I have never seen more than one bike rack locked to this bike rack. This intersection sees a lot of bicycle through traffic and not very much destination traffic.
Yes, I take detours on my way home from work in order to take pictures of this kind of stuff.
UPDATE: 04-26-10: I saw two bikes here today at 8:00 PM. The red bike was in the same place (not sure if it moved), and another bike on the bike rack.")
![Bad bike parking](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/2791378250_b47c6b8c63_m.jpg "This is an example if bad bike parking. This rack is at Best Buy's
South Loop location on Roosevelt and Clinton, just north of Home Depot
which also has bad bike parking.
What is wrong?
1. This style bike rack requests that cyclists respectfully lock their
bikes perpendicular to the curb. In doing so, the bike will block more
than 60% of the sidewalk width. If a cyclist recognizes this and locks
thief bike parallel to the rack, the amount of bikes that can be
locked to this rack is reduced.
2. The distance between each wave is so small that only one bike can
fit in the wave. City wave racks are crafted with waves that allow two
bikes in each wave.
3. This rack can easily be stolen and I will not be surprised when it
is. Gaze your eyes to the rack's attachment point at the base. Only
the base is "firmly" joined to the sidewalk while the rack is joined
to the base with a simple bolt and nut.
4. Location. This rack faces a blank wall of the Best Buy, over 100
feet away from the entrance. No one is looking out for this rack or
this stretch of the street.
Best Buy installed this same rack on the north side of the building,
on Roosevelt.")
![Quantity (frequency?) of workers bicycling to their jobs](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2471/3999908370_3b9935cc04_m.jpg "This map shows, with increasing color intensity, the number of workers who rode their bikes to their jobs in each Census Tract in Chicago.
<b>A darker color means more people rode their bikes to jobs in that Census tract than in a lighter colored Census tract</b>.
I chose to work on the Census Tract level for now (while testing the data and my GIS skills) because there it's faster (there are 25,000 Block Groups in Chicago and only 1,300 Census Tracts).
White means that no workers were recorded bicycling to jobs in that Census Tract.
This data comes from the Census Transportation Planning Package, which estimates the number of workers traveling to the Census Tract and by what means did they travel.
I think this took me 3 hours to make. I'm trying to develop a method to prioritize bicycle parking installation as part of my school project.
There are many ways to make a similar map with similar information: I could normalize the number of bicycling workers by the total number of workers in the tract to show which Census tract has the greatest share of workers arriving via bicycle (this would probably move some Census tracts to a lighter hue, like South Deering).
I could normalize the number of bicycling workers by the total area of the tract to show which Census tract has the greatest number of workers per square foot (actually, I have no idea what story that would tell). I could normalize the number of bicycling workers by the total number of workers in all tracts to show which Census tract is the "most green."
Project: /hard drive/CTPP/part2_test1/")
![Tempe Transportation Center](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/4234519807_65aca300c2_m.jpg "The <a href=\"http://www.tempe.gov/greenprograms/transitcenter.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">Tempe Transportation Center</a>, at 200 E. Fifth Street, is a multi-modal transit center, hosting the Bicycle Cellar, a secure bike station with showers, lockers, repair and rentals, as well as a stop on several bus routes. It also includes a light rail train station - ASU Sun Devil Stadium (originally known as Veterans Way and College Avenue).
The Tempe Transportation Center is seeking LEED Platinum (I just checked on the U.S. Green Building Council's website and so far, which doesn't yet list the building). The EPA gave the City of Tempe the Smart Growth Achievement Award on December 1, 2009 (<a href=\"http://www.tempe.gov/greenprograms/pdfs/EPASmartGrowthAward12.01.09.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">see PDF</a>), "as a model of sustainable design."")
![What a new bike lane might look like](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3460/3837552337_8061bf2236_m.jpg "When streets are resurfaced in Chicago, the Bicycle Program can sometimes "<a href=\"http://bike2015plan.org/mbac/june172009/handouts/gleason_onstreetbikeways.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">piggyback</a>" (PDF) the project to get new or refreshed bike lane or marked shared lane pavement markings installed.
This is looking south on Clinton Street north of Fulton at the railroad tracks.
Come here in the morning or evening to see bike rush hour for all the Chicagoans traveling to Milwaukee Avenue.
<a href=\"http://www.stevevance.net/planning/2009/09/bicycling-for-college-students/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Featured in my blog</a>.
<a href=\"http://vimeo.com/9875734\" rel=\"nofollow\">What it looks like when trains go by</a>.
<a href=\"http://loc.alize.us/#/flickr:3837552337\" rel=\"nofollow\">See where this picture was taken.</a> <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/groups/geotagging/discuss/72157594165549916/\">[?]</a>")
See more from this collection.
Bicycling
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GIS
Transit & Transportation
StreetsBlog- Our Mobile Money Pits: The True Cost of Cars September 2, 2010Rowena learned about the true cost of cars the hard way. Raised by her mom, a Filipina immigrant, in a happy if carless home in northern California, Rowena marveled upon graduating from college and getting a steady job that she could afford to lease her very own car. For a small down payment and […]
- Livability: A Small Town Value September 2, 2010Davidson, North Carolina, population 7,100, isn’t the kind of global metropolis that is normally looked to as a cutting-edge example of sustainable transportation planning. By making new development walkable and bikeable, Davidson, North Carolina preserved its small town character as it grew. Photo: U.S. EPA But a new series from Transportation for America h […]
- Our Mobile Money Pits: The True Cost of Cars September 2, 2010
- Web Design Tips
- Twitter: stevevance
- I'm learning AutoCAD right now, as I go. Editing bike rack drawing. It's neat. Dimensioning is complicated. #fb
- The biker on Milwaukee Avenue in this photo appears as if he's going to jump out of your screen. http://bit.ly/aVlez4 #chicagobikes
- I want to fly with my folding bike to Utah. Southwest Airlines won't charge. How do I package it? Duffel bag? Heavy duty garbage bag?
My Photos
