Master-planned communities provide bike trails, programs
RJNEWHOMES.VEGAS Toole also said it’s not just millennials who are hopping on bikes; the same study showed an 11 percent increase in biking among the 40-to64 age bracket.
The bicycle is a favored mode of transportation in much of Europe, and although America’s biking enthusiasm lags behind, many U.S. cities have become much more bike friendly in recent years.
A growing number of cities even have bike sharing programs — New York and Chicago being the latest — and bike lanes continue to grow in mileage nationwide. A great bike path can make cycling a memorable experience: Traffic isn’t worrisome or dangerous, a bird’s-eye view of nature is ever present, and the body gets a thorough workout.
As biking takes off in cities and suburbs, developers have been quick to implement community bike paths, and in many instances connect them to city’s bicycle highways in and out of urban areas. Bicycling to work and shopping is becoming commonplace, especially in mixed-use communities.
The University of California at Davis’s West Village neighborhood, the largest planned zero-net-energy community in the United States, offers faculty, staff, residents and students access to a number of parks, paths and gardens that are designed to increase walking and other physical exercise, while decreasing residents’ reliance on cars. Parking is consolidated along the eastern edge of the development, thereby allowing residences direct access to pedestrian and bike paths. A neighborhood bike trail, bike parking and bike repair facilities on the premises further encourage residents to bike for recreation or transport.
The West Village also offers a host of opportunities for physical activity to residents — a 24-hour fitness center, sports courts, yoga studios and pools that provide residents the opportunity to engage in their preferred type of exercise on a daily basis.
Anthony Wolf Greenberg, senior vice president of Washington-area developer JBG Co., said his firm is beginning to build with bike-friendly design in mind according to an article in Urban Land Institute from 2013. Although his company prioritizes developing properties near transit, he said other companies have begun to build near bike trails.
“We’re not by any means claiming to be some leader on this; we’re very early on. We’re trying to learn a lot about bike friendliness,” Greenberg said.
JBG Cos. has begun to encourage biking to its properties. The company worked with the chamber of commerce in McLean, Va., to sponsor a bike-towork day. It also hosted a bike-to-work day at its Rockville office attended by about 100 people. The firm also provides artsy bike racks in some of their new developments, plus access to bike pumps and vending machines that sell sports drinks and energy bars.
People across most age demographics are beginning to bike more. Jennifer Toole, president of Toole Design Group, noted in the same article that in a study conducted from 2001 to 2009, bike trips increased 24 percent, walking increased 16 percent, and use of public transit increased 40 percent for members of generation Y, also known as millennials.
She thinks growing numbers of this age group no longer see a car as a symbol of freedom. Whereas a car gave an older generation the opportunity to connect with others, millennials instead turns to smartphones. She quoted Sheryl Connelly, head of global consumer trends for Ford, who said, “I don’t think car buying for millennials will ever be what it was for boomers.”
Toole also said it’s not just millennials who are hopping on bikes; the same study showed an 11 percent increase in biking among the 40-to-64 age bracket.
Summerlin also sponsors many biking events and races throughout the year, and there are many informal biking groups where residents join together for daily or weekly bike runs through the community.
Also, the new master plan in Henderson, Cadence, offers a bike sharing program that offers 20 community bikes to its residents to use throughout the community and on nearby trails.
With May being National Bike Month, we can expect to see a lot more twowheeled vehicles across the nation. For more on this story, visit RJMASTERPLANLIVING. VEGAS. To send community photos and news, email lcollier@reviewjournal.com.