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Where would you live? Do you want to live near bicycle-friendly transit routes?

Email|Link|Comments (5) Posted by Rona Fischman August 8, 2008 02:34 PM

I got my driver’s license at 18 and my first car shortly thereafter (a 19 year-old VW Beetle.) I didn’t know any adults who didn’t have a driver’s license except for a few New York City dwellers and my vision-impaired friends and colleagues. But, since the mid-1990s, I have met more people going car-free, if not license-free. Some as a matter of principle and some to avoid car expenses and hassles.

An increasing number of buyers ask me where their prospective home is in relation to bike paths and bicycle-lane roads. When I don’t know, I ask my local bicycle guru, Andy Rubel. There are also good resources on line, statewide.

I see bicycle commuting in a growing number of buyers. Many will travel more than five miles each way. Now I ask not only where a buyer commutes to, but how. It is not safe to assume a commuter uses a car or MBTA alone.

Bike route planning is the business of the Executive Office of Transportation, Mass Office of Travel and Tourism, as well as MassHighway. There has been a statewide plan for the past ten years. I see the difference where I live and work, do you? I do.

The real estate questions going into this summer weekend are:

Does being close to a bike-friendly route enhance the attractiveness of a home?
Do you care about bike routes? Do you think other people care?
Do you see car-free alternatives on the rise in your area?

Have a good weekend.

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5 comments so far...

I don't mind commuting on the T and would be OK biking to work during good weather, but as a primary mode of transport, it's not really practical in this climate.

Posted by JM August 8, 08 09:20 PM

Does being close to a bike-friendly route enhance the attractiveness of a home?
Yes!

Do you care about bike routes? Do you think other people care?
I care, I can't speak for others. I assume that some do and some don't.

Do you see car-free alternatives on the rise in your area?
There's a proposal for a new Green Line terminus in my neighborhood. If anyone has any sense at all, this is will become a reality. I'm somewhat amused that the arguments center around whether so and so would use it when we're really talking about future capacities for our children, and for ourselves when we get to be too old to drive safely on the rood. There's talk of linking a bike path to this terminus as well.

Posted by MW August 10, 08 10:40 AM

Absolutely! I moved away 4 years ago and came back last month. The increase in bikes in Cambridge and Somerville is amazing, and its is part of the equation for some when buying.

Posted by frank August 10, 08 05:17 PM

I gave up a car a few years ago and consciously bought a condo near the T. These days, because of how slow the T has become, I'm starting to think more about biking. If the city really stepped up its efforts to put in bike lanes (or better yet, put the Green Line underground and made the space up top a safe bike path), I would bike everytime that weather permitted!

Posted by Pam Reynolds August 11, 08 11:24 AM

Absolutely. I bike to work probably 50% of the time, and proximity to bike paths is an important decision. If there were better bike paths in Boston, I think a lot more people would ride to work.

JM is obviously not a biker, by the way--most people who ride frequently find that the biggest weather impediment to riding isn't cold--you can dress for that. It's precipitation, especially snow. Boston doesn't maintain its bike paths in the winter, for some reason.

Having just returned from a week in Chicago, one of the most bike-friendly cities in the country, I get upset thinking about the sorry state of bicycling (and transportation in general) in Boston.

Posted by Jason August 11, 08 04:25 PM