Immigrant communities and cycling

[NbyNW]

Just wanted to share an article that a friend recently brought to my attention, as this subject has come up in threads past . . . just couldn't remember when or where, but I think our discussions have been more anecdotal.

Here, a doctoral candidate studied immigrants and their transportation choices, based on data from the National Household Travel Survey:

Bicycles and the 'Immigrant Effect' by Elisabeth Best
http://www.miller-mccune.com/health/...-effect-14744/

[PamNY]

This is fascinating -- thanks for posting. I wonder how many cycling advocacy groups think about such things.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The Latino immigrants in my neighborhood are the ONLY people riding bicycles back and forth to work, the grocery store, laundromat, etc all through the dead of winter, 20F, ice and snow...with no special fancy wool clothes or studded tires, no fancy panniers. I really admire them for their determination.

[katherine]

That is fascinating. Not to make it political and incite a fevered debate, but I gotta wonder, living in AZ and all, are police going to be more likely to ask Chicano/a cyclists for their papers or non-cyclists?

[shootingstar]

but I gotta wonder, living in AZ and all, are police going to be more likely to ask Chicano/a cyclists for their papers or non-cyclists?

Can the police even figure out who 'looks' Chicano, lst generation but not 2nd, 3rd generation?

Ok, I'll shut up.

An interesting thing to learn over time is if immigrant parents would buy for their child(ren) a bike/hockey stick/ice skates ..as part of the acculturation process in North America, if the kid wants it and if family budget it allows it.

[NbyNW]

IMHO, I would be surprised if the law stands up to the legal challenges that have been filed. But what do I know.

Back to the original topic -- I liked the conclusion of the article where it was recommended that transit and bike facility planners take into account these communities. That it wasn't so much about race or immigration status as it was about having information about where the demand for safe bicycle facilities might be.

[Kiwi Stoker]

I am spending time between New Zealand and Singapore at the moment.

In Singapore there's a huge "immigrant worker" population of mainly men from neigbouring countries brought over to work on projects and housed in dorms. They don't get paid alot in Singapore standards but do get free board and food. Their main way of getting around is by bike, often with bicycle baskets,a friend on the back, a pair of jandals and the seat as low as possible. They ride on the footpath, on the road, against the traffic- basically everywhere.

And then there's the lycra warriors on the weekends and holidays. I think they see us riding our bikes and think WE are crazy. And they always ask "how much your bike"- I don't give an exact figure anymore and just say " very expensive" otherwise their eyes bug out of their heads.