06/12/2026
When you start biking in your suburbs, you notice things you didn’t notice before.
Street Design Matters More Than Distance:
Suburbs are generally built with longer distances between places than cities are. How far things are apart doesn’t matter nearly as much as how safe the design of the roads are.
Some Places Feel Strangely Empty:
There’s thousands of people who live nearby, yet you rarely see people walking, biking, or neighbors outside because most movement happens inside vehicles. Houses are spaced farther apart, and yards are often private and separated with barriers and fences. Suburbs have lots of open space but surprisingly few places where people naturally gather.
One Dangerous Intersection Can Disconnect An Entire Area:
A neighborhood might be wonderfully bikeable until you reach one six lane road. After that, everything on the other side becomes inaccessible.
Kids Have Lost A Lot Of Independence:
Anytime they need to go to school, sports practice, friends’ houses, or the park, they have to rely on a parent to get there. This isn’t because they’re lazy, it’s because many suburbs weren’t designed to let them travel independently.
Parking Takes Up An Incredible Amount Of Space:
Since almost everybody drives around suburbs, there are usually even larger parking lots than in cities, and the extra space makes them even more spread out.
You Learn Which Neighborhoods Feel Alive:
It’s the ones where people are. Not because they’re crowded, but because people are visible and there’s communal space to relax.
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The more people understand that bike infrastructure isn’t just about bikes but about freedom, safety, connection, and creating places where people actually enjoy living, the closer we get to building neighborhoods designed for humans, not just traffic.