Bike History and downtown streets as a
shared public resource
James Longhurst Associate Professor of History
University of Wisconsin – La CrosseTwitter: @laxbikeguy Email: [email protected]
BicycleLaCrosse.com
bikebattles.net
facebook.com/bikebattles
@BikeBattlesBook
[email protected]
Washington
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Washington DCWisconsin
Minnesota
UW Stevens Point
UW Madison
Macalester College
Photo illustration of urban bike lane battles, New York Magazine, March 20, 2011
History helps us understand
this present-day conflict with the reminder that the public streets have always
been shared by varied forms of transportation.
European history of Roman roads;detail from
Histoire des grands chemins de l'Empire Romain (1728)
Legal “Vehicles”
Through the early modern era, common law and legislation covered many “vehicles, because the purpose of the public streets
was movement, regardless of conveyance.
Detail of “High Street, Whitechapel,” (1837)
Downtown San Francisco, California, 1901
Downtown Lansing, Michigan, with evidence of five kinds of transportation
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Los Angeles freeways, 1958
18
“Complete Streets” philosophy
Thank you.Questions?