One Friend of Unfair Park Is Not Pleased At All With One Arts Plaza's No-Bikes-Allowed Policy

This morning, a Friend of Unfair Park who lives in Austin but has come home for work sends in this disgruntled missive:I usually work and live in Austin. I ride my bike to work there frequently, and I've never once had an issue with a driver. I've worked in Dallas...

By Robert Wilonsky

October 13, 2010

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This morning, a Friend of Unfair Park who lives in Austin but has come home for work sends in this disgruntled missive:

I usually work and live in Austin. I ride my bike to work there frequently, and I've never once had an issue with a driver. I've worked in Dallas for a couple of weeks, ridden my bike and have been swerved at, honked at multiple times and had an overall poor experience.

I used to live here. Dallas' landscape is perfect for bike riding. Just the right amount of overall elevation and beautiful neighborhoods off the beaten path to explore. I love it. Austin, on the other hand, is slightly more difficult to ride. More of a challenge, I guess I should say. But I've never had an issue with people in cars.

I rode my bike to work today at One Arts Plaza and was shocked to discover I was not allowed to take my bike inside with me to my office. I had to lock it up on the lone bike rack for One Arts Plaza: the far SW corner near Ross Ave.

I find it ridiculous that One Arts Plaza limits the amount of light fixtures in each office and yet you're discouraged from choosing an energy-efficient mode of travel. It might be small potatoes, yes, but for Dallas to overcome its bike-friendly woes, it needs an attitude adjustment.

I've only lived in Austin for a year. How quickly I forgot that Big D stands for Douchebag.

I called over to One Arts' management office to see if that's so. Sure enough: No bikes allowed. "It is a policy." My next-door neighbor is outraged. Reminds Hanna, "That's illegal in New York."

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