BB Biking

Something that many of us have noticed are the amount of free activities available to the public. I was thinking that this might have to do with the quality of life and livable compensation that people receive here. After thinking of it more, I think some of these free events could also be indirectly related to the drinking age. For example, celebrating Midsommar at Reffen was a free event open to the public - no tickets needed. There's tickets for everything in the U.S. If there is a special beer garden, I think we require tickets because it’s the way to limit the age of who can enter. With open carry allowed, Danes can walk around anywhere without being space limited by their drinks. Another example I noticed was a Tour de France viewing party in a public square in Odense. Something that like would definitly be sponsored by a bar and have a blocked off viewing area for those of drinking age. We have to control the space to control the activites. Here, everyone just gathers in a t...

This past week, we biked around Aero and Tasigne island, from Svendborg to Korinth, and Korinth to Ringe. We biked around 75 miles over the course of four days. It was nice to get out of the city and bike around more immersive nature. My favorite part of touring was getting exercise while seeing new places. I think biking is a great way to see the country because it gets your around quickly and keeps you moving. Whenever I am in a new place I always walk everywhere or try to rent a bike. I rented a scooter once in Baltimore, which was fun, but someone who values physical activity, I missed that element. On both of those islands, it would have been impractical to sightsee via a private automobile. Bicycles allow you to explore smaller streets and pedestrian plazas easier. My overall reaction to the four days was surprised about the lack of infrastructure. I was thinking that we were touring because we were going to explore more great bicycle infrastructure, but it wasn't exponential...

 The small details of the Copenhagen infrastructure help makes bicycling a more seamless experience. One of the simplest features that I think makes the biggest difference is the miniature asphalt bike ramps. They are strategically placed where you would naturally want to dismount of go in different directions. There's nothing fancy about them - in some you can even tell that they just haphazardly poured some concrete. I think this would be an easy feature to implement around Eugene. Constantly getting on and off your bike is annoying and interrupts your trip. I think adding these ramps in has the potential to make a disjointed network feel more connected because you don't have to get off your bike as much. Other bike infastructure features I noticed were handles at intersections to grab onto or place your feet. I thought these were great but they need to be much longer. There is really only enough room for 2 people to comfortably use the handle. The bicyclists also have their ...

 In this blog post I will explore the different facets of safety - personal safety and infastrcuture safety. First, personal safety is my measurement of how safe I feel traveling around a city alone as a female. It's something that’s hard to measure, but somehow the built environment and culture have created safer space. In other cities I have travelled to, I get nervous when I go down the "wrong" street or that I'm going to be immediately robbed. Here, I feel like I could bike for miles before I ever felt safe - and that's probably only just because I went so far! At our discussion with Copenhagenize, they spoke about how biking culture has elevated the sense of safety. At any moment, bicyclists can add up to 30+ people out on the street. When a road has heavy car traffic, with a lot of people inside the vehicles, I don't feel significantly safer. Additionally, since bicycling is the main source of transit, late into the night you can still find people biking...

 Unsurprisingly, Copenhagen has taken the top spot on my list of favorite cities, knocking down Lisbon, Portugal. Walking from the Metro to the hostel on the first night I felt like I was in some sort of replica city like Disney. There were no cars, everything was quiet, clean, and still. Most days, I take a bike ride on my own to explore the city. Biking is so easy and loss stress, that it's an easy transportation choice. When I go to a new city, I normally walk around everywhere and easily get a lay of the land. I've noticed that with biking everywhere, it's taken me longer to find my way around. I look around while I'm biking when I'm on less crowded streets, but it's still a bit confusing. On Saturday, I didn't ride my bike anywhere because I felt like I was missing out on the walking aspect. I also feel like it's easier to miss out on shops and such while biking. But, I'm biking around as a tourist, not a commuter. If I lived here, that tension ...

This week we visited a few playground around the city. We visited three around the Kobenhaven and Osterboro neighborhood and one in Reffen. I also have seen a few while biking and walking around throughout the week. One of the things I noticed here was the abundancy of green space, whether playground or park, and the sound of birds. Not only are the parks abundant but they are large. In college, I used to think that I was a city person and would have no problem living in one, but over the years I've come to realize that isn't true. If I had to pick a city of those I've traveled to, I would pick Copenhagen because of the accessibility to abundant greenspace. You can also walk through the city and smell nature instead of trash or grime.  On Thursday, we visited Traffic Garden, which is a staffed playground, primarily for youth, that teaches people how to ride bicycles. The playground was built to simulate what biking around town would be like so children can practice beforeha...

 I am graduate student in the community and regional planning program at the University of Oregon. Coming from a background in Interior Design, I enjoy thinking about how people interact with and shape the built environment. Continuing education in the planning field has allowed me to shift my focus from the inside to outside and work on a larger scale. Before making the decision to go to graduate school, I was already reading books like Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design for fun! I’ve read about sustainable transportation and urban planning in Europe (see Houten on our itinerary!) and I’m excited to be able to experience it firsthand. Sustainable transportation is just one facet of a walkable community that brings together climate action, accessibility, and overall well-being. I hope to take my professional and educational experience to help design and plan for more holistic communities. The top 4 things I am looking forward to are: - Biking from to city to c...