THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407050219
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J6 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: This is one of an occasional series of stories by reporter Alex
Marshall on how European cities are handling some of the problems and
challenges Hampton Roads faces - from growth to economic development
to crime and social problems.
At a time when a global economy puts many cities on the same
playing field, how does a city or region fashion itself to be both
competitive and a rewarding place to live? Marshall is in Europe on a
fellowship awarded by the German-Marshall Fund of the United States.
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, Staff writer
DATELINE: AMSTERDAM LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
The secret of great Dutch cities is found in bicycle chain guards.
Unlike on American bicycles, a sheet of metal wraps completely around the greasy chain, making it virtually impossible to dirty your clothes.
That's why, on an unseasonably cool day, you can see a young woman riding one of these quaint-looking bicycles wearing a thigh-length suede jacket, billowy orange silk pants and black platform shoes. She is followed by a white-haired man in a dark business suit with a briefcase strapped to his bike rack.
The streets are full of people on bicycles - students, business people and sightseers.
This two-wheeled vehicle is one of the basic building blocks of the Dutch transportation system, one that begins with feet and moves to bicycles, streetcars, buses and trains before arriving at the private automobile.
On a typical Amsterdam street, bicycles, cars, pedestrians and streetcars (called trams) mix harmoniously. In fact, safety-conscious Americans might be alarmed at the nonchalance with which parents wedge small children between their handlebars and ferry them about in heavy car traffic.
In Hampton Roads, cities are only now beginning to examine the benefits of bikes as commuting vehicles. Throughout the region, there are a smattering of bike lanes.
But things are changing. The region's cities are beginning to examine how bikes can be incorporated into area roads. And new federal legislation is offering money to those communities that encourage bike use.
In Amsterdam, a city founded 700 years ago, the narrow streets wind around a series of canals and past 400-year-old townhouses. Bicycles are particularly well-suited to this terrain.
But the Dutch also cycle in newer cities, small towns and in between.
On major highways through open farmland, a bike path is laid out on one side, separated by a strip of grass and bushes. In downtown Rotterdam, a district built only in the past few decades, the main streets have bike paths.
``It's so normal, you don't think about it,'' said Erica Scheenjes, 29, an office worker in Amsterdam. ``When you get raised on it from age 4, it's a bit different.''
Holland is a thumbnail of a country wedged above Belgium across the water from England. Amsterdam, Holland's largest city, has more than 1 million people and more than 2 million in the region.
Bicycling, as well as trains, buses and feet, is an option here because the Dutch national and municipal governments plan development to a degree that is high even by European standards. The Dutch government decides what will be built where, and in what style and quantity.
Technically, Virginia Beach does the same thing when it rezones farmland for suburban houses. But the Dutch exercise their authority more forcefully. Private developers usually follow government's lead, not the other way around. Planners decide in advance how new homes and offices will link up to roads and train lines.
One reason for such tight planning is that Holland, a country half the size of Virginia with twice as many people, has a paucity of land and must use every scrap wisely.
Neighboring Belgium is about the same size and densely populated. But Belgium cities begin in an American-style smear of signs, stores and offices stripped out along main highways. Dutch cities and towns have clearly defined edges between town and country.
This isn't to say that Holland does everything perfectly. Until the 1980s, Dutch planners encouraged people to move from major cities into the smaller surrounding towns. They built highways and isolated apartment towers and townhouses communities.
Now, planners are focusing on expanding the country's train system and mass transit lines within cities. New development is built more like traditional towns, with streets and a mixture of uses. Almost no new highways are built.
``We found out when you build new motorways, the number of people taking buses and trams goes down, which forces you to build more motorways,'' said Laurens Slot, an Amsterdam planning official. ``So we stopped building motorways.''
In Amsterdam, the city discourage people from using cars by imposing brutally high parking fines and restricting businesses from building more parking spaces for their employees.
The looser style of most American development eventually eliminates most transportation options besides the private car.
``There is more fun - how do you say - more variety here,'' said a Dutch woman, who had just returned from studying medicine in Utah and California for seven months. ``In Holland, I can walk, ride a bike or take a train. In the United States, there is only the car.'' ILLUSTRATION: PHOTOS BY ALEX MARSHALL
Amsterdam residents take bicycling, a common mode of transportation,
for granted. ``It's so normal, you don't think about it,'' said
Erica Scheenjes, 29, an office worker.
On a typical Amsterdam street, bicycles, cars, pedestrians and
streetcars mix harmoniously. Bicycles, one of the basic building
blocks of the Dutch transportation system, are particularly
well-suited to Amsterdam's terrain.
by CNB