Urban planning

Visiting Charleston, South Carolina

June 19, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 5 minutesApril is not a great month in Ottawa, so my wife and I had planned a trip to South Carolina and Georgia’s low country along the coast. The coast line resembles very much the Dutch coast line of about a thousand years ago before the Dutch closed the gaps between the sand banks. That in it self doesn’t make it a holiday destination, unless you are a geography buff, but the lush green and warm weather definitely do. Ottawa’s ski season is over in April, the weather is usually not something to write home about, the trees are still bare [Read more…]

Video: “Summer Cycling in the City of Ottawa”

June 6, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 2 minutesTwo nights ago, I gave a presentation in Kitchener Waterloo about cycling in the Netherlands and Ottawa. Talking about another country is one thing, but feels sometimes somewhat remote.  I find it much more useful to add some of the work that we do in Canada. My latest presentations saw therefore some time allocated to Ottawa too. People seem to really appreciate the stories (and some great pics) about Ottawa’s growing interest in cycling as a means to get around. Over the years, we have had our share of foreign speakers but I think Ottawa is now at a point with [Read more…]

A Casual Stroll Through The Hague – Part 3: Urban Chickens

May 11, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe locals are complaining about the failing summer already, they have had a lot of cloudy weather. The morning meetings were cancelled, so I walked down the Scheveningseweg to downtown The Hague and I passed this urban chickens. Very nice to see. It is right across the Peace Palace on the edge of a cemetery. Here is the link on Google. It is near the house in the centre with the red tiled roof. So far, the series of walks through Den Haag. A lovely city to walk, bike or entertain. Downtown is no less than about 5-6 km (4 miles) [Read more…]

No Image

A Casual Stroll Through The Hague – Part 2: A Very Blue Bike

May 10, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 2 minutesI randomly took a really great picture of a mother on a bakfiets (cargo bike) with three kids after asking permission. Unfortunately, she doesn’t want me to put it on the Internet, which I respect, so you have to come to one of my presentations some day. I did show the pic to a friend of mine, and the woman turns out to be one of her former colleagues; that’s how small Holland is. Here is part two of The Hague: Go to the next page in the series of strolls through The Hague: Part Three: Urban Chickens

A Casual Stroll Through The Hague – Part 1: Daddy Bike

May 9, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 3 minutesI am in Holland in Den Haag (The Hague) for work this week. Locked up in meetings and presentations for most of the day for 5 days in a row, I was eager to go for a walk to visit a friend.  Tuesday afternoon I had a change to leave a wee early and walked from the Crowne Plaza (which has been renovated from kind of Modernist to a large I phone retro Modernist, with shag carpets, pink under the bar atmospheric lights and lots of white, a work counter/bar and a couple of Apple computers for Internet access). For [Read more…]

Narrow Streets, Creative Minds

March 29, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 4 minutesWhen I speak to audiences in Canada I often hear that our cities are not built for bicycles. When Mayor Mayor Mark Gerritsen of Kingston, ON, a city that aims to be the greenest city in Canada eventually, introduced me and mentioned  that “we have to remember that Kingston is an old city with narrow streets“, I had a chuckle. In Halifax I heard similar remarks. Read on. Also our own Maria McRae told me a few years ago that she thought Ottawa “just has no space for bike lanes“. “Do Canada’s cities not have some of the widest roads [Read more…]

No Image

Spring. Ottawa. Bike. – Celebrate Spring on March 24th

March 22, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 4 minutesEven Sparks Street in Ottawa looks funky if you run a photo through a few filters. It’s all in the eyes of the beholder – Image: Urban Commuter At Citizens for Safe Cycling’s recent Annual General Meeting, Board Member Risa (she from the Ottawa winter bike ride who got her pic in Dandyhorse magazine’s web site, scroll down half way that page) asked everyone to jot down ideas for better cycling in Ottawa. She put all the ideas on a wall, ran it through Wordle and will now forever be known for Risa’s Wall of Wishes. There are so many wishes, that [Read more…]

When Ottawa Wakes up from Hibernation

March 20, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 0

Reading Time: 3 minutesTalking about extremes. The Ottawa winter has been odd, to say the least. The canal wasn’t open for skating for long; on the other hand, only a week and a half ago we were still skiing in the Gatineau. All of a sudden the weather turned around and Sunday, Ottawa saw 25.1 degrees (as in 77F) . The normals are +4 (40F) max and -7 (20F) minimum for March 18. We hopped on our bikes and cycled along the canal to the Byward Market, and back along the Ottawa River via Parkdale Ave to Nepean. I have never seen so [Read more…]

What if the Swedes Would Own Chaudière Island?

March 5, 2012 Hans on the Bike - Ottawa, Canada 4

Reading Time: 6 minutesAs you already read in the previous post: Of Post-It Notes and Tapestries, many of the Ottawa residents saw the Chaudière Island as one of the key elements in meeting the ideas and expectations that Canadians have for developing the Nation’s Capital into a world class capital. I have biked around the place and it is really a gorgeous spot, waiting to be developed, now the pulp paper industry is retreating. What about Chaudière Island? For those who don’t live in Ottawa: Chaudière Island has a collection of buildings, some as old as 100 years and built with natural stone, [Read more…]