Bicycle City sounds like a mythical Valhalla where bicycling enthusiasts go when they pass away.
In reality, a group of environmentally friendly developers are creating a Bicycle City in the countryside south of Columbia, South Carolina, where cars will be verboten and residents will ride their bikes or walk to get around.
The community is the idea of Joe Mellett, a Internet marketer who sold Education.org to Monster.com about four years ago to get the seed money for the project. But the project is far past the idea phase. Mellett and his co-developers are presenting their plans to the Lexington County Council this week and hope to get started in the fall.
First phase
The Bicycle City group already has bought 150 acres near the town of Gaston. They plan to build 10 homes, connected by 4/12 miles of trails on 14 acres. Cars will be parked outside the development.
The homes — slated for 800 to 1,600 square feet in size and outfitted for solar on wind power — are definitely not the McMansion-style of dwelling that frequently goes up these days. They'll cost about $200,000 each.
Ten homes is not a lot, but the developers want to see how this first phase goes before moving on. Another Bicycle City developer, Newton Boykin of South Carolina, told The State newspaper:
“This is new, and we’re stepping off a cliff. So we want to do the right thing, even if it means moving slow.”
Years in making
The Bicycle City website (which also contains general information about bicycle friendly development) says the idea was conceived in the early 1990s and the first location was chosen last year. The website lists potential locations for Bicycle Cities in every state.
Mellett, who got the idea from golf-themed communities, chose the site in South Carolina because of the region's proximity to mountains and ocean beaches, the climate and accessibility to Amtrak. Mellett told The State that he recently rode a bike from the Amtrak station in Columbia to Bicycle City in about 55 minutes. That route included some unpaved roads, and commute will be shortened when a paved road extension is completed later this year.
Vauban
Apparently Bicycle City is not completely unique. In Germany, the city of Freiburg has a neighborhood named Vauban that is mostly car-free. Begun in the 1990s, it has about 5,000 residents and 600 jobs.
That community is laid out with many paths and walkways but very few through-streets. There's no space for street parking; car-owners rent space in a parking garage at the edge of the community. Vauban is connected to downtown by a tramway.
Recent Comments