Wheeling through Toronto
Aevo Utp (Verlag)
978-1-4875-4957-2 (ISBN)
Throughout its history in Toronto, the bicycle’s place on the roads and in public esteem has fluctuated wildly: flaunted as fashionable, disparaged and derided, rescued from looming obscurity, and promoted as a way to respond to the challenges of the day. What is it about the simple bicycle that it can be so loved by some yet despised and detested by others?
Wheeling through Toronto offers a 130-year ride from the 1890s to the present to help answer this question. Albert Koehl, a Toronto lawyer and leading cycling advocate, chronicles the tumultuous history of this mode of transportation from the bicycle craze at the turn of the century, to the rise of the car and the motorway in the 1950s, to the intensifying cry for active transportation in the 1990s and into pandemic times.
In an era of catastrophic climate events, Wheeling through Toronto highlights how the bicycle should be celebrated not only as hope for the future, but also for its affordability, for its contribution to clean and healthy mobility, and because it brings happiness and joy to so many. Drawing on archival materials, newspapers, and personal interviews, and full of fascinating vignettes, this book presents the story of how we got here and what Torontonians need to know as we pedal forward.
Albert Koehl has been an environmental lawyer, and a former adjunct professor of law, for thirty years, dedicated to issues of transportation, energy (mis)use, and climate change. His writings and interviews are regularly published in a variety of media. He has represented (pro bono) cycling groups before courts, tribunals, public forums, and at city hall. Koehl’s name has been called “synonymous with cycling in Toronto,” his work inspired and sustained by a commitment to social justice and the belief that how we get around should be based on fairness and respect for each other and our community, instead of on power and wealth. Among his proudest achievements at home or abroad he counts his leadership in the successful, decades-long fight for a Bloor Street (-Danforth Avenue) bike lane that transformed this dangerous arterial into a model for safer, happier, and more climate-friendly public spaces.
Acknowledgments
Preface
1896: The Bicycle Craze
The "Safety" (Bicycle) … in Numbers
Cycling in the City
The War on Dogs, and the Devil’s Temptation
"Muddy York" No More, but Not Quite Buffalo
No Regulations, Please – We’re Cyclists
"A veritable wheelman’s paradise" – A Circuit of Bike Paths and Good Roads
Bicyclists Divided: The Pros and Cons of Bicycle Strips and Paths
What’s New, What’s Not
Women Awheel
Touring, Racing, Litigating, Accessorizing
… and Clubbing
From Milord and Milady to the Valet and the Maid – What Next?
1910: From Fashion to Function
The New Bicycle of the "Revival"
Same Wheels, New Purpose
The Speedy Messenger
The Straphanger, the Police, and the Soldier
Better Roads, the Cyclist Gains
The Bicycle Syndicate
Improving Transportation?
The Decline of the Bicycle Clubs and the CWA
Defending the Detested Motorist
The Horseless Carriage – Filling a Gap or Creating One?
What of the Bicycle in the Next 20 Years?
1929: Lethal Motorcars, Accidental Victims
Whither the Cyclist and the Pedestrian?
Same Bicycle, New City
Regulation – For the Cyclist
The Bicycle and the Motorcar – Diverging Trajectories
The Bicycle in the Shadow of the Motorcar
Selling the Motorcar – Prestige, Class, and Speed
Bicycles – "Toys" for Business and Transportation
From Utility to Amusement, and Back Again
The Rail Not Taken
What Future for the Bicycle in Toronto?
1953: The Bicycle Endures; the Cyclist Relies on Luck
The Birth of the Metropolis – A Cigar for the Motorist
The Urban and Suburban Ups and Downs of the Bicycle
The War and the Pre-War Depression
Post-War Decline
The Bike Licence and the "Juvenile Delinquent"
An Adult Solution to Children’s Safety – A Ban from Roads
Bicycles and Motorcars Reach Middle Age
The Messenger at Work – No Place for Old Men
The Myth of the Safe Motorcar
Cops and Motorists
Is There Still a Place for the Bicyclist in Toronto?
1979: The Bicycle Revival
"The Bicycle Fights Back"
Cyclists Regain Their Voice
Before the Revival: The Bicycle’s Darkest Days
The Automobile Juggernaut: A Few Bumps in the Road
Sewell and the City, and the New Advocates
Reality Check
Transportation Planners, and the Evil that Lurks Below
"A curse on sweaty, unwanted cyclists"
On Trial – Just Kids
Making Space for the Bicycle
Safe Places to Ride – Gallop to the Rescue
Metro Recognizes the Value of Bicycles: On Trails, Not Roads
Road Space for Cyclists in the City – A Wider Curb Lane?
… and an Uphill Bike Lane
A Good Start or a Lost Opportunity
2019: A Changing City
A City of Cyclists, not for Cyclists
Ride On
Fashion and Function in the New Millennium
Bike Cops, Bike Share, and Food by Bike
From Community to Committee to Community
The Bicycle’s (Accidental) Advocates
The Battle for (Road) Space – Plans, Platitudes, and Pancakes
Looking Back at the Four Decades since the 1970s Revival – What Happened?
After the Bicycle Revival – The Macho Militants of the 1980s
The 1990s – A Bike Lane Bounce
Amalgamation and a Slow Ride Forward
Swimming with the Sharks … and with Mayor Tory
The Lasting Joy of Bicycling
2020–2023: Pandemic and Rebuilding
Bibliography
Notes
About the Author
| Erscheinungsdatum | 16.02.2024 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 41 b&w illustrations, 2 b&w maps, 1 b&w figure |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Gewicht | 580 g |
| Themenwelt | Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik ► Fahrzeuge / Flugzeuge / Schiffe |
| Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Motor- / Rad- / Flugsport | |
| Weitere Fachgebiete ► Sportwissenschaft | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-4875-4957-1 / 1487549571 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-4875-4957-2 / 9781487549572 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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