Old Chicago in HarMar. No bike rack and the closest proper object to lock a bike to is the Barnes and Noble at the other end of the mall.

the only thing I found nearby was the huge congrete benches right in front of the front door.

I don't get it... why didn't you just take your bag off? Places do this everywhere for, ya know, theft prevention.

It just seems silly to have to remove a bag when people are walking in and out with large purses, and half the year, bulky winter coats is the norm.

Plus, if there's no bag check, I slightly worry about my bag disappearing.

So, I'd rather go to places that don't freak if they see a messenger bag.

YMMV.

They want my bag because they don't trust me.

I don't trust people who don't trust me.

They don't trust me to carry my bag and I'm supposed to trust them to safely store it for me? I think not.

I don't shop anywhere that requires that I check my bag.

I know how that goes. I lock up to the street signs whenever I go there. It's amazing though how there is nothing lockable in sight it seems.

Hi

I just joined mplsbikelove.com and this is my first post.

Throughout the 15 years I have lived in Minneapolis, one of the things that aggravates me the most is bike parking in downtown Minneapolis. While we all know that some locations downtown have a lot of bike parking, there are many places that do not.

Not only do these places have almost no place to park your bike, some seem to have intentionally made their immediate locations bike unfriendly by removing bike racks. One instance of this is at 9th St and Marquette at the AT&T building which is owned and operated by Ryan Companies.
On the other end of the same problem are bike racks that are poorly designed and badly located that seem to say that the bike parking was not well planned.

I am interested in meeting and joining with others who interested in closely examining bike accomodations in downtown Minneapolis. Many things could follow from simply take an audit of the downtown area, and providing riders with a quick and easy way to participate in this project in an ongoing manner.

FYI I am not a fan of Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota because they seem to be top down and over extended.

If any of this interests you, please drop a line and forward my message to anyone who think might be interested.

Welcome to Bike Love. Check your messages because you have a PM in-bound from me. In that message, I sent you contact information for the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition. They are working in improved bike parking and would a god resource/ally on this.

Might have to rethink this one. Ikea just gave all their US employees a bike for the holidays.
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/2 ... rkers.html

No word on whether or not the bikes are impossible to assemble.

You poor dear, you haven't heard, have you?

1. Ikea opposed a bike lane in front of their building in NY.

2. The bikes are crappy department store quality.

3. Please don't flame him other lubbers.

I have no point of reference on the bike lane so I won't comment on that. Howeverm even if this is a transparent attempt at improving their image in the cycing world, isn't that a good thing?

Maybe the quality of the bikes sucks compared to what you ride but there are lots of people out there who appreciate them I'm sure.

That wasn't meant to be a flame. It's just the internet, no need to be so defensive.

Just as an FYI, I did send the store manager of the Roseville Walgreens an email. I found the adress on their website. I politley wrote him mentioning the lack of bicycle parking. He did mention there are laws regarding handy capped accesablity(sp) and the side walk did not allow a bike rack and room for the handicapped. True or not, it made sense and I appriciated him answering my email.

when one encounters a bike unfriendly spot it might be worth it to attempt communication with the manager. In mine I mentioned my want to shop at his store, but due to lack of proper spots to lock my bike I was forced to shop elsewhere.

I really question the honesty of the reply you were given. The general layout of places like this should allow for good bike parking accommodations.
Are there any places close by or in Roseville that you can point to as a good example of bike parking.
i bet you anything that a municipal planner can tell you how that Walgreen can add bike parking.

he told me they need 3' minimum on the sidewalk to meet the hadicapped code and I wasnt about to question the needs of the handicapped. this one is built in to the end of a little strip mall and in reality their sidewalk isnt all that wide so I went with it and just shopped elsewhere.

the new target up on Cty B and the new Rainbow on Larpenter and fernwood have nice large row of racks to lock to, but those are brand new facilites. there is talk of Walgreens wanting to put in a brand new store on the corner of Lexington and larpenter where the MGM currently resides.

Just an FYI.. this is true per the ADA codes.