The Whole Foods store in Redwood City. An upscale, progressive, thinks-of-itself-as-green Supermarket. Where are the bike racks?
A very large parking lot, lots of spaces for cars right at the front. No place for bikes. Oh, wait, what's that way off in the distance?
Actually, if you walk around the side of the store, where the excess shopping carts are stored, you find a "bike rack."
A bike rack jammed between shopping carts and the wall, half of its space eaten up, and any remaining space leaving bikes vulnerable to shopping carts banging into them.
A common theme. Shopping carts stored against bike racks, and nothing on the ground to indicate this space is for bike use.
And here's the view from that bike rack. Very conveniently located for anyone trying to vandalize or steal a bike. Nice easy walk with your shopping bags too.
This is unrelated to bicycle facilities, but included to point out that, to any cyclist not sure where they are, always look for a bus stop. They generally have maps that will tell you where you are, and how to get where you want to go.
We begin our tour of Sequoia Station, starting at Fresh Choice. No bike racks in sight.
This gas pipe/meter assembly is the closest thing to a bike nearby.
A close-up of the Fresh Choice "bike rack."
Safeway, the anchor tenant of Sequoia Station. Will things be better for bikes here?
Safeway is the ONLY tenant at Sequoia Station that seems unashamed to have a bike rack right in front of their main door! Thank you, Safeway.
Would Noah's have a bike rack? Lots of cyclists go to Noah's. But apparently they're expected to drive.
What about Starbucks?
Apparently this is the Starbucks & Noah's bike rack.
Dress Barn's bike rack, to the left, obscured by, once again, shopping carts
A close-up of the Dress Barn bike rack. As is typically the case, there are no markings designating this area for bike parking, and the style of bike rack used looks more like an SF Muni logo than a bike rack to the casual observer.
Not just a long row of parking spaces, but even preferential "green" spaces for quick trips. Those would be the same sort of quick trips that we're told are the least-efficient use of cars and most-easily replaced by bikes.
Jamba Juice has a rack out front, but it shares space with 15-minute car parking!!! The bicycle in the foreground has been placed sideways to try and keep from getting run into by a car trying to use the same space.
This would apparently be the Max's bike parking facility. At least you can argue it's green.
Barnes & Noble has a reasonably-useful bike rack, with space away from the adjacent car parking spot to keep bikes & cars separated. Because shopping carts don't make it into this area of the shopping center, this rack is likely usable most of the time. Still, it's hardly a suggestion that they appreciate non-motoring customers, since motorists are favored with parking spaces immediately in front of the store.
Curiously, Barnes & Noble also has an additional, very poorly-placed bike rack on their sidewalk, placed such that bikes parked there would definitely get in the way of pedestrians. You can see this rack underneath the two blocked-out windows at the left.
No bike parking for Blockbuster Video, just a long row of "green" car parking spaces. The next photo shows that there actually is a somewhat-hidden bike rack.
Here's the small bike rack located at the far end of the Blockbuster Video store, which at least doesn't share space with a car. But it's completely out of sight of the businesses people would be going into, making it an easy spot for theft & vandalism. Think about it- when you're parking your car, would you choose to park it in a remote area where it might be a target for a break-in, or do you feel safer with it nearby?
No bike rack in front of the IFE music/video store either, just the small unit shown in the prior picture, which would be to the left of the area shown here.
Johnny Rockets has a small bike rack of their own, in a reasonable location.
Cyclists eating at Johnny Rockets have the option of bringing their bikes into this space when they eat, or locking a bike to the structure. Overall Johnny Rockets and Safeway are the only two locations in Sequoia Station that might be considered bike-parking friendly.
But It would be nice if they kept the bike rack looking as nice as the rest of their exterior!
