Cities like Ann Arbor, Portland, and Seattle are known for promoting biking in their cities, but biking hasn't found much of a foothold in many traditional Rust Belt cities.
Some people are trying to change that. Issue Media Group has two pieces profiling those people.
In their publication Mid-Michigan Second Wave, writer Kelli Kavanaugh looks at this trend in Flint. Kavanaugh spoke with Flint native Andy Stamps who founded the Berston Bicycle Club Project.
Stamp hopes hook kids on biking at a young age:
"The beautiful thing for me about biking; it is an exercise you can do your entire life," says Stamps … "I tell them, 'Cycling is popular around the world. We live in a car town, but you may move away from here and, if you ever can't afford a car, biking is cheap and healthy,'" she says. "It's a win-win and, what you see when you are riding is magic."
And in Marquette, Lindsay Bean and Mark Hall have started "Revolutions."
Writer Deb Pascoe profiles the duo who hope to get more kids outside - in Marquette, that means getting kids out in the snow too.
Bean and Hall believe bored kids can be attracted to unhealthy thrills such as drugs, alcohol, and petty crimes. "An active body equals an active mind," says Hall. Revolutions offers an antidote for boredom, combining physical challenges, natural highs, and life skills that will serve participants now and in the future.
It might be awhile before Flint or Marquette get a pin on this map, but residents dedicated to change could make it happen.
