42 nominations, 3 winning companies, and lots of accolades to the East Bay's bike-friendly business community
by Terri Saul
To list all Bay Area bicycle friendly businesses, one would need to employ a device used by Jack Kerouac – the scroll. Area leaders who care about cycling also tend to care about liveable neighborhoods, being design-minded and creative, and getting things done through grit and gumption. Plans and profits don’t suffer in the process. The winners not only meet the basic EBBC criteria such as providing secure bike parking, EBBC maps, pre-tax bicycle commuter checks, and discounts for cyclists. They also celebrate Bike to Work Day every day by encouraging lunchtime rides, showering at the office, conducting workshops, promoting safety, and including spandex as a new option for casual Fridays.
Joe DiStefano, Principal of Calthorpe Associates
Calthorpe Associates, an urban planning firm with a focus on walkable, bikeable communities, is the winner in the small non-retail category. “The majority of our work right now is specifically oriented toward climate change,” says Joe DiStefano, principal at Calthorpe, founding firm of Congress For the New Urbanism.
The East Bay Bicycle Coalition (EBBC) announces Louis Sandoval of San Pablo as the 2010 Bike Commuter of the Year winner for Contra Costa County, and announces T.D. Fisher of Oakland as the 2010 Bike Commuter of the Year winner for Alameda County. The EBBC coordinates the Bike Commuter of the Year Awards to honor one resident from Alameda and Contra Costa County, who is committed to doing routine commutes by bike. The selection process, facilitated through peer nominations, targets avid cyclists who epitomize and actualize the health, environmental, social, and economic benefits of bicycling.
