Johnny Brenda's and Kung Fu Necktie Need Community Support To Get Bike Corrals

As we mentioned a while ago, the success of our bike corral has spurred the City of Philadelphia to offer in-street bike parking to interested businesses. Johnny Brenda's and Kung Fu Necktie are two businesses who have applied to obtain bike corrals,which would replace one vehicle parking spot with bike parking for 12 bicycles.

These forward-thinking businesses want bike corrals, but they need community support to get them

An important part of this process is to obtain letters of support from one's local civic association. The meetings to vote on that support are Wednesday, August 15th and Tuesday, August 21st. If you live in the Fishtown Neighborhood Association boundaries or within 1/4 mile of Kung Fu Necktie, and want to see a bike corral in front of Johnny Brenda's or KFN, please attend these meetings to voice your support!

This is a big deal. Bike corrals are important tools for economic development - replacing parking for one customer in a car with parking for 12 customers on bikes is a significant net gain. They are hugely popular in other cities. Getting these corrals installed will demonstrate to Philadelphia's wider business community that it is good for business to accommodate customers arrive by bike.

See details below about each meeting, where you need to live in order to vote, and what to bring to the meetings.


Kung Fu Necktie Vote
Date: Wednesday, August 15th
Time: Vote scheduled for 8:00 pm (best get there early)
Location: South Kensington Community Partners, 1301 N. 2nd Street (2nd & Thompson)
Eligible to vote: Anyone living within 1/4 mile of KFN (see map on the lower half of this flyer)
To bring: proof of residence within eligible zone
Community meeting info

Johnny Brenda's Vote
Date: Tuesday, August 21st
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Fishtown Rec Center, 1202 E. Montgomery Ave
Eligible to vote: All residents and business owners in Fishtown*
To bring: proof of residence or business ownership in Fishtown (utility bill or recent mail if your driver's license doesn't list your home address)
Fishtown Neighbor's Association meeting info

Advice And Tips For The Meeting

• Be there! Bicycling infrastructure doesn't just happen in Philly. Decision-makers need evidence of community support.
• Be respectful and courteous. The meetings may be heated, and bicyclists have an attitude image problem to overcome.
• Don't dress in lycra (on the off chance you were thinking about it).
• Don't speak in terms of "us" versus "them." We are one community of neighbors.

Some likely arguments to be voiced against the corrals:

• There is too little street parking already and businesses/neighbors can't afford to lose more.
• "They" are coming in and want to change "our" neighborhood.
• Customers arrive by car, not by bike.
• Bicycles don't follow the rules and so they shouldn't be accommodated in any way.

Reasons why we support the corrals:

• KFN and Johnny Brenda's have more customers arriving on bicycle than they can support with current parking.
• Increased bike parking means fewer bikes locked to trees, fences, and light poles.
• Moving bicycles off the sidewalk frees up space for pedestrians and increases business visibility.
• Replacing one vehicle spot with a corral increases the number of customers who can conveniently access businesses on that block, and encourages more biking and less driving (decreasing demand for vehicle spots).
• Bike corrals have proven extremely popular with business owners in other cities.

*Fishtown boundaries, as defined by the FNA are the Delaware River to Laurel Street, Laurel to Front Street, Front to Norris Street, Norris to Trenton Street, Trenton to Frankford Avenue, Frankford to York Street, and York to the Delaware River, including both sides of boundary streets.