Howard Chabner and Peter Hartlaub's "bike utopia"

Photo: SF Chronicle

There's nothing some liberals pretend to like more than "dialogue," especially "constructive" dialogue.

The other day the Chronicle's Peter Hartlaub threw a bouquet to Howard Chabner for his 11-page message in response to Hartlaub's July story. (Back to the drawing board: A map to make SF a bike and pedestrian utopia)

Hartlaub says he "received stronger email feedback than I have from any project in recent memory. Most correspondence was constructive." 

Oh dear, sounds like Hartlaub got come not-so-constructive feedback on his bike utopia piece, which could have been written by a committee from the Bicycle Coalition, with graphics by Disney.

Hartlaub appreciated the criticism from Chabner so much he did a follow-up phone interview with him featured in the August 6 edition of the Chronicle. 

Chabner, who has muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair to get around, criticized Hartlaub for, among other things, not considering disabled folks in his hymn to the bicycle and anti-carism. 

Hartlaub was more or less contrite: "My piece focused on ways to slow cars and increase pedestrian safety. After reading your letter, I wish I didn’t leave out curb ramps."

As Chabner pointed out, the problems with Hartlaub's "utopia" is not only about curb cuts, though that issue is crucial to people in wheelchairs.

Chabner's long letter to Hartlaub goes into detail on other issues, including the nearby Masonic Avenue bike lane fiasco that Chabner mentions twice in the phone interview:

There was the Masonic bike lane project which removed all the street parking on Masonic Avenue on both sides, from Fell (Street) all the way to Geary (Boulevard). And really the bike lanes are hardly ever used. That’s a big impact...

...But I think it has to be done in a smart way, not such an ideological way. I get back to the Masonic bike lane project. There were many people who opposed it, and several of the really big opponents were avid daily cyclists. They strongly felt that Baker Street (a few blocks east) is the better route. And I think time has proved them right.

Hartlaub has no response, except for plugging in that link to a 2016 Chronicle story on Masonic by a different reporter. (That story was so bad I devoted two posts to deconstructing it: here and here). That reporter didn't talk to Howard Chabner or any other critic of the Masonic Avenue bike project, which is typical of how the Chronicle has covered the anti-car bike movement from the beginning. 

Hartlaub's idea of dialogue is one-sided, since, except for curb cuts, he doesn't deign to respond to Chabner on Masonic Avenue or any of the other issues raised in his message.

More on the Chabner's critique of Hartlaub's views tomorrow.

See also BikeThink: The ideology of bicycles.