Tag: transportation

The Daily Commute, Copenhagen

The people in this photo are commuting to work first thing in the morning. Copenhagen is definitely a bike-friendly city. There were people biking everywhere I went in the city, almost entirely on public bike paths. Some people were out for exercise and recreation, but it seemed to me that for most, bicycles provided basic transportation – from home to workplace and back, for shopping, going out on the town and more.

In looking around for information about biking in Europe and Copenhagen in particular, I ran across the Copenhagenize Index (https://copenhagenizeindex.eu/) that, according to its website “is an evidence-based benchmark tracking to what extent the world’s cities have progressed in making cycling safe, convenient, and mainstream.” If you are interested, the organization’s 2025 index report is available for download as a pdf.

The report ranks the world’s top 30 cities for bicycling; Copenhagen is number two. Three of the top 30 cities are in Canada, none in the United States. Portland and Minneapolis are ranked 35 and 44, respectively.

Several days ago Sean Duffy, the Trump-licking moron wasting space as Secretary of the US Department of Transportation, complained that bike lanes are some sort of DEI initiative. When the index ranking the stupidest countries ever is published, no question where the United States will place.

South Station, Boston

South Station at the intersection of South St. and Atlantic Ave is one of Boston’s many landmark buildings. I took several photos that show more of the building, but none of them are worth posting, so I stuck with this image of the main entrance to the station. The entrance way today looks much as it did when South Station first opened in 1899. Completing this representation of urban America in 2022 is the ubiquitous homeless person with her worldly goods on a cart to the left of the center entrance. In a country as rich as the United States, there is just no excuse for the legions of indigent homeless trying to eke out an existence in our cities. You are a disgrace, America.

Back in the USA

Downtown Denver, Colorado, seen from just west of I-25

After 25 years in China, I landed back in the United States three weeks ago. Denver, Colorado, my new home, is quite a change from Beijing. I lived on Colorado’s western slope when I was a high school boy a long time ago and I have been visiting family in Denver for many years. But I have never lived in Denver until now. The Mile High City, Gateway to the Rockies, Denver is that and a lot more. It’s a great place and I am delighted to be here.

My blogging to date has focused on photographs, mostly of China. I expect this blog will feature a lot of photos, though I am still pretty uncertain what direction my photography will take now that I no longer have China to point my camera at. Be that as it may, the new format gives me more flexibility to ramble with the keyboard as well as with the camera.