[Tiktaalik]

> Don’t bike on the sidewalk. Seriously.

A prevalence of biking on the sidewalk in an area is a signal to designers that cyclists feel it is too dangerous to bike on the road amongst traffic. It means that a protected bike lane needs to be built.

[pavel_lishin]

It might also signify a tourist area - near Central Park, I usually see people who look like locals riding in the street, and people who look like tourists riding on the sidewalk.

(Tourists tend to have bikes with bike-rental logos, or Citibikes; locals tend to have their own bikes, or if on citibikes, are dressed more like locals.)

[pc86]

Out of curiosity how does one dress like a NYC local?

[pavel_lishin]

Tourists tend to overdress; they see that it'll be 45 in the morning, and dress for the arctic circle, whereas locals will typically just toss on a jacket, with maybe another layer underneath. Locals also tend to wear darker colors; we joke that New York's official color is black.

A tourist will typically not have a messenger bag or a briefcase with them, either - those are typically commuter items. Tourists are more likely to have a bag from a "big" brand-name store like Macy's, although not as much on a bike.

And obviously, an I<3NY t-shirt with a brand new Yankees hat is a pretty dead tourist giveaway.

[cmurf]

October, the black parka comes out of storage and is worn, no matter the outdoor temperature. Temperature dictates the degree to which the person buttons up.