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As is inevitable with all good things, the trail has haters. Too many trees were cut down; the pristine wilderness was violated; the trail is too crowded with damn tourists. Cindy actually had a woman in the store argue that the trail killed too many bugs.
Anyway, this guy in the barbershop was complaining about the trail. "What a waste of money! Bikers never spend a penny in my store! What a boondoggle!" Since this was one of the dumbest things I've heard about the trail, coming from a business owner, especially, I defended the trail. I not very respectfully disagreed. I said that we get MANY bike riders in our store, many of whom say, "I never knew you were here!" They often come back and spend money. Do they spend it right then, on their bikes? Probably not that often (although earrings are pretty easy to carry on a bike). But thanks to the trail, they now know we're there. We know they come back after their bike ride.
This guy owns a sporting goods store, so he thinks that just because bike riders aren't buying fishing gear, they have no value for him. He doesn't realize that business is a multi-step process. Perhaps the most important step is simple awareness. That's what advertising is all about, after all.
I think of the High Line in Manhattan. I'm sure there were many people, business owners, even, who thought the High Line was an idiotic waste of money. "It's a walking path! How is that worth the millions we're spending on it?" The answer is that simple walking path draws, quite literally, millions of people to the lower west side of Manhattan, to an area that was a bit of a waste land. It is now a tourist hub. The Whitney Museum just opened down there. It is going from having a few hundred thousand visitors each year, to having millions. And it's all due to a simple walking path.
Bike trails work the same way. They are good business. Any businessman who doesn't get that can't be much of a businessman.
Hear, hear! The Highline seems to create wealth out of thin air, almost literally. Commerce is about co-mingling, about rubbing shoulders. Of course, I still feel pretty bad about those bugs.
ReplyDeleteI love the High Line, not so much to walk on (too crowded), but because it's a major tourist attraction based simply on walking, in the city that has many many attractions.
ReplyDeleteNow I need to go back to NYC to walk the old/new High Bridge over the Harlem River.