More bicycle lanes are the answer
I both shook me head and laughed at your recent editorial (“Earning their Stripes,” April 15). Have you stopped to consider that the bike lanes on Ingersoll Avenue might have positive effects? By happenstance, the recent Sierra magazine contained an article by Kyle Boelte that has some statistics for everyone to consider: 1. Those who drive everywhere spend 25 percent of their income on transportation; those who walk, bike, and/or take the bus spend about 9 percent. 2. New York City boasted twice as many cyclists in 2008 as 1998, with half the injuries. 3. The safer biking is, the more people do it (especially true for women). Rather than dwell on negatives, the Ingersoll businesses might find installing bolted-down bike racks a boon for increased numbers of cyclists. After all, there are only so many “No Parking” signs and trees to secure our vehicles. Back-up on I-235? Ha! It’s likely that the more pedestrians we have, the fewer cars we’ll have on I-235. Welcome the experiment. Des Moines can be a leader in environmental issues — only if it dares to be.
Leslie Marrs
Des Moines
Catholic bashing
I picked up last week’s issue in a waiting room and saw an idiotic editorial comment suggesting that the cure to pedophile priests in the Catholic church would be to allow them to marry (“Catholic Soul Seaching,” April 8). I say idiotic because that presumes that there are no married pedophiles. Incidentally, have you ever considered how many pedophile pastors there are in the protestant churches? Probably not since that isn’t news. You’d probably be shocked to learn that they exist there in the same percentage of the population as a whole, just as they do within the Catholic church. How about you do a little investigating to find out how many pastors, rabbis or imams there are that have been accused of pedophilia or homosexuality. But, be careful, that would be politically incorrect and might get you in a bit of trouble with the Catholic hating populace.
Scott Bailey
Earlham
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