While not every citizen of PeakNation™ has time to read the Denver Post editorial page on Sundays, our friend Neil Westergaard, editor in chief of the Denver Business Journal, uncovered an astonishing revelation by the president of the Denver city council, and used his regular spot on the inside back cover of the DBJ this weekend to tell us all about it.

It seems to be the policy of the city government to actually make driving inconvenient.  To heck with the productive class who travel miles to get to their jobs throughout the metro area, just trying to make ends meet in our struggling economy.  City Council President Mary Beth Susman literally lays out a carrot and stick approach to centrally planning the way citizens get to work.  Of course, she and her cronies know better than you how best to get to your jobs and back.  What she said in The Denver Post:

The city’s planning vision and policies strive to discourage driving and incent transit-biking-walking. THE STICK: We have reduced parking requirements and stopped widening roads (in most areas), hoping that if we make driving more inconvenient, people will switch to transit. THE CARROT: We are adding bike lanes, requiring sidewalks with development, re-striping roads and, of course, building light rails.

We’re sorry, but if you have a client-facing position, you simply are not biking to work.  If you are dropping the children off at school or day care, you are not biking to work.  If you are elderly or disabled, you are not biking to work. If you are picking up groceries, dry cleaning, or household supplies, you are not biking to work.  If there is snow, ice, or rain falling out of the Colorado sky, you are not biking to work.  If you cannot afford stretching your commute from a quick car ride to a long bike ride, you are not biking to work.

While hopping on a bicycle may be a viable option for someone working in a coffee shop, or someone working in an office setting that does not require professional attire, it simply is a non-starter for an overwhelming majority of Coloradans.  And the fact that the Denver city council is trying to make things even more difficult for the middle class, is nothing short of dangerous.