While I was on my recent Copenhagen swing I had enough time to take a jaunt to Malmö, Sweden to meet up with bike advocate Jennie Fasth who said she was going to take me on a "calm bicycle tour" to see the city. I had no knowledge of what was on her agenda, but she certainly didn't disappoint me. We saw a lot of neat bike stuff, the city and talked to a few residents.
But the main attraction was getting to see the first ever (they believe) rental apartment building being built specifically for accommodating cargo bikes everywhere! Wherever you have wanted to bring your cargo bike - into your apartment, in the elevator, thru the grand entrance to the complex and - yes - you can even wheel it right into your kitchen and unload groceries! It's called The Bicycle House (or Cykelhuset) and it's being structured, "for people who want to live and have a fantastic life without owning their own car." Oh, and by the way, there are zero car parking spaces in this building. Zero!!
Here is their blog: ohboy.se And it gets even better: it's also part bike hotel! Yup come stay in one of the 31 loft apartments on the ground floor. The builders of the Bicycle House, hauschild+siegel, are hoping to have occupancy begin by the end of 2016.
And for so much more amazing information go here: ohboy.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/160715-Cykelhuset-Ohboy.pdf
Something tells me every great bicycle city is gonna want AT LEAST one of these buildings.
But Jennie also showed me lots of other cool stuff. Including a massive bike parking station at Malmö Central, a brand new Cykelservicestation, where you can wash your own bike, fill up your tires and do small repairs along a major bike route, I got to hear about the Bicycle Library where you can "try out" cargo bikes for two weeks to see if they fit your lifestyle and of course biking around Malmö, where 30% of residents ride a bike daily!
I think I need more surprise tours! Thanks, Jennie!
