For my Trek placement I worked at Kickstand Bike co-op in East Vancouver. Kickstand opens its doors to anyone who wants to work on their bike. They provide a supportive workspace, equipped with tools, parts, instruction and support. They want to get everyone who comes through their doors on a bicycle.
The underlying social issues that a community bike shop like Kickstand helps to address are not as obvious as with social services like tutoring, mentoring, food distribution and family support. When you tutor someone, you give academic support they may not get at school or at home. When you mentor someone, you provide a role model where there may be none. When you provide a meal, you feed someone who didn’t have the means to feed themselves, at least for that day.
Volunteering at Kickstand opened me up to understanding some of the more implicit functions of community bike shops. Their goal of increasing the number of people riding bicycles is conducive to building social connections and a healthy society. As you ride the streets, you are exposed to the outside and engaged with your fellow citizens, your community and your city. When you drive a car or ride a bus, you are isolated inside the vehicle. You are just “passing through,” skipping by neighborhoods without making any connection. Riding a bicycle fosters a mentality that you are a part of the community, and bike shops like Kickstand facilitate those connections and foster them. Kickstand has been described as a space with a “living room quality.”
While Kickstand’s explicit purpose is to give people a space equipped with all the resources they need to fix or maintain their bicycles, one of its implicit goals is to provide a safe, community space. Anyone can come to the shop for any reason. No one has to pay to be in the shop. You can come in, have a conversation, relax, and just see what’s going on.
I think Kickstand is doing great things for the Commercial Drive community, but money, as with many small non-profit organizations, is a problem. With a larger budget I think they could reach even more people. Visibility and awareness seem to be a challenge for them. The shop is in a basement at the end of Commercial Drive, before it crosses East Hastings. It is a shame that I had never heard of the shop prior to my placement, because it has a lot to offer.
Bike shops like Kickstand are not the only solution to Vancouver’s poverty problem, but they are definitely part of the solution. I think they could do a lot to strengthen community ties across class groups, promote equal participation by residents, and support the city’s efforts to increase bicycle use in its attempts to become the world’s greenest city.
Regardless of whether you decide to sign up for trek or decide to work at Kickstand, if you need a used bike for the school year check them out!