Detroit Police Chief Says: "My Bad!" for Bike Licenses

As I wrote in my post: "Riding Your Bike in Detroit? Have Your License?", the Detroit Police Department will start enforcing the 44-year-old bike license ordinance on August 7: a $55.00 fine if you don't have a $1.00 license for your bike.

Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings tried to explain at a recent Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting that her intent was not to punish bike riders, but to be better able to retrieve stolen bicycles.

Ron Scott, a member of the Detroit-based Bike Riders United, feels that the enforcement in unnecessary and problematic. Chief Bully-Cummings replied that she didn't want police officers standing around writing tickets to bikers; she is just trying to help bike-theft victims to get their bikes back.

Bike Riders United will hold a unity protest bike-a-thon in Detroit on Friday, August 1 from 1 to 3 p.m.; starting at Eastern Market and concluding at Hart Plaza. Meanwhile, just to be sure, you can visit any of the six Detroit Police Districts and get a 5-year license for your bike.

Update: as of Friday July 18 2008, the Detroit Police Department has no more bike licenses available! Stay tuned to see what happens with the ordinance enforcement...

Shameless Plug for my husband's blog: Read "The 'D' Spot"...

Old-School Family-owned Hardware Store Right Here in the "D"

In connection with my 1st "Detroit Neighborhoods" post about an area with many homes more than 100 years old, I want to tell you about a hardware store tailor-made for owners of historic homes and restored lofts.

Walking into Detroit Hardware, located at 6432 Woodward just south of "the Boulevard", is akin to stepping back in time several decades. Uneven wooden plank floors, glass front display cases, a vintage tin ceiling with ceiling fans, two floors connected with a somewhat rickety staircase, rows and rows of nails, nuts and bolts, old-fashioned washboard, hard-to-find plumbing fixtures greet grateful DIY-ers and contractors.

Most of all, there are wonderful, helpful men and women who actually know every inch of the store and take the time to answer every question. Whether you need that whistling "thingy" for the top of your pressure cooker, clawfeet for your antique bathtub, extra keys cut, or even a hunting or fishing license, you'll find what you're looking for at Detroit Hardware.

We in the "D" are certainly glad that one of the "big-box" home improvement centers decided to locate one of their stores in the City, but we are equally glad to have a delightfully charming, family-owned and operated real neighborhood hardware store in the Woodward Gateway Retail District within the Midtown/New Center area.

You can enter the store from Woodward, or park in lot behind the store off Milwaukee and enter through the creaky steel back door. The beautiful and distinctive red-and-white striped awning on the storefront on Woodward was purchased a few years ago with funds obtained from the New Center Council; funds raised partially through the annual Cityfest.

For more information and hours, call 313.875.0838

Riding Your Bike in Detroit? Have Your License?

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Now playing: The Caravans - The Lord Will Make A Way
via FoxyTunes



Just as we start thinking about hauling our bikes out of the garage to save money on gasoline like our Governor who has started "biking to work", the City has reminded us that we need a license for our bikes!

Detroit's bicycle license ordinance states:
"It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or use a bicycle propelled wholly or in part by muscular power upon any of the streets or sidewalks of the city without first obtaining a license therefore from the city."

The ordinance has been in place since 1964; but the Detroit Police are going to start to actually enforce the ordinance again. They say it is to help locate/recover stolen bicycles, but if you're caught without a license starting on August 7 2008, you'll get hit with a $55.00 fine!

The cost is actually minimal: $5.00 for a 5-year license; it's just something else to add to your "to-do" list! (I wonder if next they'll pass a "no talking on your cell with biking" law!)

The licenses can be obtained at any of the six Detroit Police Districts between 9 am and 5 pm Monday - Friday. For further information, you can call the Detroit Police Office of Public Information: 313.596.2200.

Once you get that license, though, you can enjoy riding along the Detroit Riverwalk and around Belle Isle...the beauty and serenity will be worth it...not to mention great exercise! Also explore Campus Martius, Palmer Park, and Chandler Park (Chandler Park is part of the Wayne County Parks and Recreation System)...let me know in the comments section about other great places to ride your bike in Detroit!

Also check out "Detroit Bikes", a group that promotes group riding tours around Detroit.

Happy Riding!