Re:How San Francisco's bike-share scheme became a symbol of ...
by dionidium on Wednesday August 23, 2017 @02:13PM
(#15083750)
Anecdote: I come from a working-class neighborhood. Adults on bikes were roundly ridiculed when I was growing up. There is absolutely no chance (or evidence) that the adults of my childhood had any interest in bike lanes (for exactly the reasons you describe).
For many poor and middle class people bikes were a sign you were poor and could not afford a car. So some people in the middle would avoid biking so as not to look poor.
Upper middle class, having some security and wealth didn't care about "looking poor". They could ride $5000 bikes to display wealth or could ride $50 used bikes, interchangeably. They already had status so bikes were neutral or even positive (I'm active, I'm pro environment, etc.)