John Hyde, a Northeast Park Hill resident since 2017, wanted to do something good for his neighborhood. He asked his family how they could engage with their community and make a positive impact. The neighborhood already had coffee shops, restaurants, breweries, and bars, but it lacked a bike shop.
A Community Bike Co-op
Hyde, who was a bike messenger in college and volunteered at community-based nonprofit bike shops, saw an opportunity to create a community hangout space where people could get their bikes fixed and learn about bike repair. He set up appointments with neighborhood leaders, including council members Shontel Lewis and Darrell Watson, to discuss the idea.
Councilmember Watson, a frequent bike commuter, is a strong supporter of the co-op idea. He compared it to the former Chocolate Spokes space in Five Points, which provided a similar community drop-in space and support for youth and community members to get their bikes fixed.
Hyde is organizing the effort online through an Instagram page and has around 70 people signed up to get involved. The group is still looking for a permanent location, but Hyde is eyeing properties in The Holly and is even willing to make the bike shop a Saturday morning pop-up if a brick-and-mortar location doesn’t pan out.
Original reporting: Denverite — read the source article.
