A lot of you know that I'm originally from Western/Central NY State. Buffalo, despite being the butt of many a joke is the city that I often use to describe where I'm from geographically to elitist west coast types who only think about NYC when you say "New York." Buffalo, like Hartford, is a pretty gritty town. The population of the city is quite a bit larger than the city of Hartford (300,000 to 125,000) but when you compare the greater metro areas of each city, Hartford and Buffalo have very similar populations at over 1.1 million people (#45 and #46 nationally)
Perhaps this is more of a job for the CCBA, but I thought I'd point out an effort that has been established in the aforementioned Buffalo, NY that may be of interest:
Blue Bicycle has partnered with Flying Bison Brewery to launch a specialty brew; the “Rusty Chain”. This new amber ale will help to promote bicycle infrastructure in Buffalo. With over twenty restaurants and bars around the city on board, every time you purchase a Rusty Chain partial proceeds will go towards bicycle racks, signs, lanes, etc. Rusty Chain will quickly become the beer of choice for cyclists and beer aficionados alike.
And they had a fundraiser this week which went for the installation of bike racks and bike rings around the city. I honestly don't know if such an similar suds-spoke synergy effort is possible here in the 'Beat, but given our bike community's proclivity for the enjoyment of beer, I can't think of any better situation for bike advocacy than the purchase of beer going to help fund bike infrastructure improvements. It's just a thought.
I can't believe I'm saying it, but I'm jealous of Buffalo.
Suds-spoke synergy sounds great. Does anyone know the people over at the Hooker Brewery. Karma- how about the peeps at Willibrew?
ReplyDeleteI wouldnt hold out for Hooker for various reasons, I could look into Willibrew but Willimantic has its own set of issues which those guys would be better served to follow. If I could think of anyone I'd say City Steam should be our city-loyal brewery of choice, considering what I've heard of the place lately they could use the good press.
ReplyDeleteHooker might be worth talking to as they sponsor Hartford Heat, a CT triathlon team. It might be a stretch but they have some connection to biking. Plus, Curt is always looking for good press.
ReplyDeleteha, my verification word was "perph" as in "perphert" ok, now that i typed it that looks dumb.
ReplyDeleteanyway, i say go for it on the suds spoke synergy. i can tell you that the ccba is very receptive to new ideas if some of the leg work has been done and they look viable. keep me posted and i can help take the idea to the board if you want