But, McGinn would...

Not that I ever defend Nickels on anything (mostly because pretty much everything he does is indefensible), but Berkeley is a postage stamp compared to Seattle, and the comparison is absurd.

He's not really giving up his car for the bus; he's giving it up mostly for shoe leather. How long would it take Nickels to walk to City Hall from West Seattle? Two hours? Is it even possible to get there on foot?

Mayor Bates walks 18 minutes. On the total flat (South Berkeley, not the Berkeley Hills).

And his wife commutes to SACRAMENTO. 80 miles. Hmm, that's about the same as if they lived in the deep suburbs, Vallejo or Concord or even Napa, and both commuted by car! Suddenly, I'm no so impressed by today's episode of Green Theater.

Bloomberg takes the subway.

Nickels is an ass.

@4, Bloomberg HAS a subway.

Nickels would have to pay twice.

I like the line about "if I wanted to go somewhere, I'd rent a car." Likely, on Berkeley residents' dime. Take that, hippies.

It doesn't take very long to ride a bike from West Seattle to downtown, and a trip or two up a hill might do the mayor some good. Brother looks like he's about to have a heart attack any minute, which, come to think of it, might do the city some good.

Nope, Nickels has gotta keep that nice, plump little neck-roll going. That's the look of prosperity, men, prosperity!

It's ridiculous to expect the mayor to expose himself to so much risk by riding a bicycle. Try to be realistic here. What are you, twenty?

Fnarf @ 11: McGinn would bike to work. And he is pushing 50 and lives in Greenwood.

@12,

McGinn can say that now, but the cops assigned to protect him in the unlikely event that he's elected Mayor would probably take a rather different view of it.

Have you ever seen a Mayor's schedule? Biking ain't gonna get you from the rubber sausage and egg breakfast in West Seattle back to the office to do a little work before the rubber chicken Chamber lunch in Lake City, followed by the return to the office (or perhaps to the Port of Seattle or PSRC offices to beg for money for Paul Allen - oops - that's Nickels' schedule) to the rubber Mexican-style dinner in South Park.

Add a few more meetings and ribbon-cuttings into that, and you've got the typical politician's day - and it's even worse when they're running for re-election.

Say what you will, but most of these folks do keep busy, and minutes count when you've got as a full a calendar as they do.

AND.... Nickels is already right there with Gavin Newsom... the Schell Lincoln was turned in long ago and Mayor [insert passive-aggressive insult here] has been riding in a hybrid police vehicle for several years now.

And from what I hear he often shuns his safety detail on weekends and makes low-profile walking trips to get the groceries and stuff.

Interesting how you link to a researched article that included research of adjacent areas but did absolutely no research of your own.

Where's your bus, Erica?

@13, Um, if minutes are so important, why the hell does he live in West Seattle? He obviously doesn't care about minutes that much.