Hey Folks,
Bit new to the game here, but I thought I had understood the entire requirements fully, but first one got rejected. There are actually many of these around provided by the local council, so I’m a bit perplexed how these have not met the criteria, or been classed as a generic business. Any and all tips would be appreciated so I can avoid this issue later.
Welcome to the forum!
How do you feel this meets “all the criteria”?
- A great place for exploration
- A great place for exercise
- A great place to be social with others
Niantic Wayfarer
To me this just looks like someplace to stash a bike. I have not seen similar here. Can you explain?
I would struggle to vote in favour of the nomination. These are not great places to explore or socialse.
To me, this seems similar to a bike rack, except that it provides some protection from the elements. I don’t see how it meets criteria of being a great place to be social, exercise, or explore. It’s basically a shed for bikes, which seems pretty indistinct to me.
I’ll also note you used the word “infrastructure” in the description, so my guess is that this isn’t the only one in the area, and there may be others, making it more indistinct. Anything that’s infrastructure is typically ineligible.
A gym doesn’t make a person become more fit. In a way, it is just infrastructure to help with the process.
Although this structure doesn’t supply any of the above - in and of itself, it functions as the beginning and end point for all three.
This is a terminal. People in the neighborhood will literally say: “Meet up at X Bike Shelter and we’ll all go for a ride” because this is where their bikes are.
It’s a great place to get some exercise; the criteria says nothing about getting into better shape, just getting some exercise in, so a gym meets the exercise criteria, and it may also be a great place to be social.
If you read my previous post, the OP even noted in their description that this was a part of infrastructure in the area, so there is most likely more than one in the area. I think of them more like bus stop shelthers: pretty indistinct, even though you can socialize with others there while waiting for the bus. You most likely aren’t going to do much of any of the 3 criteria here, and being infrastructure, it’s indistinct.
Your exercise will begin and end here, and this all is made possible by the facility. Bike riding from a shared beginning and end point constitutes socializing and exercising while you travel afield in exploration.
But you don’t do your exercising here. Whether your start and/or end your exercising at one place doesn’t meet it meets the exercise criteria, at you are supposed to do the exercising at the POI, not start and/or end it.
This is different than the start and end of a trail, for example. You still get some exercise in between the start and end POIs, and there may be other POIs along the way that tell you how far you’ve gone, which trail you’re on, etc. There’s actually no guarantee that one will start and/or end exercise at a bike shelter; someone may just be storing their bike there for safe keeping, but take it with them on the bus or their vehicle to a bike trail.
Again, it’s similar to a shed, or better yet, a garage. They are meant to store things, which is pretty indistinct. We stored our bikes in the shed or garage growing up; a bike shelter is for storage, not exercising or any of the other criteria.
I also look at this like some of the bike racks these days that look like bikes; while these look unique and like an art piece, they are usually mass produced and can easily be found for sale online. Now, there’s a bike rack that spells out my city’s name in ASL in our downtown area, and I don’t expect to see one like this somewhere else, so it’s both a bike rack as well as unique art. There’s another downtown shaped like stalks of grain, which is grown in our area, so again, I see these are unique art as well as a bike rack.
The bike shelter corresponds better to the parking lot at the gym than the gym in this analogy. The route the bikers can take is the opportunity provided for exercise.
I sit on the fence on this one @240844 – no I lean to rejection.
But imagine going to the local council and saying lets brighten up our neighbourhood and have an art collective paint these or something similar!
Now often Councils have street art projects. Numerous examples exist - Solihull Commissioning Painted Utility Boxes — Pickle Illustration - Amersham Painted Utility Boxes - Amersham Town Council – Aylesbury Painted Utility Cabinets | Aylesbury Town Council – Newham Murals and Street Art – Newham Council Reality is UK Councils from Belfast to Swansea to Burgess Hill are quite supportive. There is a charity in the UK that will even provide advice Be inspired by street art | Art UK to Community based projects such as this Canal one Bringing street art to the canalside | Canal & River Trust to Upfest UPFEST 2024 – Spray, Pray, Worship: A Weekend at Europe’s Biggest Street Art Festival – UP MAGAZINE
Not saying that is what you should do - but you could prod the council with a great idea to brighten up your community with a community based arts project.
I only say this because. Many a utility infrastructure item passes the criteria once it becomes art… And the shutters on these are easily paintable
Good luck
Around me, there are already a bunch of these as wayspots, and several more that are not.
And by “these” I mean, they look nearly identical. Mass produced and no more unique than a stop sign.
These are three from different libraries that are not even wayspots (last I checked).
I recognise that shadow in so many supporting photos. always wondered who it was 
Seems I’m getting a good understanding as to why this wasn’t accepted then.
Even though it is a facility open to the public that promotes exercise and usage of such things, it is not specifically the journey nor structure that allows it, only the safe storage of the equipment.
On top of that, it is generic and there are many like it, so not anything unique enough to warrant a nomination.
Do I have that right?
When I submitted this, my initial thought that it was something enabling the exercise and is a part of the community and initiative to push people to move towards cycling (this area basically has no ability to store anything like a cycle as its all flats with no storage and very small rooms)
That sounds like you have grasped it. 
Now that you have got this way of thinking through the criteria for this location start to go this thought process when you are considering others. 
Now, if you can get the community to paint them all differently, like many do for utility boxes…
