Nurses lock and stand might be a worthwhile solution with a different bike, along with less bike theft and, the biggest obstacle, wider pavements. They weren't wide enough even in the pre-queue era. (But are they being widened? No.)
My dastardly council is planning to widen pavements by blocking off the on street parking spaces. I know this because one of the local shops (maybe 100m from each of three car parks) has a poster up about how a lack of on street parking will kill the shops.
I never understand this one, the main thing that killed local shops is cars. A few parking spaces won't change that one way or the other. Once people are in their cars, the majority of them will drive somewhere else. All quick and easy on-street parking stimulates is fast food franchises and convenience stores.
Our local high street (which was dying before Covid) is a similar battleground. There is parking but even then it's deemed 'inconvenient' because it's probably a minute or two walk from the car park to the shops. If they stopped through traffic, pedestrianized the high street, but a bit of thought into it, it could be a core of a pleasant shopping and leisure environment where people might like to go to pick up a few things, have lunch with friends, a drink in the evening. I've been to places like that, so I know they exist, and I know they're never based around a major through road. If I recall from the local development plan, there are around 5,000 people within fifteen minutes walk of the town centre.
Yet the main people against this seem to be the few remaining shop owners.
All these things are connected, the convenience of the car become all-encompassing, but it's not really freedom. Freedom is being able to casually stroll to a local shop.
