Seeking to illustrate the impact of rising housing costs in the United States on neighborhoods, Justin Blinder transformed one of New York’s Citi Bikes into an experimental vehicle. Using a GPS module and ESP32S3, the system operates the bike’s front brake with a servo motor, changing riding resistance according to the rent burden in different areas.
Blinder said calibration was the main technical challenge, ensuring that the resistance was noticeable without feeling sudden or unsafe. Rent burden refers to the percentage of income allocated to rent in an area.
Why It Matters
The project turns a difference that often remains confined to statistics, such as rent burden, into an interface through which users can physically experience the economic pressure between neighborhoods. In this respect, it opens up discussion about how housing costs affect not only budgets but also the experience of moving around a city. The setup also raises the question of how economic indicators should be translated into riding behavior so that rent data can be used in a technical system. The central challenge here is striking a balance between making the difference understandable and ensuring safe, non-abrupt use. The issue left open by the project is how such an experience affects the way users interpret this difference, rather than merely showing the rent pressure between neighborhoods.