Southern California - Commuting by Bike in Long Beach, CA

I am looking at a potential job opportunity in Long Beach, CA and is wondering what is the bike commuting situation there? Am I naive for thinking I can commute by bike in Long Beach, CA?

You are not naive for thinking you can commute in Long Beach but to do so, it depends on your route. There are a few nice bike paths to use but if you are not used to riding in the streets, you may not be so comfortable.
I ride in the streets and know the city very well so I have no problems getting around. I just don't need to ride at night so I can't speak on that.

I am pretty familiar with streets in the South end of Long Beach near the ocean. Do you know where you will be working?
There aren't a lot of dedicated bike lanes but some streets are easier and safer to use.
Also, the far south end of the city has a bike path that follows the ocean "Shoreline" . And flanking the West and East are two "river" trails or flood control channels LA River and San Gabriel River Trails.

I've ridden around long beach quite often. its weird, some streets have nice bike lanes, others none at all. some streets have bike lanes that just disappear and you get cars honking at you all of sudden because you're taking up "their" lane.

A path to reach the beach I recommend is orange, which changes to alamtios which changes to shoreline drive. takes you right to the beach and back. Just stay on the right at all times. I have gotten honked on here and there, but no one is dumb enough to ram me.

I've ridden that path at night before. Around 8-9. Not so bad, just get some blinking lights. It is pretty desolate, and all the gangsters transformed to skinny jean dressing skateboards, go figure.

I ride a fixie, and i don't recommend you ride brake less in the city that doesn't care for bikes as much as they should.

Tell me a general area you're from and trying to reach, and I could recommend some streets to take.

Thanks for the information guys!! It is great to know that Long Beach is bike-able in certain parts of the city.

The firm is located on W. Ocean Blvd. between Golden Shore and Queens Way. Having lived in Portland, OR, the look of the streets around that area on google map seems pretty intimidating.

The on-site job interview is next Friday so I won't know for sure if I'm moving down to Long Beach until then. I am keeping my fingers crossed. :)

Thanks for the information guys!! It is great to know that Long Beach is bike-able in certain parts of the city.

The firm is located on W. Ocean Blvd. between Golden Shore and Queens Way. Having lived in Portland, OR, the look of the streets around that area on google map seems pretty intimidating.

The on-site job interview is next Friday so I won't know for sure if I'm moving down to Long Beach until then. I am keeping my fingers crossed. :)


w. ocean blvd. you area already at the beach. there is a nice beach path found, that will take you about 2 and a half miles down. when i make it down to the beach and have to travel down or up the coast, i usually ride down to the beach path and use that. nothing but people, pets and bikes on there. beautiful to ride near sunset as well.

long beach is an awesome place to live. bars on 2nd street, 4th street. get drunk, walk down to the beach at night :) it has its shadey areas, but all major cities have them.

Generally speaking, commuting in Southern California works the best if you are able to situate yourself so that you don't live too far from your job.

If you live south of Long Beach like in Seal Beach, it would be a nice commute.

I live in Long Beach and I've ridden and commuted all over the city. I would say the whole city is very bikeable. Between the San Gabriel River Trail, LA River trail, the strand on the beach, PCH, and major arterials you can get anywhere in the city by bike without a problem (depending on your comfort riding in the street). If I worked anywhere in the city I wouldn't even think about driving to work, I work 20 miles away and commute by bike as much as possible.

The city just finished installing several new bike lanes. Heck, the one they put down 2nd street is painted green...the whole width.
http://laist.com/2009/06/29/long_beach_launches_bicycle_sharrow.php

I live in Long Beach and I've ridden and commuted all over the city. I would say the whole city is very bikeable. Between the San Gabriel River Trail, LA River trail, the strand on the beach, PCH, and major arterials you can get anywhere in the city by bike without a problem (depending on your comfort riding in the street). If I worked anywhere in the city I wouldn't even think about driving to work, I work 20 miles away and commute by bike as much as possible.
As a fellow Long Beach cyclist, I agree with pretty much everything AdamD said. Whole city is bikeable as long as you're comfortable with riding in the roads, the drivers are reasonably friendly, the city is bike-friendly. Extremely rare to get honked at or anything; Long Beach is rad :)

although not every street has bike lanes, biking in long beach is a lot easier than biking in los angeles. it's also mostly flat, except for signal hill (which i encounter daily on my commute). i don't mind the climb but i'd rather not have that spike in my HR on my otherwise casual ride.

Hi,

One thing to also consider about commuting in Long Beach is that it should only get better soon. Tony Cruz is the Long Beach Bicycle Ambassador and Charles Gandy has been hired by the city to spend about $10 million to improve the bicycle infrastructure. The sharrows on 2nd Street are an example of what Tony and Charles are doing to try to make things better for cycling in Long Beach.

The stated vision "...is to be the most bicycle friendly urban city in the nation."

Find out more at http://www.bikelongbeach.org/

they should just make one huge epic bike path from orange, cherry or w/e to connect to the beach. a nice safe path. that way if you live farther away from the beach, you could ride up to that street and ride it safely to the beach.

the cars aren't so bad yeah, but i just have that extra security with a bike path. the 2nd street bike/car share lane is pretty cool, but its so short, i'm greedy and i want more of those.

and the i'm paranoid to ride the la rive bike path alone... especially under the bridges. and i wouldn't ride there a night. looks shady, and hard to find help if something were to happen.

+1 databike: getting to the beach can be tricky due to old, narrow streets.

also, what we need is a bike lane on the pch or willow from the traffic circle/signal hill to lb blvd.

Long beach is nice for bike riding.
Rode throught there last week.

Nice party at O20...

Just got back from the on-site interview a few days ago. Long Beach is great! The bike path along ocean shoreline is super nice. I was told that you could take the bike path all the way down to Newport Beach. I also checked out the Bike Station and the new painted Sharrow lane on 2nd st. The city is definitely much much more bike friendly than Los Angeles. And, best of all, I just got an offer from the firm today. So I am officially moving to Long Beach and joining all the Long Beach bike commuters.

Thanks again for all the great info.

Congrats. Enjoy your new Long Beach adventures!

Just got back from the on-site interview a few days ago. Long Beach is great! The bike path along ocean shoreline is super nice. I was told that you could take the bike path all the way down to Newport Beach. I also checked out the Bike Station and the new painted Sharrow lane on 2nd st. The city is definitely much much more bike friendly than Los Angeles. And, best of all, I just got an offer from the firm today. So I am officially moving to Long Beach and joining all the Long Beach bike commuters.

Thanks again for all the great info.

congrats.

and you can't take the beach path all the way to newport beach.

the beach path in long beach ends at naples. you can then do a small neighborhood cut to 2nd street, then to PCH, then go down till you hit Bolsa Chica. Take that Beach path, go back on PCH, hit Huntington, take that congested path filled with people and so on and so on. I've ridden there before using that method. We usually take small breaks at all the beaches along the way. It is a nice ride, though there are a bridges and inclines which can burn your legs quite a bit along the way.

Heading south on PCH from second street in the LBC is good riding.

Just got back from the on-site interview a few days ago. Long Beach is great! The bike path along ocean shoreline is super nice. I was told that you could take the bike path all the way down to Newport Beach. I also checked out the Bike Station and the new painted Sharrow lane on 2nd st. The city is definitely much much more bike friendly than Los Angeles. And, best of all, I just got an offer from the firm today. So I am officially moving to Long Beach and joining all the Long Beach bike commuters.

Thanks again for all the great info.

Congratulations.


and you can't take the beach path all the way to newport beach.

Depending on your style of riding, the bike paths can be more hazardous than riding on the street.

PCH from 2nd Street south to Goldenwest has a good shoulder most of the way with a couple of narrow spots in Sunset Beach. (You can avoid those spots by turning on Anderson and taking Pacific Avenue south to Warner.) If the path is crowded in HB then IMHO, PCH is better. PCH south of Beach Blvd in HB all the way down to Newport Beach is fine. PCH north through HB is better than south so I wouldn't consider the bike path in that direction.


It is a nice ride, though there are a bridges and inclines which can burn your legs quite a bit along the way.

:eek: I'm not sure where duckweed is moving from but you won't find a flatter ride than LB to Newport Beach in the US outside of the corn belt in the Midwest.

If you live south of Long Beach like in Seal Beach, it would be a nice commute.

Ding! Seal Beach has bike lanes just about everywhere. And where they don't the streets are more than wide enough to not really worry about it.

I looked at commuting by bike (traffic sucked) but I couldn't work out all the details like bike storage, place to change, safe route, etc...

I was also temping downtown at the time near the Grand Prix track near the area you mentioned. That is a nice area to ride, though I haven't done it before. I did ride the beach trail once and that was nice.

This today (http://www.streetfilms.org/long-beach-shifts-cycling-in-to-high-gear/#comments)...

:eek: I'm not sure where duckweed is moving from but you won't find a flatter ride than LB to Newport Beach in the US outside of the corn belt in the Midwest.

Oh, come on - there are those overpassess, especially the one inot Anaheim Bay.

This today (http://www.streetfilms.org/long-beach-shifts-cycling-in-to-high-gear/#comments)...

Yeah. I love riding in Long Beach. Now if all the cities leading me there would only do the same. :thumb:

Yup, Long Beach is definitely becoming a nice cycling city. I'm looking forward to seeing all the coming improvements.

http://vimeo.com/12225907

I wanted to see that film, but found out about it too late. I hope he brings his film up here.

Too bad we have such incompetent leadership in LA that they can't get their act together to just close some city streets for families one weekend. Oh I forgot. They'll close them for some doped up riders in a race run by large corporations.:rolleyes:

It'll be here soon, hopefully.

It was really great. Even the Major was at the screening and he spoke a bit. He bikes more miles in a week than I do...

Have you seen this? (http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1aOe6E/www.charliegandy.com/?SSScrollPosition=0/r:t)

Have moved to Long Beach from the Pacific Northwest for almost a year and is loving this city's cycling culture. Looking forward to more bike friendly improvements.

Have you seen this? (http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1aOe6E/www.charliegandy.com/?SSScrollPosition=0/r:t)

Thanks Alice. What a nice promo. I was envious seeing all the progress in the LBC.

We need some cyclists to run for public office other than the usual incomps. I'd vote for them.