Living Car Free - Bike friendly cities

I happened to find a list of bike-friendly cities from around the world. What do you think of this list? Should some others be added? Should some be removed?

11 Most Bike Friendly Cities (http://www.virgin-vacations.com/11-most-bike-friendly-cities.aspx)

I wonder why an airline is publishing the definitive list of bike-friendly cities?

I wonder why an airline is publishing the definitive list of bike-friendly cities?
Perhaps it is a nefarious scheme concococted by a consortium of the petroleum guzzling industry to get people to travel in their evil machines. Will that answer satisfy your curiosity?

4 of the top 11 bike cities are in the USA? Something tells me the author of this article either hasn't been around the world, doesn't ride a bike, or both.

I'm wondering if the cities, or at least those in the U.S., are ones with a great cycling infrastructure in place, not necessarily those with a lot of cyclists.

I love living in Portland, but its no were near Copenhagen. We have tons of bike lanes, but nothing like they have. I'd move Portland to the 3rd spot. Our transportation infrastructure still needs a lot of work to make riding here feel safe to all new comers. As of right now it is not, its good but you have to be a little ballsy to commute on some of the bike lanes/routes.

I love living in Portland, but its no were near Copenhagen. We have tons of bike lanes, but nothing like they have. I'd move Portland to the 3rd spot. Our transportation infrastructure still needs a lot of work to make riding here feel safe to all new comers. As of right now it is not, its good but you have to be a little ballsy to commute on some of the bike lanes/routes.

Much better than Portland is Bogotá. Colombia... it didn't even make this list.

Perhaps Virgin doesn't fly there.

4 of the top 11 bike cities are in the USA? Something tells me the author of this article either hasn't been around the world, doesn't ride a bike, or both.
Ooooorrrr, it's an American author on an American website.

America is the bestest! hurr



(Yes, I'm American.)

Yes, I knew it came from an airline, but that doesn't matter. It's another way of showing examples of cycling culture to some who might not normally be exposed to it. The examples in the list are not the only examples, nor are they necessarily the best examples. But they are communities which are working to enhance conditions for cyclists. It's a start.

4 of the top 11 bike cities are in the USA? Something tells me the author of this article either hasn't been around the world, doesn't ride a bike, or both.

No kidding.

"Yes, I knew it came from an airline, but that doesn't matter."

Well, it kind of does. The airline isn't going to put Stockholm on there if they don't fly to Stockholm, right?

No kidding.

"Yes, I knew it came from an airline, but that doesn't matter."

Well, it kind of does. The airline isn't going to put Stockholm on there if they don't fly to Stockholm, right?

I have never been to America, but I would expect cycling to come second place to the car; as it does here in the UK. I wasnt surprised that the UK was not listed.

No love for Japan? I see more bikes here than I have anywhere else that I've traveled. Near every major train station of downtown area (which always has a train station) there are enormous parking garages for bikes only. At least up here in Sendai there are almost always bike lanes on the roads and whenever there is a tunnel for cars there is just about always a separate tunnel for bikes. Japan is pretty darn bike friendly if you ask me.

This site only seems to show bigger cities. I live in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. It's about 90 km south of Munich. It is one of the most bike-friendly cities that I have lived in because it's so flat (at least in the valley). There are lots of bike paths. Most of the roads in town don't have special bike lanes, but motorists know to watch for cyclists. On very busy streets there are bike lanes on the sidewalks. There is a big parking area for bikes at the local train station. Many businesses in town provide free bike racks because so many people here ride bikes. At my workplace there are many conveniently-located bike racks.

I can see why G-P isn't on that website because there is no airport. The closest would be in Munich.

Here's a much better list of Bicycle Friendly Communities in the US, put out by LAB:

http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/pdfs/bfc_master_list_web.pdf

Here's a much better list of Bicycle Friendly Communities in the US, put out by LAB:

http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/pdfs/bfc_master_list_web.pdf

Dayton OH just got it's Bronze level rating (one of just two cities in OH). It is striving to be a bronze level region (the city and the surrounding suburbs) and move onto the silver level which I understand is much harder. They hope to achieve it sometime mid decade. See Roody, we may have a way to go but we're working at being less backwards:)

It's a typical article for an air travel magazine - superficial and self-promoting - and that's fine. If we want serious material we go to serious sources, and if we just want to kill some time while waiting for the aisle to open to the bathroom, we read the seatback fluff mag.

Here's a much better list of Bicycle Friendly Communities in the US, put out by LAB:

http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/pdfs/bfc_master_list_web.pdf

Unfortunately this document doesn't mention what comprises a particular level of achievement. I couldn't figure out from their web site. Des Moines was on any of the lists, nor did it gain an even Honorable Mention. Several other Iowa towns did make it however.... Minneapolis only reached Silver level

These lists are kind of a joke. I lived in Davis, CA for over two decades. There was a time, in the late '70s and early '80s when it could be legitimately called a bike town. Those days are long gone. Seventeen percent traveling by bike? NO WAY! I still have friends, family and my dentist there so I ride to Davis twice a year, at least. Many times my family and I are the only people I see on bikes for an entire day at a time. It has gotten so bad that most of the bikes on the U.C.D. campus are just left there for on-campus travel by the people who drive to campus. Back in the day, if you left a bike parked for more than a day the campus cops would impound it to make room for someone else. (When everyone arrives by bike, parking spaces are at a premium.) The last time I was there I was even told to, "Get the f*** off the road!" by some carcissist. The infrastructure is still mostly there, but it is being degraded and is largely unused.

As for Portland, it does have a small section of the larger metropolitan area that has a measurable percentage of people on bikes, but the vast majority of the PDX area is as much a bike desert as anywhere else in the U.S. Like Davis, they have a propaganda machine that is highly effective and dreams that I hope it achieves. But it is nowhere near Bogota, and I'm not speaking geographically.

Dayton OH just got it's Bronze level rating (one of just two cities in OH). It is striving to be a bronze level region (the city and the surrounding suburbs) and move onto the silver level which I understand is much harder. They hope to achieve it sometime mid decade. See Roody, we may have a way to go but we're working at being less backwards:)

I have very little hope for Ohio ;) but congrats on the Bronze. We just got one in Lansing too. I believe we're the 5th or 6th city in Michigan however.

I have very little hope for Ohio ;) but congrats on the Bronze. We just got one in Lansing too. I believe we're the 5th or 6th city in Michigan however.

Congrats to Lansing. Looking at the list did they overstate Grand Rapids population or is that a regional designation?

Congrats to Lansing. Looking at the list did they overstate Grand Rapids population or is that a regional designation?

GR population is around 200,000 IIRC. (But it probably will be the biggest city in Michigan by the 2020 census, I have read.) The 688K in the graph must refer to metro area. Entire regions can be designated bike friendly if there is cooperation between cities.

As far as bike friendly, maybe it concerns awareness of bikes as a mode of transportation. I know it's no fun riding in big cities, but do they include them when they upgrade the infrastructure? By the way, no Berkeley?

You can see the bike friendly states (http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/pdfs/bfs_ranking_awards2010.pdf) also. Washington is number one and Alabama is last. Oregon is number 5 and California is number 19.

nd biker, Michigan is number 16 while Ohio only made it to 32. :p

You can see the criteria and rationale for all the lists here. (http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/)

You can see the bike friendly states (http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/pdfs/bfs_ranking_awards2010.pdf) also. Washington is number one and Alabama is last. Oregon is number 5 and California is number 19.

nd biker, Michigan is number 16 while Ohio only made it to 32. :p

You can see the criteria and rationale for all the lists here. (http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/)

Iowa made it to number 7, but the Des Moines didn't even get on the city list.

Iowa made it to number 7, but the Des Moines didn't even get on the city list.

IC makes up for it ;)

Aaron:)

Well, is Des Moines applying? LAB doesn't just hand out designations by systematically checking out every city in the country... the municipality needs to bug them to come look.

IC makes up for it ;)

Aaron:)

I knew you'd respond with that :bang:

Well, is Des Moines applying? LAB doesn't just hand out designations by systematically checking out every city in the country... the municipality needs to bug them to come look.

Oops... now I am just making work for myself...

But thanks for the tip... maybe I should follow up.

I knew you'd respond with that :bang:

:D

IC does have a shoe in with the U of I being right in the heart of downtown:lol: But today I followed one of the "MUP's" from the north side of Coralville out to North Liberty, so there is a decent bit of infrastructure. The road that you would have to follow is IA 965 and it is in poor shape and has 55mph speed limits, no shoulders and lots of cracks and pot holes. I have no clue what the winter conditions are like up here...I am a summer time resident only.:innocent:

Aaron :)

:D

IC does have a shoe in with the U of I being right in the heart of downtown:lol: But today I followed one of the "MUP's" from the north side of Coralville out to North Liberty, so there is a decent bit of infrastructure. The road that you would have to follow is IA 965 and it is in poor shape and has 55mph speed limits, no shoulders and lots of cracks and pot holes. I have no clue what the winter conditions are like up here...I am a summer time resident only.:innocent:

Aaron :)

I was in the town of Decorah in NE Iowa today and surprised to see how such a small town could be so bike-friendly. There were bikes tied up to every parking meter and I saw two bike shops... not bad for a town of 8,000 people. Very nice place to hang out. However, like Iowa City, it's a college in town and seems like a large number of graduates decided to stick around after their 4 years.

GR population is around 200,000 IIRC. (But it probably will be the biggest city in Michigan by the 2020 census, I have read.) The 688K in the graph must refer to metro area. Entire regions can be designated bike friendly if there is cooperation between cities.

That's what I thought. Dayton is working on the regional designation.