BROOKLINEBIKER

Hi everyone,
What do you consider the best city in the US Southeast for bike commuting and living car free? (I have been thinking of relocating & would like to hear perspectives). Thanks!

bikemig 

Lucky guy to be able to live where you want to so you can live car free.

I like older cities in general for commuting as they are thick with secondary roads that allow you to get from point a to b without going through a major artery. Newer cities tend to shove all the traffic onto major roads. So New Orleans, my old home, is pretty good in that regard. It has other issues though in terms of poverty and crime. Still it is a very bike-able city year around and just a beautiful city in general.

alan s 

I'll go with Key West. Flat, a car is useless, warm all year. Only caveat is you need a way out during hurricanes.

cobrabyte

I manage quite well here in St. Petersburg FL without a car. The busses have bike racks if you choose to use them. Weather is good, though the summer is pretty hot and it rains often during that time of year. Plenty of bike lanes and bike paths/trails.

fietsbob

Isn't there some Other Car Free Islands , just off shore down There?

We Mostly Skip the Hurricanes on the North West Coast, .. Its all About the Ocean Current Temperature ..

hueyhoolihan

Chicago.

Giant Doofus

This is is almost exactly what I would say about Memphis. Midtown is especially good. We also have a Mayor who is very committed to developing bike infrastructure. I've seen huge improvements in the past four years or so.

Bikerdave222

America?s Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities | Bicycling

JanMM

I spent eight years in Atlanta as an all-year, every day commuter. Don't remember significant problems. That was in the city, not the suburbs and was prior to 1986.

lsberrios1 

Good luck with that now!

martianone

Take a look at Savannah, GA

JanMM

I understand that some things have changed.

StephenH

So is there really somebody that has lived in every city that can compare them?
Around here, it'll be highly dependent on exactly where you live, where you work, etc. For example, I'm very convenient to grocery stores and stuff, but cycle commuting would be pretty impractical. On the other hand, I could possibly get a house right close to my work, but then the grocery store would be far off. So the devil is in the details.

tjspiel

Sanibel Island FL.

JoeyBike

NOLA has always been a car-free oasis but over the past couple of years has exploded with bike specific infrastructure. So many people here ride bikes that you don't have to worry about being the "oddball" in the office or circle of friends. NOLA is also compact, flat, and never gets snow or ice. Be ready for heat May-Sept. I mean AFRICA hot. Otherwise, like any city there is a criminal element that can be worrisome especially late in the evenings into early AM. Unfortunately those knuckleheads don't stay strictly in their own neighborhoods.

BROOKLINEBIKER

Hi everyone,
Thanks for the responses. Please keep them coming!

acidfast7

Honestly, it should positively correlate with public transportation options.

The most bike-friendly places I've lived had buses (city and long-distance), street trams, subways, commuter railways, long-distance high-speed rail and direct access via subway to the airport and ferry terminals.

The worst places had no public transport, except taxis.

bigbenaugust 

Carrboro/Chapel Hill, NC?

There's a bus system for going further afield and for when you don't feel like riding, weather is not that bad, and the local cycling community is rather active, so the level of bike infrastructure is moderate-to-high and increasing.

Jim from Boston

Hey BROOKLINEBIKER,

Are you currently in Brookline, MA, and you want to leave Metro Boston, the Hub of the Universe?

"Say it ain't so."

FenderTL5

Downtown core of Nashville and 'the Gulch' is pretty good and getting better.
Outside downtown.. not so much.

bmthom.gis

Greenville, SC if you don't care about being a few hours from the coast. It doesn't get the god awful heat being up in the mountains, infrastructure is very bike/ped friendly, and lots of riding outside of commuting. All kinds of bike stuff happening in that city. If you want to be coastal, I would say Savannah, GA.

GAPavedTrailRdr

I travel for business to the northeast a lot and I'm not sure there are many cities in the lower south that can really compare with the Boston area for living car free. You guys have slower traffic and more narrow streets within the city, pervasive public transportation, and passenger trains for longer commutes. In Atlanta, where I live, passenger trains are not very useful. Most trips take twice as long and cost as much or more as a flight. Passenger trains don't go anywhere fun, like Florida or the coast. Public transportation (Marta) has a North/South line and an East/West line, but many of the neighborhoods in the outer corners require cars. Zip cars and Uber fill in the gaps for people living car free. We haven't made the 50 best cities for biking yet, but the Mayor is working on it specifically and a big part of his plan is the Atlanta Beltline. Portions of it are complete, but it is expected to really take off when safe bike path access between Marta stops to the Beltline are better worked out and the entire loop is complete. So I think Atlanta has some promise, but we're still working on it. If you are open minded about leaving some of Boston's bike progress behind for nicer weather, it might work for you. The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition can tell you more. Good luck!

GaPavedTrailRdr

Jim from Boston

Hi GAPTR,

Thanks for your gracious and accurate corroboration about Boston’s public transit (and corresponding bike-friendliness).

Beside Florida, I've only cycled (on a rented rusty beach cruiser), on the Isle of Palms near Charleston, SC. On the Living Car Free thread, ”How Many Cities…”[have you cycled in?], I posted about Charleston, and some Florida cities:

Perhaps BROOKLINEBIKER coulld find some advice there.

ftimw

I have not commuted anywhere else and I am partial to Savannah. But I haven't had any trouble living car free here. Some destinations can be a little difficult but with a little creativity I usually figure it out. There is a good bus system with racks. There are few roads where I have real trouble. Things seem to get better all the time thanks to Savannah Bicycle Campaign. Great LBS's. Some times motorists can suck. But I'm sure that's the case everywhere. I encourage you to check it out. You should be OK with heat and humidity though. "America's most beautiful city"

BROOKLINEBIKER

Thank you for that thought. What you say makes perfect sense.