Originally Posted by
mamarides
I used to live in Portland, OR and now live in rural NY. I really miss being in a place where I could ride my bike everywhere I needed to go. I am thinking about relocating again. Do any of you have a town (preferably not a big city) you could recommend that is really bike friendly? Thanks in advance!
I have lived in Portland OR for 23+ years. I know it has a reputation for being bike "friendly". Maybe by friendly they mean "people likes bicycles", but as a place where getting around on a bike, I can't say it's a very good place.
For example, I live west of downtown, right off of Cornell. My commute by bike to get to NW downtown is about 8 miles. HOWEVER - I am forced to take one of two routes into downtown, Cornell to Lovejoy, or Barnes. Both are TERRIBLE for bikes, bumper to bumper traffic, every time I've commuted to work I say a little prayer that today is not the day I get run over (it happens in PDX every year or so).
I could go on about the narrow roads, the lack of bike lanes, the congestion and clueless drivers. Maybe cycling is better on the other side of town (SE), but the west side (until you get past 185th, then you're getting towards farm country) is really unfun to bike in.
Now, I have to say, a great town for biking is San Jose. I lived there 10 years (before PDX), and the roads are huge and wide, bike lanes everywhere, drivers have a clue. Lots of group rides, clubs and routes. You can travel safely all around the south bay up to SF if you want to...