I have lived and ridden in Salt Lake City, Nice, and now Paris. I've ridden in Haarlem and Amsterdam in the Netherlands. I don't have much experience riding all over the world.

I appreciate the awareness of cycling here in Paris. The people I know appreciate it and support commuting and cycling. I prefer living and riding in Paris rather than in Salt Lake City suburbs. I feel safer on the roads here. To give Salt Lake its credit, the downtown area has been making great progress for a cycle safe city. This is a comparison of living in suburbs and now an urban area, which I think is the main contributing factor when comparing the two. I do feel that cycling in lycra and commuting is more for the everyman here where as in Utah it is older, well to do men. Again, commuting in Paris and other urban areas makes much more sense than a suburb filled Salt Lake valley.

Cycling in Nice is a dream. The city center itself is nothing amazing and can get very congested, but it's a sight to see all the clubs out on Sunday mornings on the Promenade. And of course the rides out of Nice are out of this world.

Cycling in Haarlem and Amsterdam is a dream. I felt like I had died and gone to a heaven where cyclists (women, men, and children), cars, and pedestrians all live in harmony.

These are my experiences I've had. I like living and riding my bike in Europe and in an urban area. I think that it is a fair discussion to have. I think that cities and people around the world can learn from each other's positive experiences with cycling. It's important to be aware of generalisations that can be easy to make.

Instead of "Amazing difference in attitudes towards bicycling in Europe and the US" a more constructive conversation would be "Great Places to Ride a Bike & Why vs. Not So Great Places to Ride a Bike & Why". But that wouldn't be the catchy clickbait title that willpetras wanted now would it? And also this is the internet.