macteacher

Hi all, i know Denver has a pretty good bike culture. In fact, i've heard it's a cyclists haven. I'm wondering if anyone knows how Denver was able to convert itself from a car oriented city to one that is bike friendly.

I want to know what the obstacles were,
How were they overcome?

What about cost? What about political will?

If Denver was able to do it, then I'd like to think other cities can as well. Just want to know 'how' it was done.


Thanks

DataJunkie

Sorry to say it but Denver is still a car oriented city. It tends to do a better job at tolerating cycling and encouraging it somewhat.
Even though the city government does a decent job many of the residents do not share that view.

I am not saying denver is bad for cycling but it sure is not a cycling utopia. Portland seems to do a better job but still has issues with anti cycling residents from what I hear.

I wonder if one could call Boulder a cycling haven?

climbhoser

I think it came from the people who lived here. Denver isn't really known for being especially liberal, but with the access to the mountains it has attracted all sorts of people who are into the outdoors.

It's funny because I think this is an easy place to live in, but so many people think of it as being rugged and hardcore, with the altitude and the snowy winters (which aren't all that snowy), and the desert clime, too. So, the stigma is sticking from it's history: a gateway to the West.

When I lived in Michigan everybody had gone "out West" and they typically meant Colorado, and they typically came to ski or hike 14'ers.

That said, those types of people are going to be more into earth friendly enterprises and athletic ones as well.

I really think the bike boom happened with mountain biking. It was a fashion statement to own and ride a mountain bike, especially in Colorado, in the early to late 90's (still is, in some way). If you watch the industry, MTB sales have gone down while road bike sales have gone up. My opinion? Lance Armstrong. He made it fashionable and interesting and even acceptable to be a road cyclists.

So, we have athletic, outdoorsy, trendy people here that are driving the interest. The culture in downtown Denver has also taken on a sort of urban-chic atmosphere, with the coffee shop movement combined with hipster culture. They have embraced the bike as a symbol of their lifestyle, and Denver has embraced them especially because they're doing something athletic and outdoors (even if it's a fashion trend).

The interest is what drove the city to put in things like greenbelts and bike lanes...they were trying to attract the type of people that Denver attracts, but even moreso, and improve the quality of life for the types (many of the residents) that were already here.

I don't think it was top down, but bottom up. The way I see it, a city like Dallas or Atlanta would have a hard time doing the same because of the climate (Denver is very comfy most of the year for outdoor play) and because of the culture.

Trendiness is part of it, too. Grand Rapids, MI just started putting in bike paths and greenbelts everywhere. My first impression was that of shock, but I realize that it's a sign of the times and the majority of our consumer culture. Take Whole Foods and Starbucks for example.

Anyway, just my $.02

Good to see you somewhere other than ttips, mac!

climbhoser

with the IMBA in Boulder I would call it a cycling haven. However, now MTB allowed in the Boulder Open spaces makes it odd.

Colorado Springs houses a velodrome and many pro/olympic cyclists (Danny Pate and Mike Creed, to name a few).

Durango doesn't hurt either.

How about the fact that we're close to Moab, but we don't have an overwhelming Mormon culture (not that it's a bad thing ).

cyccommute 

DataJunkie and climbhoser make some valid points but they are missing some of the history that comes with what has gone on in Denver that has brought us to where we are.

Denver has always been a forward looking city. We were too far south and the mountains to the west were too rugged to make train travel practical but we got the railroad to come here anyway. A lot of Denver's magic has to do with the wealth that lies in the mountains to the west. Lots of people characterized Denver as a 'Cowtown'. Abilene, Dodge City and Chicago are 'cowtowns'. Denver was built on mining! And because of that there has aways been a willingness to embrace science to get the stuff out of the ground. Science means education and education means a higher standard of living which means people with time and money to pursue pastimes that involve the outdoors. Living on the porch of one of the greatest outdoors places in the world doesn't hurt either.

In the late 1800 and early 1900, Denver was a center for tuberculoses treatments. People came here for the dry clean air and being 'outside' became the norm. There is even a house style in Denver where the porch is integral to the house living space along with huge windows that can be opened to let the outside inside.

At about the same time we also had a visionary head of the Denver Parks department, George Cranmer. He wanted to make Denver into a city of parks and he succeeded spectacularly. We have hundreds of parks of all sizes within the city and the City and County of Denver even owns thousands more acres in the surrounding mountains. The parks are very important to the people of the area and, with the exception of Montebello, every neighborhood in Denver has at least one large park and several smaller ones.

Another piece of the puzzle was the 1965 flood of the Platte River. Denver has always had flood problems with either the Platte or Cherry Creek. Sudden thunderstorms can send walls of water down those rivers that have nearly wiped out the city. Cherry Creek was tamed with a reservoir before 1965 but the Platte wasn't. The Platte flooded to record levels then, taking out bridges, houses, and business all along its run through Denver. When the waters drained away, Joe Shoemaker had the vision to reclaim the land with an open space that wouldn't be built on to avoid the destruction again. Thus was born the Platte River Greenway. In the first few years (probably 10), it wasn't anything special. It had a park at the confluence of Cherry Creek and the Platte and stretched a few miles in either direction. But as the years went by, it stretched further and further. Cherry Creek already was entrenched through the city and was easy enough to add a bike path along the bottom. Other municipalities along the Platte started to hook into the Greenway and to send spurs east and west along their drainages. By the mid90's the Greenway stretched from well over 40 miles from north to south and had dozens of other trails taking off from it. There are literally hundreds of miles of trails within the Metro area and more being added all the time.

With all that mileage available, people just started to ride. And, as climbhoser said, we are an outdoorsy athletic bunch of people. When you have 300 days of sunshine a year, 11 inches of annual precipitation that mostly occurs in 20 minute rainstorms of ferocious intensity, winters where the temperatures may be cold once in a while but you can have January days in the 70s, where summers may hit 100 F but the humidity falls to single digits, why wouldn't you ride?

Can it be repeated elsewhere? It's kind of hard to bottle lightning but you can always try!

bkrownd

Never. Denver is road rage central.

Bicyclists in/around Denver are mostly posers and weekenders, not the type that will be on a bike to commute or run errands. Boulder is full of the "weekend athlete" sort that puts lots of miles on their AWD Subaru during the week, and pumps up their egos with ultramarathons on the weekend. I didn't encounter many people serious about utility cycling or bike commuting in either Denver or Boulder, taken as a fraction of the overall population. Sorry, but I gotta be brutally honest.

Nevertheless the old streetcar grid of East Denver around Park Hill was a great place to live if you want to bike everywhere. Boulder is a very mixed bag - the traffic jams and fast traffic make cycling around rush hour times a major headache if you aren't going somewhere that's on the established bike paths.

DataJunkie

<-- from washington state. Has lived here for 8 years. Hence the lack of history.

That history lesson was quite interesting.

For the past couple years I have found it odd that Denver owns land in the mountains.
Is it often that a city owns land completely separate from said city?

climbhoser

BTW, probably mroe people on bike in Portland (hippies) and the Twin Cities (who knows why?) than in Denver.

What's so surprising to me about Denver is how many folks, even if they're only commuters, are on incredibly nice bikes. I don't see many true, commuter rigs. In the Twin Cities and Portland it seems like more people are on townies, cruisers, commuters, etc., more like Amsterdam.

Denver is jocks looking for extra ride time, IMHO.

bkrownd

It's fairly common when it comes to issues of water supply.

cyccommute 

That's over stating it quite a bit. I've ridden here for 30 years and had very few run-ins with people in cars...both in them or on a bike. I've never had anything thrown at me and I wouldn't say that people are overly rude towards bikes.

There are a lot of noncommuters but then I see more bicycle commuters all the time (I've even commented it). As a fraction of population, I'd say Denver...and Boulder...is probably about average when it comes to people bicycle commuting. Many more people commute to and in downtown then out in the suburbs but that's to be expected. With 3 colleges (and about 50,000 students) in the middle of town, you see a lot of bicycle traffic around there.

There is no organization of what bicycle commuters that exist here, however. I kind of see them as worms - you know they are there but you have to dig a lot to find them

cyccommute 

I think it's pretty unique. You have lots of cities that own water rights and may have a reservoir or two but to own land outside of the city without annexing to that land is not too common. I won't go into the Poundstone Amendment, however

bkbrouwer

I have to throw out that Minneapolis, MN is a very bike oriented city. I moved here a little more than a year ago and have been very happily surprised at the orientation toward cycling. Someone told me the other day that Minneapolis is second only to Portland for designated bike trails and lanes.

I think the key for a bike friendly city is liberal politics.

bkrownd

I wasn't trying to imply that. I had no particular problem on a bike there. I meant it's a very automobile oriented state and the sprawl, traffic density, tension and competition is very high. Colorado freeways are the fastest and most congested I've ever been on. It doesn't seem like the masses there will embrace bike commuting anytime soon. The good news is if you live in central Denver you can ignore the sprawl and traffic congestion and biking is pretty nice. The bus system used to be pretty good, too.

macteacher

Thanks for the responses folks. I'm involved with my own cities cycling committee but their progress is slow. I've e-mailed my local government representative and to this date, he has avoided providing me with a written response as to why we have such poor facilities for cyclists. When I asked the council the biggest problem was money. So i'm just trying to understand what other cities have done and how they overcame the resistance. Once again today I was cut off and honked at and I don't deserve to treated like that while on the road. Bike lanes are better for the drivers and for riders.

DataJunkie

Of course, the topic of bike lanes is a bit heated at times. To be honest, I do not care if a bike lane exists or not. It may be beneficial for novice riders to get them cycling.
I think sharrows make more sense. Possibly cheaper to mark as well.
Oh and Denver has this awesome bike route map:
https://www.denvergov.org/Bicycle_Pro...9/Default.aspx

Simply signing bike routes helps greatly. I love to follow Denver's when exploring since it takes a bit of the guess work out. Plus, a good chunk of my commute is on various bike routes. Tis a very nice thing to have. Maybe Denver is better than I made it out to be and perhaps I need to move to somewhere else to truly appreciate it.

HiYoSilver

You could substitute any US city for "Denver". With the spring weather I'm seeing more cyclists out. Guess what the number one complaint is: no safe place to store the bike while at work or running errands. Until some sort of bike locker is available everywhere there are handicaps parking spots, you won't see many commuters or errand riders. I would love to ride for errand, but no way I'm going to chain my bike to a post.

I've never seen road rage here. You want road rage, try a congested area like SF.

bmclaughlin807

nope... no utility cycles here in Denver:


We certainly wouldn't be caught out in less than perfect weather:





We'd NEVER think of bike commuting in the winter:


And certainly not ever run errands on a bike:


And yes... there are a LOT more bike commuters this spring than last spring. And the majority of the new commuters that I've talked to have told me that they started because of gas prices.

papaelf

I have also seen an increase in cyclists. I don't think it is just because of spring, or an increased awareness on my part. I think there are just more cyclist out on the streets.

girljen

The bus system is awesome if you're trying to get between central Denver and somewhere on a major thoroughfare.

I lived vehicle-free for about two years, relying on nothing but public transportation and my own two feet. For the first year, I lived in Aurora (three routes within walking distance), then I moved to Wheat Ridge (also three routes within walking distance, one of them VERY useful; short ride to a park-n-ride and a major transfer station; direct route to downtown).

Trying to live in an outlying area, or go anywhere off a major artery, can be very difficult.

shuttoj

I agree with you that Colorado freeways are fast and can be congested at times. However, compared to these metro areas I think Denver compares pretty favorably:

* Orlando
* Houston
* Pretty much everything within 20 miles of San Francisco

And these are just the areas I've personally spent time in.

Sounds like its been awhile since you've been in the area. They've put up a couple of new light rail lines in the last few years, and there's a new line stretching from Denver to Longmont via US-36 in the works. I see lots of growth potential for people who get tired of driving their car to and from the light rail station every day.

I know people who bike commute into downtown from Lakewood, Broomfield, and Littleton on a regular basis, so you don't have to be in central Denver to be a successful bike commuter.

Finally, cycocommute has a great point that's relevant to this thread: Denverites are blessed by having two rivers that slice through the heart of the city, making it a no-brainer to add bike paths along the way. I've seen other cities use old rail lines for the same thing, but without something like that constructing dedicated paths costs takes more time and costs much more $$$.

jamesdenver

bmclaughlin807 that's a great photoset love it.

Anyway I live in the Congress Park neighborhood of Denver just east of downtown. I commute to work most days (9 miles,) and do most of my errands around town by bike. I have Downtown, Cherry Creek shopping area, restaurants on Colfax and uptown (17th ave,) and South Broadway all within 3 miles - and getting to Colorado Blvd (Super Target, Best Buy, and other big box stores,) is a breeze from my house. I just returned from Gart Sports on Broadway, my bank and mailbox store in Cherry Creek, and stopped at the insanely crowded Whole Foods for some dinner - all on my bike - with a brief rainstorm on an otherwise great sunny but windy day.

Last weekend my other half and I dressed up and went to see an orchestra by bike, and the next morning had brunch at the Mercury Cafe by bike - and Sunday night I was at a bar on South Broadway til midnight and rode home without any worries of raging drunken motorists.

Denver also has some excellent bike routes - which aren't just along trails and MUPs, but routed along actual wide gridded streets which make it excellent for commuters and practical day to day cycling.

Outside of the city towards the exurbs, -i.e. Highlands Ranch and southeast Aurora might as well be the same as Houston. Except for some great recreational trails its the same superarterials and tract homes you find everywhere else - which don't make it a fun place for commuting or utility cycling. BUT adjacent to the sprawl you find cities like Boulder, Golden, and Fort Collins have local governments with a forward eye towards cycling.

Denver isn't Amsterdam, but I feel safe, comfortable, and accepted riding in the areas I do - which include most parts of the city except the extreme suburbs and exurbs. Its rare that I get an angry "get out of the road" honk - in fact the only time I get honked at is if its my fault for doing something stupid.

My link to my commute is below if you want to see whats its like biking home from a business park in the southeast area (tech center,) to my home in an older neighborhood.

jamesdenver

Seriously? Is your bike made of gold? My bike is valuable to me too, which is why I carry two locks. But I have no problem locking it to a bike rack, post, parking meter, railing, or any other secure element like the rest of the world does - or at least the other utility riders in Denver.

Having a complicated locker/key at every retail establishment would take up way too much space, (bike is supposed to be easy and SAVE space,) and just be more trouble than its worth. Plus I like seeing different peoples bikes.

p.s. The elderly lady at King Soopers/9th Corona doesn't even lock her big clunky yellow basket laden Dutch cruiser. Say hello if you see her. She's originally from Germany is the best example of a utility cyclist I know in my 'hood. I haven't seen her lately because I've been going to the Cherry Creek Safeway, which unlike King Soopers actually has food on their shelves including the strawberry/banana Dannon yogurts that I like.

moore.sean

Good to read some of the history. I just got back on a bike six months ago as an experiment to prove to myself I could conceivably live car free and say "NO, thanks!" to burning petroleum. Silly me, I got hooked! I'm probably doing 90% of our household errands by bicycle and am flirting with the idea of changing careers (back to the world of Office Space) so I can commute too.

Anyway, I was wondering why I read so many horror stories about raging cagers and here I am, mixing it up in traffic and being accepted, even accommodated by the drivers around me. After reading a lot of the Copenhagen cycle blog I'm starting to think it's because so many cycle here at least a little so they have the empathy necessary to wait a couple seconds to pass or make sure not to pull out in the road too far when a bike is coming.

climbhoser

Denver and the Front Range were, at one time, ranked #1 road rage capital in the US

It's true, though it's a vote system among a handful of people, as something like that is INCREDIBLY hard to quantify.

T-Rex and the trains have really opened up I-25 through the city, except during rush hour, but even then it's light yeras beyond what it has come from.

I've spent quite a bit of time in San Fran and have to say that while it's congested and folks drive fast, there is nowhere near the rage levels seen on the Front Range in the '90s. don't equate speediness with rage.

That said, the light rail system has made it possible for me to efficiently get from South Parker to downtown Denver to go to museums, the zoo, shop, dine, etc... Without that we would most definitely drive to get there. We picked Parker because it was close enough to work for cycle commuting, however, albeit on the extreme end of it (17 miles, one way). I can ride 5 miles South to Castlewood Canyon and cross one road. Or I can ride North and end up at the flahship REI downtown, and only cross a handful of roads. Really cool.

HiYoSilver

Not yet . It just not worth the hassle and risk of getting it damaged.
It's not just the bike, it's the stuff on the bike and the hassles of chaining up bike.

Lights - $700
Cyclometer $150
Saddle - $100
Helmet - $50
Shoes - $100
windbreaker - $100
Mirrors - $50
Travel trunk - $30
Repairs supplies - $70
Bike - $1200
Tires - $130

Now why should I risk losing any of that for a 1-2 mile trip to King Soops, Home Depot, Office Max, Kmart, Blockbuster?

And this is with the cheap bike. I'm thinking of ordering a custom bike, and there will be even fewer places I would leave that bike.






A bike is supposed to save space? Since when. Even if granted your theory, a 6plex bike locker easily fits in smaller than 2 parking spaces. Where's the trouble? If you don't provide safe places to store bikes, they won't be used for short runs.