gourmetco

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Hi. I am new to this forum. My husband and I currently live in Colorado and feel our town and state are very accomodating to bicyclists (we road ride). We have bike lanes on 85 % of our streets and enforced laws. Unfortunately we have to move in the near future due to a career move and are looking for bike friendly towns to focus on. If you live in a bike friendly area can you please tell us about your town? We need to select an area and then start job searching. We are athletic and are looking for a town that accomodates such a lifestyle. Can any of you help? I don't know where to even start looking. Thanks a lot.

rajman

IMHO calgary is a bike friendly town for recreation - lots of scenic paths, etc.

Toronto is much more bike friendly for a commuter - most of the downtown streets are easily cyclable and the intersections are safe and straightforward.

not sure about anywhere else.

womble

Am I correct in reading between the lines that you mean "bike friendly towns in the US"? Or are you considering something a little more global?

roughrider504

On the west bank of New Orleans they have this really long bike path that roadies like and for mountianbikers they have alot of woods that you can sneak in and ride :]

Grasschopper

Well I believe I live in a bike friendly town but the problem is when you get outside of town which is pretty quickly. Once you are out in the hills the rednecks throw beer bottles at you out of their trucks and spin their tires as they nearly run you off the road. I had a Sunfire heading at me at about 95 MPH on a chip seal country road (not any place I would do 60+ MPH) a couple months ago...he didn't try to hit me but for sure he was trying to buzz me.

caloso

There was a lenghthy thread about this recently. I think AlisonOh was the original poster. You might do a search.

That said, Sacramento is a pretty friendly bike town. We're no Davis, but then who is?

kuan

Minneapolis is quite bike friendly. There aren't many flats, there aren't many super long hills.

jmbranum

No one will believe me but midtown-Oklahoma City (between I-40 & I-44/NW Expressway) is very bike friendly IF you are a vehicular cyclist. There very few bike lanes, but there are lots through low-traffic residential streets that run parallel to the high-traffic main streets. Once you know you're way around, it is a piece of cake to get to just about anywhere.

The big plus is that motorists here are pretty friendly.

seely

Hell No

Guest

Arlington, VA is so bike friendly I just can't get over it. The people here are incredibly nice also. There's a very strong bikeforums cycling community here too. The only caveat I would say is that it's expensive out here. Be prepared to pay for the good life.

Koffee

DieselDan

On a scale of 1-10, Beaufort is a 7, even with scant few bike lanes/paths.

Hilton Head is a 4, even with 70 miles of so called bike paths.

skiahh

The Pacific Northwest - Puget Sound area in particular - is very bike and outdoorsy/athletic friendly. I've been in Newport, RI for almost a year now and am amazed at how friendly cars are to bikes on the road, though the trails are a drive for me to get to when I want to MTB.

I lived in the DFW area for a couple of years and if it weren't for some nice paved bike paths around the area, I wouldn't have ridden a mile on the road bike; drivers there are nuts and NOT bike friendly.

You didn't say what your career move is for and if that is restricting you. If you're just up and quitting for your own lifestyle/health, obviously you have no restrictions and good on you, but if you're moving and are limited by career fields to certain geographic areas, it would help us in offering opinions if you gave us those restrictions.

TrailDogger

I live in Cincinnati! We have a number of paved rail trails and other paved trails in our area. Check out www.miamivalleytrails.org. The best trail is the Little Miami Scenic Trail which is 72 miles long and runs along the Little Miami River for most of its length. Hope this helps.

Hunter

Blacksburg Va is very nice for cyclists.

Velo Vol 

Wow. Knoxville, Tennessee has a total of four miles of bike lanes. Suffice it to say it's probably not the most bike-friendly place in America. But there are other (non-cycling) reasons to live here. And the cycling is pretty good, too, once you adapt to the road/traffic conditions.

sprcow

Detroit and Detroit metro area is NOT bike friendly for the most part I just started getting into the cycling craze, and I reallly want to start using the bike I just ordered for commuting, but we have no biking lanes, small shoulders (if any) and pretty nasty traffic all around. I only have a 6 mile jaunt to the office, but no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to figure out any way to do it without spending most of it on the sidewalk or trying to ride on roads that I just don't think I'll feel comfortable on during rush hour.

gourmetco

Hi Skiahh,

Thanks for the message. Basically I am trying to find a few nice areas to live and then look for a job. My career is in Health & Safety so the market is looking good for me now. If I move just for a job, but the town sucks, I will be miserable. I would rather look for a good town and then do a job search. It may seem kinda backwards, but it is important for me to live in a friendly, safe, clean, eco-conscience area, that is somewhat affordable. Cali is out due to cost of living, but I know there are some really nice places that are still not outrageously expensive. By the way what is DFW?

Cheryl

Guest

I think DFW= Dallas Fort Worth... Texas.

As a health and safety inspector, you could always live out here in Arlington or Alexandria, VA and commute into DC. I'm sure there are plenty of jobs out here with your name on it!

Koffee

Bikewer

St. Louis is a mixed bag. We have a very active cycling scene here, and quite a lot of facilities. Good MTB trails either in or near the St. Louis County area, and quite a lot of "bike trails" in the local parks, including the well-used 5+ mile course around Forest park.

Of course, serious riders have to dodge dog-walkers, kids on big-wheels, and so forth.

There are a number of well-established road routes as well.

On the down-side, there are very few bike-friendly commuter routes, and buisnesses and corporations have little in the way of facilities for bike commuters.

Maelstrom 

I should say so. I would bet 80% of the population rides in some way. Dh, Xc, Road or any variation thereof. Bike trails (roadie style) going everywhere and bike trails (xc style) in excess (couple of hundred or varrying lengths and difficulties). An entire mountain dedicated to downhillers with 45 plus trails to itself. That plus a local gov't that supports every biker, Events, fundraising, bike advocacy group etc...

I would say a definate yes here.

Terex

"On a scale of 1-10, Beaufort is a 7, even with scant few bike lanes/paths."
So I guess that would make it the "Beaufort Scale", right?

tomcryar

St. petersburg, FL is like the wild, wild west of bicycling...........

russdaz

We the cyclists over here have to share most roads with the cars, most drives see us an anoyance to who shouldnt be on the road, tight twisty lanes, they force there way through gaps that arent there. lost count of the number of wing mirrors iv knock off cause they drove to close.

bernmart

For all that it's part of greater LA, I find Pasadena to be quite bike-friendly. No bike trails as such, but lots of bike routes, and quite a few streets with clearly-marked bike lanes. I haven't yet had a bad incident with a car or truck driver, once I make sure that they see me. Lousy traffic during rush hour, though.

lws

One thing occurred to me when I noticed people posting on another thread about how many different locks they use on their bicycle.

Usually, I lock my bike up with the cheapest POS 2-buck cable lock you ever saw. I bet you could cut the cable with a butter knife. Sometimes, I go into a store and just lean it up against the outside wall and don't lock it at all. One day, I had no lock, so when I went to work I tied it to the rack with a piece of string. In 14 years I've never had it stolen.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't say that my city is particularly bike-friendly on account of miles of striped bike lanes and sidepaths, but surely not having to carry twenty pounds of chain and padlocks must count for something?