Bikable cities...?

[TheBostonian]

Do you live in a bikable city? Why or why not?

Where I live, Boston-Cambridge-Somerville, it is something of a bicycle utopia with a large, flat urban area free of highways. I am surrounded by bike shops and I think the large student population adds bikes to the road.

[ZachariahDaMan]

I LOVE biking and I definately live in a bikable city. I live in Canton near Detroit, Michigan. Along just about every major road there is sidewalks but on a lot of them you wouldn't have much room if you wanted to ride in the street. I really like to ride to various downtowns and abandoned places.

[Recchia]

Although I don't see it being very bikable, lots of people bike in Providence, especially to the train station. Every morning there would be at least 25 bikes parked out in front of it.

[designspace]

Although I don't live there, I was lucky enough to spend a summer in Montreal. It's the most bikeable city I've seen in North America. Abundant bike paths made cyclying a pleasure.

[UrbanElement]

Denver Colorado. And if you really want an amazing bike path, check out Glenwood Canyon near Aspen.

Another nice bike city is Marquette, MI up along Lake Superior.

[Recchia]

Denver Colorado. And if you really want an amazing bike path, check out Glenwood Canyon near Aspen.

Another nice bike city is Marquette, MI up along Lake Superior.

Yeah I heard that Denver has one of (if not the) largest network of bikeways in America, right?

[TheGerbil]

Pittsburgh is becoming increasingly bike friendly. Sadly we don't have many bike lanes on our roads, but we do have an ever-growing network of trails. And I see lots of people on bikes every day (at least when the weather is decent).

[bobliocatt]

The beach communities of metro Jacksonville are a popular spot for bike riding. Mainly because there's a 10 mile stretch of fairly dense residential and pedestrian friendly commercial areas, as well as a large oceanfront urban park (with bike paths) running parallel to the Atlantic Ocean from southern Duval County, all the way up to Mayport Naval Station (mouth of St. Johns River), that's not interrupted by any road over 2 lanes wide.

[teshadoh]

Denver

Colorado Springs

Eugene / Salem OR (forgot which one or both)

Those are some cities that come to mind that either have a lot of bike lanes or bike trails (including offroad). NOt surprisingly one of those cities has been in my mind for a few years for relocation. Also - larger cities such as Chicago & NYC have a great deal of respect for bicycles, at least for bike lanes & as NYC has a large bike trail network. Unfortunately most of the sunbelt cities are very dangerous for street biking & lack a large number of bike trails.

Lakelander is on to one thing that is more common along the coast than inland, bike trails are more common.

[K6-III]

Portland, Oregon.

As above, I agree that Monteal is cyclist heaven, during the summer months. (one of the reasons I'll be moving there...)

[Steve.Erlsten]

I started biking as my main transportation while I lived in Gainesville, FL. It

[warwickland]

ft. collins is also a great bike town, pretty much all of the front range cities are bicycle friendly to some extent with maybe the exception of pueblo, in which i havent spent much time.

kansas city is most definitely not. it makes it worse that the city is sitting on a couple million dollars for creation of bike lanes, etc and is not doing much.

[colin]

No one has mentioned Seattle, which, despite the hills, has a large number of bikes and is very bike-friendly.

Santa Barbara, mostly because of UCSB, has an enormous amount of bikes.

Austin, in its inner-city core, is very bike-friendly.

Tucson, also due to the large university, is typically bike-friendly in the inner-city, especially around the campus area. Bike routes are clearly marked, many major streets have bike lanes, and drivers do generally watch out for bikers. There are certainly some improvements that need to be made, but I've always felt comfortable biking here.

[*Sweetkisses*]

Philadelphia is definitely one of the most biker friendly cities in the U.S. Theres a trail called Lincoln Drive which leads into Kelly Drive which stretches for miles and it leads into the art museum area. Then of course theres fairmount park which is also a great place for bike riding.

[DigitalSky]

I think Charlotte is car-oriented, for the most part, and some residents unfortunately have an "I-hate-bikers" attitude

[bryson662001]

Philadelphia has encouraged bikes in the central core which was a big mistake because the narrow, traffic clogged streets and narrower then average pedestrian clogged sidewalks have no room for them and people are getting hurt. Every day you hear about another pedestrian getting run over. The mayor is a fittness nut but is out of touch with reality. It doesn't help that 99 % of bike riders ignore all traffic rules.

[Jacob Norlund - KC]

I've found my hometown of Duluth, MN to be very bikeable. Rural and newly suburbanized areas often contain large shoulders on major routes. The city's streets are very bikeable due to either low traffic or sufficient space on the side of the street (I don't use the sidewalk that much).

[goodbye]

Greenville, SC has a large and growing interest in making the City more bike-friendly. We already have many bike lanes throughout downtown and some in the suburbs. George Hincapie (USPS/Discovery Channel team) is a Greenville resident and has been very active in the local cycling scene. Hincapie's good friend Lance Armstrong has visited Greenville twice in the last month and encouraged large groups of cyclers to continue the advancement of biker-friendly places. The mountains are just a few minutes away and there are countless mountain biking trails scattered all over them.

[goodbye]

Greenville's proximity to the foothills and mountains of Upstate South Carolina have paid off in a HUGE way. The USPRO Cycling Championship, held in Philadelphia for the past 21 years, is moving to Greenville in 2006! The event is the apex of cycling races in the United States and will draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to Greenville around Labor Day weekend.

[patrickom]

Xenia, Ohio (near Dayton) is the center of a system to which few in this country compare. It currently stretches from a couple miles outside of Cincinnati (expansion into the city underway) to Dayton, Urbana and the outer Columbus suburbs.

That means Xenia has a slew of bike shops. However, it lacks bike lanes (and, in many places, sidewalks), so the biking is more recreational than practical. A lot of Dayton people like to use the system on weekends.

My original hometown of Lansing, MI has a smaller but more integrated system. Bike lanes connect to the Lansing/East Lansing River Trail, which has a set of impressive converted railroad (and new) bridges that give it unimpeded right of way. The system isn't huge (I think it's about 12 miles right now), but it's fairly large for an urban setup, and goes where people want to go (including links to the MSU campus, homes, several parks and three shopping districts.)

As for Bowling Green, OH, whence I type, there is a 13-mile trail on the south end of town that most BGSU students don't know about. It's a pity we don't use it more. Maybe if it went to Findlay or Toledo (or even just somewhere near our campus, for that matter), instead of dead-ending in North Baltimore.

Nonetheless, it's a nice asset.

[Minneapolitan]

The Twin Cities area is known for its bike trails. We have the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway parkway, which is a 50-mile route around the city with adjoining bike trails. There are three trails that pass through Minneapolis: Cedar Lake Trail, Kenilworth Trail and the Midtown Greenway. There is also the Southwest Regional Trail (future LRT), which is 27 miles, the Gateway State Trail in northern St Paul, which 18 miles long, the Minnetonka Loop, which is a 40-mile circut in the western suburbs, and Luce Line State Trail is, which is 63 miles in length. Five of the Hennepin Parks also have paved recreation trails.

[goodbye]

Greenville's proximity to the foothills and mountains of Upstate South Carolina have paid off in a HUGE way. The USPRO Cycling Championship, held in Philadelphia for the past 21 years, is moving to Greenville in 2006! The event is the apex of cycling races in the United States and will draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to Greenville around Labor Day weekend.

Since this news was released yesterday, I've been hearing several sources touting Greenville as, "the cycling community of all cycling communities." I guess it rightfully deserves this praise now that the U.S. cycling champion will be crowned here each year.

[goodbye]

George Hincapie wrote an editorial for The Greenville News describing Greenville's current and future status in the cycling World.

Very Good Reading

Also, Bike Magazine ranks Greenville as one of the top five places to live and ride in the nation.

[UrbaniDesDev]

Pittsburgh has been at the forefront of bike trail development. It has so far added 18 miles inside the city limits of bike trails along the riverfronts. There are 7.6 miles yet to go to complete what might be the most comprehensive plan in the country. It has turned brownfields, abandoned rail lines and steep riverbanks into natural preserves and motor free zones along it's riverbanks. There are 15 miles planned extending deep into the neighborhoods.

The Three Rivers Heritage Trail is also lined with signage and plaques marking historical sites and events, such as Washingtons Crossing etc.

It connects to the Great Allegheny Passage. This will stretch 152 miles from Pittsburgh to Cumberland Maryland. It will connect there to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal trail. This creates a 400 mile motor free zone stretching from Pittsburgh to Washington DC.

[sean]

Definately not Winston-Salem, NC. Not for lack of effort on the part of the cycling community...

We, (tax payers of Forsyth County) just shelled out 60K for a bike plan. It was quite a slick and formulaic program presented by a consulting group. The cycling community is frustrated because we get nothing tangible from the 'plan'. I seriously think the consulting group did a find and replace routine on some older plan documents from another communities' 'bike plan'... Thats right... 60K!?