Best city in US for bicycle paths/hassle free commuting.

[Dr Kickstand]

Hi, I was wondering what is the best city in the US for bike communting. The city that provides the most bicycle facilities such as bicycle lanes, locking facilities and general bike rider safety. I know in Europe, Amersterdam is best in all of the above,

DrK

 

[thebeatcatcher]

As far as the midwest is concerned (at least in Indiana), it'd be more like a best of the worst list.

However, I did just develop a new commuting route that follows about 12mi of bike path/greenway, about 70% of the total route. I just happened to luck out.

 

[NickInNC]

there was actually a posting about his on yahoo news I believe and they said it was Denver. I grew up their and out of all the mjor citites I have been to it is the most cycling friendly city, in a close second I would have to say Vancouver, B.C..

 

[slcbob1]

DC is pretty darn good.

Kudos to Rails to Trails and WABA (at www.waba.org).

 

[Florida Biker]

I hear Davis, Ca., just outside of Sacramento is one of the best in the country.

 

[eltaito]

Santa Barbara CA!

 

[ndbiker]

Hi, I was wondering what is the best city in the US for bike communting. The city that provides the most bicycle facilities such as bicycle lanes, locking facilities and general bike rider safety. I know in Europe, Amersterdam is best in all of the above,

DrK

For bike paths, Dayton, OH has over 200 miles of connected, paved rail trails and is constantly expanding. It does not have an infrastructure designed for commuting.

 

[scottehrm]

probally not one of the best but east liberty, Pa. i always drive threw there and most veicles in the town have bike racks on there cars. and theres a nice race track there too! but its a bad area with violence and crime..... so yeah! haha

 

[Nukuhiva]

Albuquerque, NM is one of the bike-friendliest cities in the US.

At least according to Martin Chavez, mayor........

In the real world, it is about the same as anywhere else in North America, everything is designed pretty much exclusively for cars and cyclists are somewhere between odd ducks and targets.

I use bike trails whenever possible, but they do tend to lure you into a false sense of security, bike lanes where they exist (and aren't being used as parking spots, turn lanes, trash dumps, etc.) and quiet side streets as much as possible.
Whenever I have no choice but to use a busier street (2 lanes +, posted speed limit 35 +, which in reality means 55+), I tend to stay on the sidewalk, which is technically illegal but tolerated.
Tolerated is better than dead.
And dead you will be if you insist on your legal right of taking up as much room as a car in traffic........

Granted, there's a lot of cyclists here who have no regard whatsoever for any type of traffic laws, regulations or signs (just like the drivers), so it's a sort of hate-hate relationship, not bound to get better any time soon.

 

[caityrosey]

Madison WI has won some awards as well. Outside Magazine ranked it Best Road Biking Town in American in 2006. Of course the quality of biking tends to go down in the winter.

 

[TheBugGuy]

According to the Leauge of American Bicyclists, Davis, California is indeed the most bicycle-friendly community in the US. It's the only city to recive a platinum rating.

I live in Corvallis, Oregon, which is one of seven cities to recieve a gold rating.

Full list here.

 

[Chavez]

Madison WI has won some awards as well. Outside Magazine ranked it Best Road Biking Town in American in 2006. Of course the quality of biking tends to go down in the winter.

What, was it tough to pedal through the 100 inches of snow this year?

 

[caityrosey]

What, was it tough to pedal through the 100 inches of snow this year?

Chickening out was probably the best option...without spiked tires anyway.

 

[Chavez]

Chickening out was probably the best option...without spiked tires anyway.

At least on the days it didn't snow it was bitter cold.

I wussed out all winter too. Time to get back in the saddle, though.

 

[n1ey]

For bike paths, Dayton, OH has over 200 miles of connected, paved rail trails and is constantly expanding. It does not have an infrastructure designed for commuting.

I didn't know this. Is Dayton rolling back on the bus system, tho?

Boston is finally putting bike racks on the buses maintained in the garages NORTH of town. I have seen few people with bikes on the bus system.

Quite frankly, it is very hard to bicycle into Boston. From the north you have to cross the river. From the south you have to cross the Neponset or go through the Blue Hills. You have some tricky intersections and some tough neighborhoods to ride.

It would not be so bad if you live on Mass Ave in the South End and you worked at MGH or BW.

If you lived 20 miles south of Boston then forget commuting into town.

Bill

 

[Ike90]

If you look at the list linked above, you'll notice that most of the smaller bike friendly "cities" are college towns.

Portland Oregon is probably the best bicycling city in the US among those with a population of 500k or more. Not surprisingly, it also has one of the best mass transit systems in the U.S.

Portland is now adding "Bike Boxes" to dangerous intersections, much to the anger and chagrin of drivers.

My personal feeling is that attempting to remove bicycles from traffic by constructing separate paths for them is the wrong way to build a bike friendly city. It only reinforces the notion among drivers that bicycles don't belong on the street. They do.

PDX Bike boxes

 

[ndbiker]

I didn't know this. Is Dayton rolling back on the bus system, tho?

Boston is finally putting bike racks on the buses maintained in the garages NORTH of town. I have seen few people with bikes on the bus system.

Quite frankly, it is very hard to bicycle into Boston. From the north you have to cross the river. From the south you have to cross the Neponset or go through the Blue Hills. You have some tricky intersections and some tough neighborhoods to ride.

It would not be so bad if you live on Mass Ave in the South End and you worked at MGH or BW.

If you lived 20 miles south of Boston then forget commuting into town.

Bill

Dayton does have bike racks on the front of it's buses. I have never used them as my commute is a whopping 2.5 miles through mostly neighborhoods. I have seen a handful of people use them but rarely have I seen more than one bike on a bus.