Santa Cruz is arguably the #1 bike town in US

[Cycle America/N]

[[ This message was both posted and mailed: see the "To," "Cc," and "Newsgroups" headers for
details. ]]

As what is the smallest multi city county in the state of CA, San Francisco is a city and a
county, Santa Cruz has, most arguably, the most intense concentration of bicycle activity than
anywhere in the world. As per the Santa Cruz Bike Scene http://www.bikeroute.com/SantaCruzBikes ,
Santa Cruz has:

- More bike shops (11) per capita (52,000) than anywhere in US
- More national bike businesses (13) than any city in the US
- Full time city bike coordinator
- More Miles of bike lanes per mile of road than anywhere in US
- Most beautiful bike roads in the world within minutes
- County sponsored electric bike program
http://www.ecoact.org/transportation/assets/ebike_program.pdf
- Home to largest electric assisted bike store in the US! Electric Sierra Cycles
http://www.electricrecbikes.com
- 2nd largest Bike to Work program in the US http://www.bike2work.com
- Home to many bike celebrities
- Active bicycle email list
- Home of National Bicycle Greenway http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com
- Home of Santa Cruz Hub http://www.santacruzhub.org which includes: People Power (model bike
advocacy group) Bike Church (model volunteer run bike repair) Ped Ex (model bicycle
delivery service)
- Virtual Tour of Santa Cruz http://www.BikeRoute.com/SantaCruz
- Most miles of mountain biking trails per mile of road than anywhere in the US
- Home of largest Greenway festival in the US - the Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Festival

Is there any disagreement to the above contention?? If you don't want to answer in this forum, my
email is [email protected]

MARTIN KRIEG: "Awake Again" Author c/o BikeRoute.com 79 & 86 TransAms, nonprofit Nat. Bicycle
Greenway CEO Ever wanted anything so bad U were willing to die for it? Really die? By moving thru
clinical death and reversing paralysis, *I saw God* when I answered that question.

 

[Matt O'Toole]

"Cycle America/Nat. Bicycle Greenway" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:170620031055074270%[email protected]...

<material extolling the cyccling virtues of Santa Cruz snipped>

> Is there any disagreement to the above contention?? If you don't want to answer in this forum, my
> email is [email protected]

No disagreement here. The problem is, making enough money to be able to live in Santa Cruz can
really cut into one's riding time.

Matt O.

 

[Jeremy Parker]

In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 20% of all journeys are made by bike. In Cambridge, England, it's 27%
[ref: European Commission, "cycling:the way ahead for towns and cities", 1999, see p27]

What's the figure for Santa Cruz?

It's how people vote with their wheels that counts, not how many bureuacrats are employed, or how
many miles of bike bantustans are built

Jeremy Parker

 

[Daniel Connelly]

Did we annex Amsterdam and Cambridge? The subject was the US.

Davis, CA often been considered as the most bike friendly town in the US, for transportation
cycling. My opinions on Santa Cruz relative to Davis are mixed. On one hand, Santa Cruz is clearly
preferably for recreational riding. The surrounding mountain roads are undisputably spectacular.
But, for example, riding from Santa Cruz to nearby Felton, whether via Hwy 9 or by Graham Hill Road,
is far from attractive to most cyclists due to high traffic volume and a high level of regional
hostility toward cyclists by motorists.

Transportation within Santa Cruz is better. But for a bike to be a real primary transportation
option, one needs to be able to get beyond the city boundaries, and not just on weekends.

Dan

Jeremy Parker wrote:
> In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 20% of all journeys are made by bike. In Cambridge, England, it's
> 27% [ref: European Commission, "cycling:the way ahead for towns and cities", 1999, see p27]
>
> What's the figure for Santa Cruz?
>
> It's how people vote with their wheels that counts, not how many bureuacrats are employed, or how
> many miles of bike bantustans are built
>
> Jeremy Parker

 

[John Serafin]

Daniel Connelly <[email protected]> writes:

>Did we annex Amsterdam and Cambridge? The subject was the US.

That is true, but the original poster did write: "Santa Cruz has, most arguably, the most intense
concentration of bicycle activity than anywhere in the world."

--
John P. Serafin | Operating a bicycle is more like driving than riding. jps at pobox com | Operating
an automobile is more like riding than driving.

 

[Bikerider7]

"Cycle America/Nat. Bicycle Greenway" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<170620031055074270%[email protected]>...
> [[ This message was both posted and mailed: see the "To," "Cc," and "Newsgroups" headers for
> details. ]]
>
> Santa Cruz has, most arguably, the most intense concentration of bicycle activity than anywhere in
> the world.

Sorry...even though SC is a great place to live and bike, it pales in comparison to other bike
friendly places outside the US. Many cities in Holland, for instance, have bike mode share
approaching 50%. I'm sure there are places in China where that figure is even higher.

But yes, by US standards Santa Cruz is definitely near the top of the list.

 

[Woogoogle]

> Is there any disagreement to the above contention?? If you don't want to answer in this forum, my
> email is [email protected]

You're right. Everyone move there, cause the traffic can't get much worse on Highway 1
through town...

 

[Fritz M]

"Cycle America/Nat. Bicycle Greenway" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Santa Cruz has, most arguably, the most intense concentration of bicycle activity than anywhere in
> the world.

World? I've seen more bicycles at a single train station in Tokyo than I have in all of California.

I'm exaggerating, but then so are you.

RFM

 

[Jef]

<Celebration and disagreement of SC gone>

Ya'll talk great about the cities that no one should even consider going by a motorized
transport. Of course a city where the winter temperature doesn't drop below room temp is going to
be good for bikes.

But what about cities where you actually have to BELIEVE in the bicycle way of life to ride? I speak
of Minneapolis. Dreadfully hot and humid summers (try biking in 100 degree 90% humidity) and
freezing cold, icy, snowy winters (again, biking in below zero hail/snow/sleet). Still, Minneapolis
has the second highest bike commute percentage of all metro areas in the US.

That's actual hard-core bike town. That's where the real people are.

Saying SC is better than Minneapolis is like saying rich people are better philantropists than the
low class family who scrounges their cupboards when it's time for the school food drive.

OK, you can now retort, sun living easy-street suckers. jef

 

[Daniel Connelly]

Jef wrote:
> (try biking in 100 degree 90% humidity)

Please, if you're going to throw numbers around, make them real. You're talking a 95+F
dewpoint. No way.

And 100 deg days are rare...

Typical global-warming-era year (hot temperatures made news):
http://www.goldcoastwx.com/minn_climo/YY200102.GIF

recorded records: http://www.goldcoastwx.com/minn_climo/mspmxmn.gif

Dewpoint numbers : http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/sultry_2001.htm

Okay, it gets hot. It gets humid. But be real. More like 90F, 61%: http://www.mcwar.org/humid.html

 

[Richard Brockie]

Cycle America/Nat. Bicycle Greenway wrote:
> <snip>

You can "argue" anything. Doesn't make it true.

--
R.

<> Richard Brockie "Categorical statements <> The tall blond one. always cause trouble." <>
[email protected]

 

[Jym Dyer]

=v= Nearly 15 years ago, _Nina's_Adventures_in_Santa_Cruz_ was a local weekly comic strip. One strip
depicted the many obstacles she faced when biking to pick up her paycheck. I especially recall the
magically disappearing/reappearing bike lanes. They're still there, last I looked. :^) <_Jym_

 

[Matthew Kriebel]

In article <[email protected]>,
Richard Brockie <[email protected]> wrote:

> Cycle America/Nat. Bicycle Greenway wrote:
> > <snip>
>
> You can "argue" anything. Doesn't make it true.

Still, I think Santa Cruz is the only place where you can be "squeezed" into the curb at a red light
by a dirty, smoking van with a "Nader for President" bumper sticker. Gotta give points for unique
circumstances.

 

[Tanya Quinn]

> As what is the smallest multi city county in the state of CA, San Francisco is a city and a
> county, Santa Cruz has, most arguably, the most intense concentration of bicycle activity than
> anywhere in the world. As per the Santa Cruz Bike Scene

I am a Canadian who worked in Santa Cruz for a summer before, and used a bicycle as my means of
transportation. Keep in mind this was 5 years ago, so things there may have changed since. The town
is very bike friendly in the sense that roads are wide, there are a huge number of bike lanes, and
the buses are equipped with bike racks. (This was useful once when I became ill while riding out of
town where the bus system still went)

However, my perception was that people there (and this may have changed) perceived the bicycle to be
a toy, to be used for recreation. The lanes and paths seemed to be well used for recreation
purposes, but there seemed to be few people using a bicycle to commute with. Almost all people still
used cars to go places within town (very short bikeable distances). I also didn't find there to be
much in the way of bike parking at various destinations. I'm in Toronto now where post and rings are
everywhere.

In my opinion, having a critical mass of cyclists (like Toronto does) makes a place much more bike
friendly than a city adding facilities. Motorized traffic gets used to and accepts sharing the road
with bicycles when there are enough of them. Unless everyone has traded in their car for a bicycle
in the past 5 years, I would hardly say Santa Cruz has the most intense concentration of cyclists
anywhere in the world, even though its a small town.

Tanya

 

[Jym Dyer]

> I think Santa Cruz is the only place where you can be "squeezed" into the curb at a red light by a
> dirty, smoking van with a "Nader for President" bumper sticker.

=v= Well, I was nearly doored in San Francisco, by the driver of a suddenly-stopped dirty van with
"Buy Organic"-type bumper stickers on it. And in Berkeley I was tailgated by a Volvo that had a "War
Is Not An Energy Policy" bumper sticker, which was covered with soot from a poorly-maintained (and
therefore oil-wasting (and thus war-promoting)) engine.

=v= The Bay Area is as special a place as Santa Cruz. <_Jym_>

Jym Dyer ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: __Q ::: [email protected] ::::::::::::::::: "My
other car is :: ==`\(s_ :: http://www.critical-mass.org/ :: also a bicycle." :: (_)/ (_) ::

"There should be 1,000 of you out there, like in San Francisco."

-- Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown,
to Oakland's Critical Mass

 

[J. Bruce Fields]

In article <[email protected]>, Jym Dyer <[email protected]> wrote:
>=v= Nearly 15 years ago, _Nina's_Adventures_in_Santa_Cruz_ was a local weekly comic strip. One
>strip depicted the many obstacles she faced when biking to pick up her paycheck. I especially
>recall the magically disappearing/reappearing bike lanes. They're still there, last I looked.
>:^) <_Jym_>

I remember it as having quite a bizarre assortment of bicycle facilities. (Are 2-way bike lanes on
one side of a two-way street really a good idea? Discuss.)

--Bruce Fields

 

[Stella Hackell]

John Serafin <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<ZaLHa.3283$%[email protected]>...

> Daniel Connelly <[email protected]> writes:
>
> >Did we annex Amsterdam and Cambridge? The subject was the US.
>
> That is true, but the original poster did write: "Santa Cruz has, most arguably, the most intense
> concentration of bicycle activity than anywhere in the world."

. . . whatever that means, in English.

Stella

 

[Don Freeman]

"Stella Hackell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> John Serafin <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<ZaLHa.3283$%[email protected]>...
>
> > Daniel Connelly <[email protected]> writes:
> >
> > >Did we annex Amsterdam and Cambridge? The subject was the US.
> >
> > That is true, but the original poster did write: "Santa Cruz has, most arguably, the most
> > intense concentration of bicycle activity than anywhere in
the
> > world."
>
>
> . . . whatever that means, in English.
>
No kidding, I'm still stuck translating "most arguably".

 

[Daniel Connelly]

No. However, I just got back from Kyoto where 2-way bike lanes on sidewalks were common. Riding on
these would essentially terrify me -- the bike is coming from a completely "unexpected" direction to
traffic turning onto cross streets. The difference is, in Kyoto, it IS an expected direction, as
bikes and pedestrians are so common.

For the substantially more confrontational US, counterflow lanes are nuts.

J. Bruce Fields wrote:
> I remember it as having quite a bizarre assortment of bicycle facilities. (Are 2-way bike lanes on
> one side of a two-way street really a good idea? Discuss.)
>
> --Bruce Fields

 

[Daniel Connelly]

Don Freeman wrote:
> "Stella Hackell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>John Serafin <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> news:<ZaLHa.3283$%[email protected]>...
>
>>>Daniel Connelly <[email protected]> writes:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Did we annex Amsterdam and Cambridge? The subject was the US.
>>>
>>>That is true, but the original poster did write: "Santa Cruz has, most arguably, the most intense
>>>concentration of bicycle activity than anywhere in
>>
> the
>
>>>world."
>>
>>
>>. . . whatever that means, in English.
>>
>
> No kidding, I'm still stuck translating "most arguably".
>
>

If you get past that log jam, there is the clear implication that Santa Cruz isn't of this world.

So it's not all nonsense.

Dan