Bicycle Friendly Cities

Where would be a good source of information to locate a bicycle friendly US
city?

I want to commute to work on bicycle ways that are separated from the motor
ways. I prefer commuting through countryside to commuting through suburbia.
I had this when I was living in Germany, and now that I'm back in the USA,
I miss it. Do I have to move back to Europe?

Dan wrote:
Where would be a good source of information to locate a bicycle friendly US
city?

I want to commute to work on bicycle ways that are separated from the motor
ways. I prefer commuting through countryside to commuting through suburbia.
I had this when I was living in Germany, and now that I'm back in the USA,
I miss it. Do I have to move back to Europe?

There was an article in Bicycling magazine last year rating how bike
friendly cities are.

http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6...4593-1,00.html

In article ,
Dan wrote:

Where would be a good source of information to locate a bicycle friendly US
city?

I want to commute to work on bicycle ways that are separated from the motor
ways. I prefer commuting through countryside to commuting through suburbia.
I had this when I was living in Germany, and now that I'm back in the USA,
I miss it. Do I have to move back to Europe?

You can at least start by going he

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cycleways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_carfree_places

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Dan wrote in
:
Where would be a good source of information to locate a bicycle friendly
US city?

http://bicyclefriendlycommunity.org/

In article ,
Dan wrote:

Where would be a good source of information to locate a bicycle
friendly US city?

I want to commute to work on bicycle ways that are separated from the
motor ways. I prefer commuting through countryside to commuting
through suburbia. I had this when I was living in Germany, and now
that I'm back in the USA, I miss it. Do I have to move back to
Europe?

There are lots of places that are pretty bike friendly. Try Googling
"bicycle friendly cities" and see what you get. Several organizations
do rankings along these lines.

Portland OR is usually high on the list as is Seattle. Davis CA is
another. Minneapolis/St. Paul is pretty bike friendly and getting more
so.

Tim McNamara wrote in news:timmcn-
:

Where would be a good source of information to locate a bicycle
friendly US city?

I want to commute to work on bicycle ways that are separated from the
motor ways. I prefer commuting through countryside to commuting
through suburbia. I had this when I was living in Germany, and now
that I'm back in the USA, I miss it. Do I have to move back to
Europe?

There are lots of places that are pretty bike friendly. Try Googling
"bicycle friendly cities" and see what you get. Several organizations
do rankings along these lines.

I got that far. These organizations are promoting a lot of what I would
call hype in their zeal to get all the cities on board.

An example of the hype is the situation in Boulder which I just learned
is a heated and dangerous battle between too many cars and too many
bikes. I have a picture of congestion, smog, and heated close calls. That
sounds too much like the ugly situation in London for my tastes.

Anyway, it's hype to me when we only read about platinum, gold, silver
etc status and the good points meriting them and don't see anything
written about the negative points, which in the case of Boulder negate
the whole thing for me.

I got the negative points from a Boulder resident on another newsgroup.

BTW, Boulder has a gold rating. If the resident who responded is right
and Boulder is a gold rating. shakes head I can't go by the articles on
the sites with the Agenda 21 zeal.

I need practical response from residents or people who have no interest
in putting the bicycle friendly efforts in glowing terms.

Portland OR is usually high on the list as is Seattle. Davis CA is
another. Minneapolis/St. Paul is pretty bike friendly and getting more
so.

It looks like there is a Eugene, Oregon that has separated paths through
some natural areas, the swamp outside of town. That could be relaxing.

http://www.nwsource.com/travel/scr/t....cfm?st=695230

Minneapolis/St. Paul was one of my earlier ideas, but I hadn't seen
anything written before what you wrote about its bicycle friendliness. Is
that where you live? What I like about that area is that those of
scandinavian descent like myself tend to be low key. I've also heard
that they are pretty outdoorsy there for a northern city.

I hear Davis is a hippy town. Maybe there'd be too many bleeding heart
opinions about minutia to have to suffer through there for my tastes, but
I guess I'll never know without a trip there to get the atmoshere.

I drove through part of Porland a while back. A nice feel but too much
traffic. I didn't notice any separated bicycle ways.

MkTm wrote in news:Lo6Nh.337$Rp2.279@trndny04:

Where would be a good source of information to locate a bicycle
friendly US city?

I want to commute to work on bicycle ways that are separated from the
motor ways. I prefer commuting through countryside to commuting
through suburbia. I had this when I was living in Germany, and now
that I'm back in the USA, I miss it. Do I have to move back to
Europe?

There was an article in Bicycling magazine last year rating how bike
friendly cities are.

http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6...4593-1,00.html

This looks like a very interesting article. I'll read it carefully, because
there might be some gems in it.

Thanks.

Doc O'Leary wrote in
:

Where would be a good source of information to locate a bicycle
friendly US city?

I want to commute to work on bicycle ways that are separated from the
motor ways. I prefer commuting through countryside to commuting
through suburbia. I had this when I was living in Germany, and now
that I'm back in the USA, I miss it. Do I have to move back to
Europe?

You can at least start by going he

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cycleways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_carfree_places

This is of passing interest. Thanks.

sally wrote in :

Where would be a good source of information to locate a bicycle friendly
US city?

http://bicyclefriendlycommunity.org/

That's the first one I had found. I like their effort to try to start
whittling down the car culture, but their reviews seem to be only glowing
and not helpful for me to know whether there is a heated battle going on
between auto traffic and cycle traffic, for example, or whether the cycle
paths are maintained during winter, or, or, or. IOW, they don't present the
realistic experience that I need to know.

Dan wrote:
Tim McNamara wrote in news:timmcn-
:


Where would be a good source of information to locate a bicycle
friendly US city?

I want to commute to work on bicycle ways that are separated from the
motor ways. I prefer commuting through countryside to commuting
through suburbia.

I thought you said you wanted to find a bike friendly *city* not a nice
ride in the country.

I had this when I was living in Germany, and now
that I'm back in the USA, I miss it. Do I have to move back to
Europe?


Europe is exceptional, but the biggest plus I found in Germany and
Austria was not the inner city bikeways. There are US cities that are
creating that infrastructure now, too. What I appreciated was the bike
friendly train systems that make it possible to go *any*where in Germany
and Austria with your bike - quickly and easily.



There are lots of places that are pretty bike friendly. Try Googling
"bicycle friendly cities" and see what you get. Several organizations
do rankings along these lines.


I got that far. These organizations are promoting a lot of what I would
call hype in their zeal to get all the cities on board.


There does seem to be some of that. I'm not sure how Denver got on any list.

An example of the hype is the situation in Boulder which I just learned
is a heated and dangerous battle between too many cars and too many
bikes. I have a picture of congestion, smog, and heated close calls. That
sounds too much like the ugly situation in London for my tastes.


And that is nowhere near the truth. It sounds like you took one person's
rant as fact. I have bicycled in Boulder for 20+ years. It has always
been an easy thing to do - and it keeps getting better. A lot of
separate bike paths were created in the last 5 - 10 years that follow
the creeks that come down out of the mountains and head across town
toward the plains. There are underpasses at nearly every street
crossing, so you hardly ever have to stop - making bicycle travel across
town as quick if not quicker than driving. I'm not familiar with this
"dangerous battle with too many cars and bikes." Quite the contrary.
Drivers tend to be very bicycle aware, as many people in Boulder who
drive, also bicycle - or are simply used to seeing bicycles because so
many people do ride. Comparing Boulder to London (where I have also
ridden) is laughably ludicrous.

Boulder's placement on that list is not merely hype, but well deserved.

Besides the off road paths, I have found it easy to share the road with
cars here.

Anyway, it's hype to me when we only read about platinum, gold, silver
etc status and the good points meriting them and don't see anything
written about the negative points, which in the case of Boulder negate
the whole thing for me.

Which negative points about Boulder? Bike paths go all over the place.
There are on street bike lanes where there are no paths. The paths are
maintained better than the roads (they are plowed clean by 7 or 8 am on
snow days). Local drivers are very bike conscious.


I got the negative points from a Boulder resident on another newsgroup.


One person giving you bad advice and misinformation.

Portland OR is usually high on the list as is Seattle. Davis CA is
another. Minneapolis/St. Paul is pretty bike friendly and getting more
so.


It looks like there is a Eugene, Oregon that has separated paths through
some natural areas, the swamp outside of town. That could be relaxing.


Does it get you to work and back? You did say, "a bicycle friendly city."

http://www.nwsource.com/travel/scr/t....cfm?st=695230

Minneapolis/St. Paul was one of my earlier ideas, but I hadn't seen
anything written before what you wrote about its bicycle friendliness. Is
that where you live? What I like about that area is that those of
scandinavian descent like myself tend to be low key. I've also heard
that they are pretty outdoorsy there for a northern city.


I hope you like a *long* *COLD* winter with lots of snow and ice. The
summers are hot, too with high 90's temps and lots of humidity (and
mosquitoes).

I hear Davis is a hippy town. Maybe there'd be too many bleeding heart
opinions about minutia to have to suffer through there for my tastes, but
I guess I'll never know without a trip there to get the atmoshere.

I drove through part of Porland a while back. A nice feel but too much
traffic. I didn't notice any separated bicycle ways.


You know, .... it sounds like you will have trouble finding anything to
your liking. Good luck. Perhaps it would be best if you avoid being
miserable in Boulder.

--
*****************************
Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO
http://www.CycleTourist.com
*****************************