Google "bicycle friendly cities"

[Ken]

Yeah I was bored this morning! I did a search and this was in the top spot
for the keywords. http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/medprs051503.htm

I saw a couple of cities that I have heard are pretty bike friendly. But
then I saw a few I didn't expect to see at all. And then some cities that I
heard are bike friendly didn't even make the list! Does anyone live in any
of the cities that won any of the awards? Are they really bike friendly?

Ken
--
For my real email address just remove "-dispose-trash"
More of my mind dribbles at my blog: http://mind-dribble.blogspot.com/
My personal website: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/

[Ken]

"Ken" > wrote in
:
> Yeah I was bored this morning! I did a search and this was in the top
> spot for the keywords.
> http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/medprs051503.htm
>
> I saw a couple of cities that I have heard are pretty bike friendly. But
> then I saw a few I didn't expect to see at all. And then some cities that
> I heard are bike friendly didn't even make the list!

Make sure you look at the right list. They add new cities to the list every
year (or twice a year). The page you are looking at is just the latest
additions. The complete list is here:
http://www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org/profiles.htm

[Fritz M]

Ken wrote:

> I saw a couple of cities that I have heard are pretty bike friendly. But
> then I saw a few I didn't expect to see at all. And then some cities that I
> heard are bike friendly didn't even make the list! Does anyone live in any
> of the cities that won any of the awards? Are they really bike friendly?

To get the BFC award, the city must apply for it.

I pushed my city to apply for BFC and the LAB awarded the Bronze level
to Longmont in 2004. I did this for a few reasons:

* Too many bicycling advocates in my city were saying that Longmont is
not bicyclist friendly.

* To show that hundreds of miles of segregated facilities are not
required to be bicyclist friendly.

* In the hopes that getting the purple sign will encourage more
bicycling in spite of our lack of segregated facilities.

There's this weird perception of danger on the streets -- everywhere I
go people tell me they could never bike across town because the roads
are too dangerous. The fact is that collisions resulting in death or
serious injury to the bicyclist -- even wrong-way sidewalk cyclists
riding BSOs with plastic platform pedals bolting blindly across
intersections with wal-mart sacks hanging from the handlebars and not
even wearing any h*lm*ts, dressed in black at night with no reflectors
or lights -- are very rare events.

It's not truth that matters in our post-modern world, it's perception.
So if a little purple sign will help get more bottoms on bikes, I'm all
for it from a bicycling advocacy viewpoint.

RFM

[Ken]

"Ken" > wrote in message
...
> "Ken" > wrote in
> :
>> Yeah I was bored this morning! I did a search and this was in the top
>> spot for the keywords.
>> http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/medprs051503.htm
>>
>> I saw a couple of cities that I have heard are pretty bike friendly. But
>> then I saw a few I didn't expect to see at all. And then some cities that
>> I heard are bike friendly didn't even make the list!
>
> Make sure you look at the right list. They add new cities to the list
> every
> year (or twice a year). The page you are looking at is just the latest
> additions. The complete list is here:
> http://www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org/profiles.htm

Ah okay, I see now! Well anyway I looked at the complete list and was a
little surprised by some of the cities I saw listed! Like Orlando FL! I have
heard that this is not a bicycle friendly city at all! But then I saw a
couple of other cities that I have heard are good.

Ken

[Matt O'Toole]

Ken wrote:

> Yeah I was bored this morning! I did a search and this was in the top
> spot for the keywords.
> http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/medprs051503.htm

> I saw a couple of cities that I have heard are pretty bike friendly.
> But then I saw a few I didn't expect to see at all. And then some
> cities that I heard are bike friendly didn't even make the list! Does
> anyone live in any of the cities that won any of the awards? Are they
> really bike friendly?

Well, we (Blacksburg, VA.) got an honorable mention. Yes, it is
bike-friendly -- IMO one of the best cycling towns in the US.

There are just a few streets with bike lanes (which IMO are pointless). But the
roads are good for cycling to begin with. Traffic is light, and moves at sane
speeds. There's a network of bike paths, which provide shortcuts, as well as
safe and comfortable riding away from traffic. The town is fairly compact, with
nothing more than a 15 minute ride away, maybe 20 if you're slow. I've been
comfortably car-free here for 3 years. I know several others who are doing the
same -- not college kids either.

Perhaps the best thing about cycling in Blacksburg is the surrounding country
roads, which are world class. Some other celebrated Appalachian towns like
Asheville, NC, or Charlottesville, VA, have wonderful roads nearby, but getting
to them is an ordeal. Blacksburg offers the best out-your-backdoor experience.
The same goes for the mountain biking.

The only "problem" is the hills.

Matt O.

[Ken]

"Matt O'Toole" > wrote in message
...
> Ken wrote:
>
>> Yeah I was bored this morning! I did a search and this was in the top
>> spot for the keywords.
>> http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/medprs051503.htm
>
>> I saw a couple of cities that I have heard are pretty bike friendly.
>> But then I saw a few I didn't expect to see at all. And then some
>> cities that I heard are bike friendly didn't even make the list! Does
>> anyone live in any of the cities that won any of the awards? Are they
>> really bike friendly?
>
> Well, we (Blacksburg, VA.) got an honorable mention. Yes, it is
> bike-friendly -- IMO one of the best cycling towns in the US.
>
> There are just a few streets with bike lanes (which IMO are pointless).
> But the
> roads are good for cycling to begin with. Traffic is light, and moves at
> sane
> speeds. There's a network of bike paths, which provide shortcuts, as well
> as
> safe and comfortable riding away from traffic. The town is fairly
> compact, with
> nothing more than a 15 minute ride away, maybe 20 if you're slow. I've
> been
> comfortably car-free here for 3 years. I know several others who are
> doing the
> same -- not college kids either.
>
> Perhaps the best thing about cycling in Blacksburg is the surrounding
> country
> roads, which are world class. Some other celebrated Appalachian towns
> like
> Asheville, NC, or Charlottesville, VA, have wonderful roads nearby, but
> getting
> to them is an ordeal. Blacksburg offers the best out-your-backdoor
> experience.
> The same goes for the mountain biking.
>
> The only "problem" is the hills.
>
> Matt O.
>
>
>
Yeah I have visited your town there. And some of the other towns around that
area of VA, I used to live in Roanoke, which isn't really bike friendly, but
still a pretty nice little city.

Ken

[Mark Hickey]

"Ken" > wrote:

>Yeah I was bored this morning! I did a search and this was in the top spot
>for the keywords. http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/medprs051503.htm
>
>I saw a couple of cities that I have heard are pretty bike friendly. But
>then I saw a few I didn't expect to see at all. And then some cities that I
>heard are bike friendly didn't even make the list! Does anyone live in any
>of the cities that won any of the awards? Are they really bike friendly?

I ride regularly in portions of Scottsdale, AZ. FWIW, I don't think
Scottsdale is as good as some of the other Phoenix "east valley"
cities like Tempe and Mesa. The "award" is primarily because of a
large greenway trail system. It's not a bad thing per se, but not
really suited for the kind of riding I like to do. Still, I've used
it quite often, and ride regularly on the very southern end of the
system (which has almost no bike or pedestrian traffic).

The cities in this area are as bike-friendly as any I've seen in the
US (which makes 'em considerably more friendly than most). There are
wide, clean and well-designed bike lanes on many of the major roads,
and drivers are by and large aware of and respectful to bikes - almost
to a fault (they'll normally act like they don't expect bikes to stop
at four-way stops for example, slowing down everything).

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

[Ken]

"Mark Hickey" > wrote in message
...
> "Ken" > wrote:
>
>>Yeah I was bored this morning! I did a search and this was in the top spot
>>for the keywords. http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/medprs051503.htm
>>
>>I saw a couple of cities that I have heard are pretty bike friendly. But
>>then I saw a few I didn't expect to see at all. And then some cities that
>>I
>>heard are bike friendly didn't even make the list! Does anyone live in any
>>of the cities that won any of the awards? Are they really bike friendly?
>
> I ride regularly in portions of Scottsdale, AZ. FWIW, I don't think
> Scottsdale is as good as some of the other Phoenix "east valley"
> cities like Tempe and Mesa. The "award" is primarily because of a
> large greenway trail system. It's not a bad thing per se, but not
> really suited for the kind of riding I like to do. Still, I've used
> it quite often, and ride regularly on the very southern end of the
> system (which has almost no bike or pedestrian traffic).
>
> The cities in this area are as bike-friendly as any I've seen in the
> US (which makes 'em considerably more friendly than most). There are
> wide, clean and well-designed bike lanes on many of the major roads,
> and drivers are by and large aware of and respectful to bikes - almost
> to a fault (they'll normally act like they don't expect bikes to stop
> at four-way stops for example, slowing down everything).
>
> Mark Hickey
> Habanero Cycles
> http://www.habcycles.com
> Home of the $695 ti frame

Well all that sounds MUCH more FRIENDLY than the part of Florida that I live
in. Here they either ignore you completely, can't see you (because of age)
or just don't care (100 points to hit the crazy guy on the bike!)

Ken

[Mark Hickey]

"Ken" > wrote:

>"Mark Hickey" > wrote
>> I ride regularly in portions of Scottsdale, AZ. FWIW, I don't think
>> Scottsdale is as good as some of the other Phoenix "east valley"
>> cities like Tempe and Mesa. The "award" is primarily because of a
>> large greenway trail system. It's not a bad thing per se, but not
>> really suited for the kind of riding I like to do. Still, I've used
>> it quite often, and ride regularly on the very southern end of the
>> system (which has almost no bike or pedestrian traffic).
>>
>> The cities in this area are as bike-friendly as any I've seen in the
>> US (which makes 'em considerably more friendly than most). There are
>> wide, clean and well-designed bike lanes on many of the major roads,
>> and drivers are by and large aware of and respectful to bikes - almost
>> to a fault (they'll normally act like they don't expect bikes to stop
>> at four-way stops for example, slowing down everything).
>>
>Well all that sounds MUCH more FRIENDLY than the part of Florida that I live
>in. Here they either ignore you completely, can't see you (because of age)
>or just don't care (100 points to hit the crazy guy on the bike!)

When I used to live in SE Florida (Boca Raton, riding up and down from
Deerfield Beach to West Palm Beach), the drivers were generally OK,
though there WERE far too many whose driver licenses should have
expired a decade or two prior. The only time it really got bad was
when the weather turned cold in the northeast, prompting a mass exodus
from those areas to mine. It took the drivers a few weeks to adjust
to having bicycles on the road with them!

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

[OnTwoWheels]

"Mark Hickey" > wrote in message
...
> "Ken" > wrote:
>
> >"Mark Hickey" > wrote
> >> I ride regularly in portions of Scottsdale, AZ. FWIW, I don't think
> >> Scottsdale is as good as some of the other Phoenix "east valley"
> >> cities like Tempe and Mesa. The "award" is primarily because of a
> >> large greenway trail system. It's not a bad thing per se, but not
> >> really suited for the kind of riding I like to do. Still, I've used
> >> it quite often, and ride regularly on the very southern end of the
> >> system (which has almost no bike or pedestrian traffic).
> >>
> >> The cities in this area are as bike-friendly as any I've seen in the
> >> US (which makes 'em considerably more friendly than most). There are
> >> wide, clean and well-designed bike lanes on many of the major roads,
> >> and drivers are by and large aware of and respectful to bikes - almost
> >> to a fault (they'll normally act like they don't expect bikes to stop
> >> at four-way stops for example, slowing down everything).
> >>
> >Well all that sounds MUCH more FRIENDLY than the part of Florida that I
live
> >in. Here they either ignore you completely, can't see you (because of
age)
> >or just don't care (100 points to hit the crazy guy on the bike!)
>
> When I used to live in SE Florida (Boca Raton, riding up and down from
> Deerfield Beach to West Palm Beach), the drivers were generally OK,
> though there WERE far too many whose driver licenses should have
> expired a decade or two prior. The only time it really got bad was
> when the weather turned cold in the northeast, prompting a mass exodus
> from those areas to mine. It took the drivers a few weeks to adjust
> to having bicycles on the road with them!
>

I've been hit by a car four times in my life. All riding a bicycle while
living in Southeast Florida. A1A between Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach
was the best place, but that is where three of the four collisions occured.
Two of them were hit and run.

BTW, I heard you're getting 3 foot shoulders on that strip. Are they
widening the road or narrowing the existing roadway?

[Mark Hickey]

"OnTwoWheels" > wrote:

>"Mark Hickey" > wrote in message
...

>> When I used to live in SE Florida (Boca Raton, riding up and down from
>> Deerfield Beach to West Palm Beach), the drivers were generally OK,
>> though there WERE far too many whose driver licenses should have
>> expired a decade or two prior. The only time it really got bad was
>> when the weather turned cold in the northeast, prompting a mass exodus
>> from those areas to mine. It took the drivers a few weeks to adjust
>> to having bicycles on the road with them!
>>
>
>I've been hit by a car four times in my life. All riding a bicycle while
>living in Southeast Florida. A1A between Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach
>was the best place, but that is where three of the four collisions occured.
>Two of them were hit and run.

Ouch. It can be a somewhat scary road when you see some of the
drivers (the ubiquitous little old lady driving the enormous Buick,
looking UNDER the steering wheel).

>BTW, I heard you're getting 3 foot shoulders on that strip. Are they
>widening the road or narrowing the existing roadway?

Not sure - I'm kind of out of touch with the situation now that I live
in Arizona, but I hope it's by widening (there's not really room for a
3' (1m) lane on the existing roadway. I know it's going to be a war
with the property owners along A1A, but they'll live. ;-)

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

[NFN Smith]

Mark Hickey wrote:


>
> I ride regularly in portions of Scottsdale, AZ. FWIW, I don't think
> Scottsdale is as good as some of the other Phoenix "east valley"
> cities like Tempe and Mesa. The "award" is primarily because of a
> large greenway trail system. It's not a bad thing per se, but not
> really suited for the kind of riding I like to do. Still, I've used
> it quite often, and ride regularly on the very southern end of the
> system (which has almost no bike or pedestrian traffic).

The only time I've touched the Scottsdale trail system on my bike was a
couple of times riding at night.

I'd far rather contend with the near-freeway speed of Hayden Road than
dodge the runners, skaters, dog walkers, etc that are on the bike paths.

Having said that, I do like the paths for roller-blading.

Remember, the design of bike paths are usually there for casual riders
who have neither the fitness, the courage or the bike-handling skills to
be in fast traffic. In most cases, I've found the effective speed limit
on a bike path to be about 10 mph.

A more serious rider is generally better off being on the streets and
playing by the rules of the motor vehicle code.

Smith

[Mark Hickey]

NFN Smith > wrote:

>Mark Hickey wrote:
>
>> I ride regularly in portions of Scottsdale, AZ. FWIW, I don't think
>> Scottsdale is as good as some of the other Phoenix "east valley"
>> cities like Tempe and Mesa. The "award" is primarily because of a
>> large greenway trail system. It's not a bad thing per se, but not
>> really suited for the kind of riding I like to do. Still, I've used
>> it quite often, and ride regularly on the very southern end of the
>> system (which has almost no bike or pedestrian traffic).
>
>The only time I've touched the Scottsdale trail system on my bike was a
>couple of times riding at night.
>
>I'd far rather contend with the near-freeway speed of Hayden Road than
>dodge the runners, skaters, dog walkers, etc that are on the bike paths.
>
>Having said that, I do like the paths for roller-blading.
>
>Remember, the design of bike paths are usually there for casual riders
>who have neither the fitness, the courage or the bike-handling skills to
>be in fast traffic. In most cases, I've found the effective speed limit
>on a bike path to be about 10 mph.
>
>A more serious rider is generally better off being on the streets and
>playing by the rules of the motor vehicle code.

I've ridden the busy parts of the path, and yes - it's too clogged
with rollerbladers, joggers, strollers, dog and kid-walkers to be much
good for "training". The portions of the major roads that DO have
bike lanes (including portions of Hayden) are great ways to get from
point A to point B (providing they're somewhat in the vicinity of one
of the many well-appointed bike lanes in the area).

I know a lot of people have serious heartburn about bike lanes, but
other than Beijing (which had bike CLOVERLEAFS) this is the best urban
cycling I've done, and provides far fewer "memorable moments" than any
other city I've ridden in.

Don't know if it's connected or not, but they just determined that
Phoenix is the safest driving city of over a million people in the
country, with the average driver getting in a collision "only" once
every ten years. I'm relieved to find out that I have eight years to
go (assuming that head-tackling a Ford pickup truck counts).

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

[NFN Smith]

Mark Hickey wrote:


>
> I've ridden the busy parts of the path, and yes - it's too clogged
> with rollerbladers, joggers, strollers, dog and kid-walkers to be much
> good for "training". The portions of the major roads that DO have
> bike lanes (including portions of Hayden) are great ways to get from
> point A to point B (providing they're somewhat in the vicinity of one
> of the many well-appointed bike lanes in the area).

Several years ago, I had a run-in with a bus driver along Hayden near
Indian School. I think he was running late, and was very annoyed by my
presence on the street where he had to wait for me to pass the bus
pull-out. As is my habit, I simply responded to his angry honking (as I
passed him while he made a passenger exchange) with a friendly "hello"
wave.


>
> Don't know if it's connected or not, but they just determined that
> Phoenix is the safest driving city of over a million people in the
> country, with the average driver getting in a collision "only" once
> every ten years. I'm relieved to find out that I have eight years to
> go (assuming that head-tackling a Ford pickup truck counts).

I saw further analysis of that one in the Arizona Republic:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0608crashrate08.html

The data on this one is from a report by Allstate on accident claims
(their own, using a simple claim/population ratio). Phoenix (and that's
only the city of Phoenix itself) ranks first on cities with populations
greater than 1 million, but only 68 of 196 in cities with populations
greater than 100,000. Scottsdale is 39, Tempe is 89, and Mesa,
Chandler, Glendale and Peoria, etc. are (by implication of the Republic
story) somewhere in-between.

Smith