Boulder, Colorado has joined Portland and Davis, California as the only cities to have achieved the League of American Bicyclists highest rating for bike-friendliness.
The League announced Boulder’s “Platinum” Bicycle Friendly Community award last week.
Here’s a quote from League director Andy Clarke:
“Boulder well deserves the platinum designation because they are actually delivering the quality of life benefits to which so many other communities aspire. The number of single occupant vehicles is falling; bike use, walking and transit is increasing. People can get almost everywhere in town by bike – and it’s a normal thing to do.
The city isn’t perfect, however. Bicycle use is still low by comparison to equivalent cities in Europe, and there are still clear needs for improved infrastructure and better access to mountain biking in the city. The really great news we can share with you today is that Boulder is categorically not stopping at Platinum! The Mayor, city council, city manager and the entire Boulder bicycling community is committed to making those improvements and being a world class city for bicyclists.”
And here’s some local coverage in the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper.
Wow, good for them, they must have changed A LOT since I lived there. But Boulder is sporty and big on being environmental. They have always had excellent public transportation.
It was still car crazy last time I visited (2 years ago).
I have now lived in all THREE platinum cities. RAD!
This is funny. I just moved from Boulder. It IS bike friendly, but nothing like here. Traffic is horrible in Boulder, year-round, be it college kids driving to McDonalds or the ski crowd clogging up the road leading out of the city. I don’t think I’ve seen worse traffic in any place I’ve lived in.
I don’t know that it deserves a Platinum rating, seeing as how many deaths/accidents/road rage incidents happen there, and how ltitle is being done to mitigate it. I saw a guy try to take out two TIAA-Cref riders (now team Garmin) with his car, and when I stopped to help, it was my lawn maintenance guy! The city has a LONG way to go.
Hooray for Boulder! I just moved here from Portland a year ago. Admittedly, I’ve had a hard time adapting to the local bike fashion though, which prefers big ugly cruisers to sleek sexy fixies. The bike/ped paths here are what are really exceptional — not only can you get anywhere in town quickly by bike, but you can also usually do it while totally avoiding traffic, under pretty trees, and by a creek.