(Photo © J. Maus)
Bicycling Magazine has released their list of the “Best Cities for Cycling” and Portland is once again on top.
Here’s what Bicycling’s Brian Fiske writes about Portland in their June issue:
“What perennially puts Portland atop our list is that you don’t need to know anything about bike lanes or city planning to see that it is a haven for cyclists. Just hang out in a coffee shop and look out the window: Bikes and riders of all stripes are everywhere. City support is important, too. In response to six fatal car-bike crashes last year, Portland rushed approval of 14 bike boxes–painted areas in front of cars at red lights that give bikes priority–at high-risk intersections, among other safety measures.”
Joining Portland in the “Still the greatest” category are San Francisco, Boulder, Chicago, and Seattle. Bicycling’s editors also note that the Seattle city council has, “unabashedly stated that its goal is to unseat Portland as the best U.S. city for cycling.”
Listed as the “Most Improved Cities” are: Washington D.C. — they won the bike-sharing race; Louisville, KY — home of bike-friendly Humana Corp; and New York City — whose new DOT director rides a bike and where a streets renaissance flourishes.
On the bottom of Bicycling’s list are Dallas, Memphis, and Miami.
To compile the list, Bicycling editors started with a list of more than 250 cities and narrowed it down using the following factors:
- cycling-friendly statistics (numbers of bike lanes and routes, bike racks, city projects completed and planned) including changes in these statistics and a city’s future plans since the last survey;
- bike culture (number of bike commuters, cycling clubs, cycling events, renowned bike shops);
- and a survey of experts at national bicycle groups such as the League of American Bicyclists, Bikes Belong, the Thunderhead Alliance and the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA).
Check out Bicycling.com for more.