It’s a frequent topic of conversation in local advocacy circles that Portland has lost some of its swagger when it comes to being a leader for cycling in America.
Today, Bicycling Magazine released its biennial rankings of America’s best cities for cycling and Portland came out in 5th place — our worst position ever.
The world of bike wonks is abuzz this morning as national nonprofit advocacy group People for Bikes has released their much-anticipated city ratings. And Portland fared quite well with a score of 3.3 out of 5 that puts us first among big cities and fourth overall. A total of 480 cities were part of the analysis.
Among big cities, the ratings put Tucson, Arizona; Madison, Wisconsin; Washington D.C.; and San Diego, California in the top five along with Portland.
In addition to our good showing in the ratings, Portland was given a special award for having the highest “ridership score” of any city — a 3.9. According to People for Bikes, Portland earned a perfect score of 100 in this ridership metric, in large part because it takes distance into account. “Contrary to some local narratives,” they shared on Twitter this morning. “Portland is truly extraordinary in the amount of bike commuting that happens far from its core.”
Like best-guitarist-of-all-time rankings, best-bike-city rankings are mostly just for fun. But in a week when Portland reportedly got a serious demotion from the granddaddy of bike rankings, reader MaxD’s reaction probably spoke for a lot of us.
Ouch.
Dirk VanderHart of the Portland Mercury broke the news this afternoon after checking his mailbox: in Bicycling magazine’s periodic ranking of the country’s best bike cities, Portland has tumbled from first to fourth since 2012.
Now, don’t get me wrong: Minneapolis is a great place to ride a bicycle.
It has lots of things that Portland can and should learn from. And yes, those things they do in the November snow and the August sweat are seriously impressive. But is Minneapolis a better biking city than Portland?
Don’t be silly. It is not.
Bicycling Magazine has just released their 2012 Bike-Friendly Cities rankings and Portland sits atop the heap once again.
Portland was ranked #2 in 2010, which was the last time the rankings came out. Prior to that Portland had earned the top spot every year since 1995. Our defeat to Minneapolis at the hands of Bicycling Magazine’s editors stung a bit; but it was clear that the decision was made more because of how our lead had begun to shrink, not that we were actually #2 (and I’m sure the attention and PR generated by making us #2 figured into the decision as well).
Minneapolis drops to the second spot this time around, with Boulder, Washington D.C., and Chicago rounding out the top five. Here’s the full top ten list (with 2010 rankings in parentheses):
The League of American Bicyclists has released rankings for their Bicycle Friendly States program. Oregon earned the fifth spot this year, slipping from the fourth spot we’ve held the previous two years. For the third year in a row, Washington retained the top spot with Wisconsin coming in second.
Moving up to take fourth place away from Oregon this year was Minnesota — home to Minneapolis, the city that unseated Portland from the top spot in a recent list of bike friendly cities by Bicycling Magazine.
Here are the top five:
“There’s a lot going on in Portland, but there are other cities having more astonishing success at this point.”
— Loren Mooney, Editor-in-Chief Bicycling Magazine
Bicycling Magazine’s annual list of America’s top bicycle cities puts Portland in unfamiliar territory: second place. Since 1995, Portland has consistently been ranked as the #1 biking city, earning the title every year the rankings have been held since 1995 (1999, 2001, 2006 and 2008).
But this year, that honor goes to Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Here’s how the top 10 rankings ended up (great to see Eugene in the 5th spot!):
I’m headed to the 2008 Pro Walk/Pro Bike conference in Seattle next week along with a large contingent from Portland. Among the highlights will be the unveiling of the first-ever Bike Friendly States rankings by the League of American Bicyclists.
This just in…
Bicycling Magazine Names the Best Cities for Cycling
Boston moves off “The Worst” list and on to “5 For the Future”; Portland is “Still the Greatest” and New York and DC are “Most Improved”
–Top International Cities for Cycling Also Named–
In its June issue, Bicycling magazine names the best American cities for cycling. Portland Oregon, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Boulder snagged the top spots as America’s overall best but especially notable on this year’s list is Boston ranking in the “5 for the Future” category; Boston has been a recurring fixture on Bicycling’s “Worst Cities for Cycling” list for the past three years.