Portland ranks No. 2 as bike-friendly city
Only time will tell if Portland’s plan to spend $613 million over 20 years on new bike paths and other bicycling infrastructure needs will change the city’s ranking on Bicycling magazine’s list of America’s top 50 bike-friendly cities.
For the 2010 list, Portland ranks No. 2, behind Minneapolis. Rounding out the top five cites are Boulder, Colo.; Seattle; and Eugene.
Minneapolis got the No. 1 ranking primarily for doubling its percentage of bike commuters in three years, according to the New York-based magazine.
The worst cities are Birmingham, Ala.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Memphis, Tenn.
To compile the list, Bicycling editors considered cities with populations of 100,000 or more. They used factors such as 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; and bike culture (number of bike commuters, cycling clubs, cycling events, renowned bike shops). Editors also looked at the “Bicycling and Walking in the United States 2010 Benchmarking Report” prepared by the Alliance for Biking and Walking, the League of American Bicyclists’ “Bicycle Friendly America project” and interviews with national and local advocates, bike shops, and other experts.
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