San Diego not listed in top 50 best bike cities
#1
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San Diego not listed in top 50 best bike cities
Bicycling just published it's "America's Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities" list and San Diego didn't make the cut. Pittsburgh is on the list, but not San Diego. What am I missing? There are probably more cyclists and bike shops here per capita than any other city in the country. Bike lanes are virtually everywhere and motorists, for the most part, are extremely polite to us.
https://www.bicycling.com/news/advoca...iendly-cities#
https://www.bicycling.com/news/advoca...iendly-cities#
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I'd have to agree with it not being listed. I wouldn't even consider riding a bike downtown. San Diego county has some nice riding, but a bunch of it involves small country roads with no shoulder, much less a bike lane. Lots of cyclists, but that has more to do with the weather and activity level of SoCal.
#3
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San Diego's not that "city-like". It's really spread out, I remember the public transit being awful there so I can't imagine it's that easy to actually get places by bike.
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What a joke. Long beach and LA are listed? Really? You'd have to pay me to ride there regularly. Where's Irvine, CA? I'm not even sure they have a single major street in Irvine without a bike lane! Pop of 200k people certainly makes it big enough to make the list, and I doubt there's any city listed with a higher density of bike lanes.
Then there's the quote about #1, Portland:
"
Then there's the quote about #1, Portland:
"
After being named runner-up in our last round of best bike city rankings in 2010, Portland reclaims the top spot. The only large city to earn Platinum status from the League of American Bicyclists is a paragon of bike-friendliness, with 180 miles of bike lanes and 79 miles of off-street bike paths"
Irvine has 300+ miles of lanes, 60'ish miles of MUPS, and 1/3rd the population. *That* is more bike friendly than Portland.
Irvine has 300+ miles of lanes, 60'ish miles of MUPS, and 1/3rd the population. *That* is more bike friendly than Portland.
Last edited by jmX; 05-30-12 at 04:37 PM.
#6
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I'm surprised we're only #10. They must be holding our topography against us.
This is our Fredly mayor:
You can tell that's Seattle by the lack of sunlight.
This is our Fredly mayor:
You can tell that's Seattle by the lack of sunlight.
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They listed NYC as a top choice. Man, there is something wrong with the eval. standards here. Sure, they are thinking of adding bikes lanes and just to see if they are used I go on them at various points. For the most part they are 90% unused.
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I can see why San Diego would not make the list of bike friendly places. Too many hills, too spread out. A great place to ride longer recreational distances, great weather (the best), friendly atmosphere, but not practical for the everyday cyclist/commuter.
Amazing Portland is #1, and Eugene #9 (I have houses in both areas) considering it rains 9 months straight...
Amazing Portland is #1, and Eugene #9 (I have houses in both areas) considering it rains 9 months straight...
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I was pretty amazed L.A. was on the list, that's for sure. I had to spend about 4 weeks in L.A., and I was ecstatic to get back to S.D., where I can ride out of my garage and go 80 miles in virtually any direction (except west LOL), with bike lanes, relatively good roads, and, for the most part, drivers who accept our right to be on the road. That's hardly the case in L.A. I think the article must have been written based on the press releases from city halls, rather than feedback from actual cyclists.
San Diego county, while way ahead of LA, IMO, has its ups and downs. I'm much more familiar with North County than the city proper. Carlsbad and Oceanside are pretty good. Carlsbad even resurfaced all their bike lanes along 101.
Encinitas, Solana Beach, La Jolla, and Rancho Santa Fe are pretty bad as far as road conditions go, especially along 101. Considering that on the weekends there must be over 1,000 cyclists going over these roads, it would be nice if they did something about it, but I'm not holding my breath.
San Diego county, while way ahead of LA, IMO, has its ups and downs. I'm much more familiar with North County than the city proper. Carlsbad and Oceanside are pretty good. Carlsbad even resurfaced all their bike lanes along 101.
Encinitas, Solana Beach, La Jolla, and Rancho Santa Fe are pretty bad as far as road conditions go, especially along 101. Considering that on the weekends there must be over 1,000 cyclists going over these roads, it would be nice if they did something about it, but I'm not holding my breath.
#10
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I hope this is a reflection of a lot of cities having done a lot of work to make their cities more bike-friendly. I was halfway hoping to see Ft Worth make the list this time, we have come a long way in the last couple of years with infrastructure improvements. Apparently, we arent the only city doing so.
#11
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Too many hills? Too spread out? C'mon, SD is great for cycling, if you're a CYCLIST and not an inner city commuter. Great weather, plenty of places to go. Many athletes used to live there and train--maybe it's changed. I used to love it years ago. I'm in Texas and Austin sux for cycling of any kind. Narrow roads, not enough good hills, people getting run over here all the time. I miss the mild weather too in SD, but the heat here works well to toughen you up. Torrey Pines grade is classic--wish we had it here.
But, maybe my memories of SD are way different than reality now. Mores the pity.
But, maybe my memories of SD are way different than reality now. Mores the pity.
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I get the feeling that this article is more about the fixie/short-range inner-city commuter crowd than the road cyclist. I did a group ride on Monday in North County SD and at least on five separate occasions drivers were waving at us, giving us the thumbs-up and a couple drivers actually pulled up next to us at stop lights, rolled down their window and said "have a nice ride". I can't imagine a more bike-friendly place.
Pittsburg? Really?
Pittsburg? Really?
#15
What a joke. Long beach and LA are listed? Really? You'd have to pay me to ride there regularly. Where's Irvine, CA? I'm not even sure they have a single major street in Irvine without a bike lane! Pop of 200k people certainly makes it big enough to make the list, and I doubt there's any city listed with a higher density of bike lanes.
Then there's the quote about #1, Portland:
"
Then there's the quote about #1, Portland:
"
After being named runner-up in our last round of best bike city rankings in 2010, Portland reclaims the top spot. The only large city to earn Platinum status from the League of American Bicyclists is a paragon of bike-friendliness, with 180 miles of bike lanes and 79 miles of off-street bike paths"
Irvine has 300+ miles of lanes, 60'ish miles of MUPS, and 1/3rd the population. *That* is more bike friendly than Portland.
Irvine has 300+ miles of lanes, 60'ish miles of MUPS, and 1/3rd the population. *That* is more bike friendly than Portland.
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Mayor photo op claims to be so bike friendly but whats he really done?not much.He shows up once a year at that nightmare ride downtown takes his picture with lance and you dont see him even mention biking the rest of the year.In so cal,Agoura gets my vote.
#20
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Was a little surprised Irvine only got honorable mention while LA made it to top 20 or 30? Interesting.
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Nice to see that Thousand Oaks made it on the list.
We do have a pretty nice bike route system:https://ci.thousand-oaks.ca.us/civica...p?BlobID=12311
We do have a pretty nice bike route system:https://ci.thousand-oaks.ca.us/civica...p?BlobID=12311
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Bike culture in Irvine is alive and well as far as road biking goes, and weekly crits are held in the city each summer. Probably not many hipsters or people with cargo bikes, but who's to say road biking culture isn't as good.
Nice to see that Thousand Oaks made it on the list.
We do have a pretty nice bike route system:https://ci.thousand-oaks.ca.us/civica...p?BlobID=12311
We do have a pretty nice bike route system:https://ci.thousand-oaks.ca.us/civica...p?BlobID=12311
I don't live in Irvine, and I almost never ride through there, I really just think its silly that it's not on the list. I'm impressed by the bike infrastructure every time I'm in the city.
Last edited by jmX; 05-30-12 at 10:47 PM.
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I have live here since 1971 so I have no comparisons to any other city tha San Diego. With the weather, coast, mountains I think it's a great place to ride. The city is trying to get better regarding biking making some improvements with the south bay bike route and the mission bay bridge but for inner city biking the roads just plain suck. The sdbc sent questionnaires to all the mayoral candidates and only got two responses out of four back. Filner and Fletcher. Sad since we've had several people killed already this year. Biking doesn't seem to be a priority in the city
I would say county yes. City no. The city has enormous possibilities but it's not a priority
I would say county yes. City no. The city has enormous possibilities but it's not a priority