3 Reasons to Attend Pro Walk Pro Bike

You gotta love a city that boldly professes on the side of its City Hall — “Long Beach: The most bike-friendly city in the U.S.” The industrial town just outside of Los Angeles isn’t quite to the Gold or Platinum standard just yet, but they’re certainly making incredible strides incredibly quickly. So it’s fitting that Long Beach will play host to the Pro Walk Pro Bike: Pro Place conference next month.

Hosted by Project for Public Spaces and the National Center for Bicycling and Walking, Pro Walk Pro Bike is the leading international conference on walking, bicycling, and creating great communities through placemaking. With more than 100 program sessions and mobile workshops, PWPB will not only be an opportunity to connect with hundreds of like-minded people to celebrate self-powered transportation; it will also be a chance to develop an agenda for cities and towns designed to get more people off the couch and onto their sidewalks and bicycles.

Standard registration rates end Friday, August 10, so don’t delay!

Planning to attend the National Women’s Bicycling Summit (see below)? Use promo code WSummit to get $35 off your PWPB registration. That way you can attend BOTH events for just the cost of PWPB!

Why come to Long Beach? Here are three ways the League is getting involved:

Green Lane track: The Green Lane Project, from Bikes Belong, is a new initiative working with six U.S. cities to help them build world-class cycling networks on city streets with cycle tracks and related improvements. Curated by the League, the Green Lane Track at PWPB is an opportunity for practitioners and advocates to join the Green Lane movement, learn about the importance of innovative infrastructure in building strong bicycle-friendly communities, and benefit from the lessons learned in pioneering communities. Participants will learn the essential elements of a successful campaign to get cycletracks and protected bike lanes on the ground and join the critical discussion of where we go from here.

Mikael Colville-Andersen: The League is also sponsoring the appearance of Mikael Colville-Anderson, the outspoken (often controversial) icon behind the popular blog Copenhagenize.com. As League president Andy Clarke explains on the PPS blog: “Mikael is an immensely talented presenter and speaker, very challenging and iconoclastic. Anyone who thinks they’re doing something ‘hot’ is going to get a rude awakening when Mikael comes and looks at their stuff. He is not afraid to slaughter a few sacred cows and call things out when they’re stupid, and I think we need that… He’ll do that with gusto, I’m sure, but in a very informative, helpful, and well-presented way.”

National Women’s Bicycling Summit: A separate event co-hosted by the League, the Women’s Summit will take place immediately after the PWPB conference at the same venue, from 2:30-11:30 p.m. on September 13. The Summit will provide a unique opportunity to network, share best practices and develop action steps to get more women in your community out riding. With a keynote address from Leah Missbach Day (co-founder of World Bicycle Relief) and six break-out sessions (tackling topics like equity, media and car-free families), it will provide the space for us to create a bike future where women of all backgrounds are equally represented on the streets and in the movement. Register today — this event will sell out!