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Bicycle Friendly Community
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June 8, 2015by Carolyn SzczepanskiI think we can all agree: Movement is essential to the human condition... Americans, especially American drivers in the Frontier, like to believe they are free to move, but I have found free and equal mobility to be a myth. Some are in charge of it. Some are excluded or even imprisoned by it.
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June 4, 2015by Carolyn SzczepanskiIn 2013, the City of Richfield became the first suburb in Minnesota to be awarded the Bicycle Friendly Community designation in Minnesota. We've since been joined by our neighboring City of Edina but I'm still often asked by staff and bike advocates in other suburban cities: What are the key issues we should focus on to become a more bicycle friendly suburban community?
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June 3, 2015by Carolyn SzczepanskiGrowing up, cycling all over Dublin city center on the thousand-year-old narrow streets I never imagined another life, decades later, bicycling around the northern Virginia suburbs. This isn’t to say you won’t find me ferrying teenagers around in my minivan, but when I can I use my bike instead. It’s fast and it’s cheap and just seems like a nicer way to encounter the world. But nowadays when I...
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March 27, 2015by Liz MurphyThis Friday during our weekly Twitter chat, #BikeChat, we asked the question, "What does a Bicycle Friendly Community look like to you?" Bicycle Friendly Communities come in all shapes and sizes. In one you might ride past a dairy farm, with nothing but green ahead of you, and in the next you might be stopping at a bike-specific red light within a two-way cycle track on a busy city block. We work...
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March 20, 2015by Andy ClarkeWhat do Portland and Boulder have in common? They are, of course, both considered among the most bike-friendly places in the United States -- including by the League. They are two of just four Platinum level communities in our Bicycle Friendly Community program. And in recent years, both communities have dropped the ball when it comes to addressing the needs of, and providing opportunities for,...
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January 26, 2015by Darren FluschePioneered by Northeastern University Professor Peter Furth and others, Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) analysis has brought to the forefront a means to identify barriers to riding for people with a low tolerance for traffic. It's a Big Idea that's taking root across the country and we're excited to hear more on this timely topic from Tim Blagden, Executive Director of the Bike-Walk Alliance of New...
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January 22, 2015by Carolyn SzczepanskiFor many in the bike movement, Portland has an almost mythical status — earning the distinction of being the closest we've come in the United States to a major metropolitan cycling uptopia. But Portlandia faces the same challenges as the rest of urban America, including the burgeoning need to bring biking to the suburbs.
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January 16, 2015by Carolyn SzczepanskiLeah Shahum had a jarring realization in 2013. In the wake of a particularly fatal year for bicyclists and pedestrians in San Francisco, it became clear to her that the slow, piecemeal approach to create safer streets wasn't moving nearly fast enough. It was time to redraw the lines of the debate, shift the cultural compass for the city, the public and advocates to no longer accept traffic deaths...
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December 17, 2014by Liz MurphySeattle is honored to have our Gold Level Bicycle Friendly Community designation renewed. Residents and businesses continue to raise the bar and expect the delivery of first-rate, family friendly bike facilities. We are striving to meet this demand by building a citywide network that attracts people of all ages and abilities; all income levels; and all ethnicities. We are especially pleased that...
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December 3, 2014by Steve ClarkIt's official: The League reached 100 visits to communities across the country this year, helping them to create more bicycle friendly places for their residents. I completed 77 of those visits myself, so, as you can image, I have a lot of lessons to share. Here's some of what I learned.