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Where Should You Retire? MarketWatch Has Suggestions Including Bicycle Friendly Communities
Earlier this summer, the League was pleased to work with MarketWatch to bring our Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) awardees of Silver-level and above to the MarketWatch Where Should I Retire tool. Now, people looking for places to retire that welcome cyclists can use the tool to find the perfect place to settle down.
“We hear from many readers who want to bike, hike, and otherwise enjoy the outdoors. As a cyclist, I knew about the League’s Bicycle Friendly Community program and am grateful that we were allowed to incorporate it into the retirement tool,” says Silvia Ascarelli, creator of MarketWatch’s Where Should I Retire tool and author of the “Where Should I Retire?” column.
When Silvia envisioned the tool, she wanted it to stand out from the usual “Where to Retire” lists and create a tool that tailored search results to each individual’s needs and wants. “There are lots of lists of best places to live, but they always use someone else’s criteria”, says Silvia. “This lets you pick the factors most important to you.”
It came as no surprise that living somewhere welcoming to bicyclists is often a big factor for those who love to travel and explore by the seat of a bike. After numerous letters and requests from readers of the column asking where the best places to live for biking are, MarketWatch approached the League to get Bicycle Friendly Communities added to their popular search tool.
How Does It Work
Users may pick up to five “must-have” features and up to five “nice-to-have” features. Possible features include county population, political leanings, median home prices, climate risk, and now the category of bike-friendly will be included in outdoor activities. At least three choices must be selected to generate results but by placing “Bicycle Friendly” as a #1 must have, more weight will be placed on displaying counties with at least one Bicycle Friendly Community.
To help narrow down choices for users and make sure they are being presented with the most places better for biking to choose from, the search tool only includes BFCs with an award level of Silver or up. The tool’s database will be kept up-to-date as new Bicycle Friendly Communities (Silver-level or up) are awarded.
Why People Want To Live in Bicycle Friendly Communities
From bike lanes and trails to Smart Cycling classes and community-hosted bike rodeos, Bicycle Friendly Communities find different ways to make bicycling safe and welcoming for all but they all have one thing in common: they are some of the healthiest and most sought after places to work and live.
In fact, the cities with the highest percentage of adults getting the amount of physical activity recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are all Bicycle Friendly Communities. Many also choose to live in BFCs for the flexibility, and sometimes necessity, of using active transportation to get to their everyday destinations or to stay active.
The League and Marketwatch hope that adding Bicycle Friendly Communities to the Where Should I Retire tool will be an effective way to help those passionate about bikeable/walkable places narrow down their search for the perfect place to call home.