Best Biking Cities Listed for World Bicycle Day June 3

 

LawnStarter Lists Best Biking Cities Listed for World Bicycle Day June 3

World Bicycle Day is on June 3, so Lawn Starter ranked the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on 18 key indicators of a bike-friendly lifestyle.  Among the factors they looked at are the length of bike lanes, the share of workers who bike to work, and access to bike stores and repair shops. LawnStarter also considered the air quality, weather, and availability of biking clubs in each city. Check out the 10 best (and worst) cities for two-wheelers below, followed by some highlights and lowlights from their report.

2021’s Best Biking Cities in America   Rank City 1 San Francisco, CA 2 Portland, OR 3 Fort Collins, CO 4 Eugene, OR 5 Minneapolis, MN 6 Seattle, WA 7 Washington, DC 8 Salt Lake City, UT 9 Boise, ID 10 Boston, MA 2021’s Worst Biking Cities in America   Rank City 191 Shreveport, LA 192 Murfreesboro, TN 193 Jacksonville, FL 194 Mesquite, TX 195 Chesapeake, VA 196 Montgomery, AL 197 Mobile, AL 198 Newport News, VA 199 Jackson, MS 200 Baton Rouge, LA

Highlights and Lowlights: Tennessee Lowlights: When it comes to finding a nice place to bike, pedal toward the sunset. Cities from all over the Western U.S. dominate the top of the LawnStarter ranking. How does Tennessee compare? Like many southern cities, Tennessee towns did not do well in much of the ranking. Knoxville and Clarksville are in the bottom 5 cities listed with the lowest overall biking scores. Memphis is among the cities listed with the fewest biking lanes, and Clarksville is at the bottom of the list of share of workers who bike to work. Perhaps one reason is that with a major military base located in the relatively small city of CLarksville, there isn't much need to bike to work. LawnStarter points to heat and high humidity as factors in why the South did poorly overall in rankings. Tennessee Honors: Nashville takes top honors when it comes to the fewest number of biking fatalities. Maybe it is the warm, humid weather keeping bikers off the streets, or the fact Nashville has fewer places to bike than West Coast cities, or maybe folks are just more careful here. And Knoxville is near the top of the list for roads in excellent repair.

Maybe it's time for our southern cities to invest in some shady sidewalks for bikers and hikers. The South typically does poorly in obesity surveys, Maybe more biking opportunities would alleviate some of our southern obesity and lead to more overall fitness for Southerners.