people for bikes city ratings

[mschwett]

this is sometimes an interesting look, updated people for bikes ratings of bike infrastructure in the US, Canada, and selected (not sure by what metric) other countries.

of course the top five of any significant size in the US are all college towns, and the top two are in Northern California.

1 davis, ca. (81)
2 berkeley, ca (73)
3 corvallis, or (71)
4 boulder, co (70)
5 cambridge, ma (68)

for large cities (over 500k) the results are slightly more surprising!

1) minneapolis (72)
2) seattle (66)
3) san francisco (63)
4) st paul (62)
5) new york (61) interestingly they also listed the boroughs separately, and brooklyn would have been #1 at 73, were it a separate city)

globally, Paris had the highest score for a mega city at 89 (!!!) with munich close behind (85) and then Barcelona (79) and Berlin (78.) a sorry state of affairs when the highest US college town doesn’t come to multi-million population cities/metros in Europe!

some cities that have good reputations for cycling, but didn’t break out of mid pack, and some cities that are about as bad as you’d expect :

Denver (47)
Boston (35)
San Diego (33)
Los Angeles (25)
Chicago (11)
Houston (11)

of course people will quibble with the methodology, but there is a clear methodology which goes beyond anecdotal or opportunistic experience.

Explore the City Ratings | PeopleForBikes 2025 City Ratings

Browse over 2900 cities across North America and see how they rank for biking.

cityratings.peopleforbikes.org

the network access score is the most interesting part, which ranks how many useful destinations can be reached from a given census block without using high stress routes. this is really the meat of the analysis imo, since a lot of places have some nice scenic trails and paths but gaping holes in the network or traffic conditions that would allow one to actually use a bicycle for a wide range of tasks and recreation.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

globally, Paris had the highest score for a mega city at 89 (!!!) with munich close behind (85) and then Barcelona (79) and Berlin (78.) a sorry state of affairs when the highest US college town doesn’t come to multi-million population cities/metros in Europe!

I wonder why Amsterdam and Copenhagen were not top rated.

What makes Copenhagen the world’s most bicycle friendly capital? | Visit Copenhagen

By James Thoem, Copenhagenize

www.visitcopenhagen.com

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

San Diego (33)

Not surprised that San Diego proper scored low. Network access is poor nearly everywhere I've ridden there.

Thankfully, I ride mostly in coastal "North County" (Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, and adjoining inland areas), where the bike infrastructure and network access are generally much, much better from personal experience.

The scores, however, don't reflect this. They rate Carlsbad below San Diego, and Oceanside above both. In my experience, network access is vastly better in Carlsbad than in either Oceanside or San Deigo.

 

[mschwett]

Not surprised that San Diego proper scored low. Network access is poor nearly everywhere I've ridden there.

Thankfully, I ride mostly in coastal "North County" (Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, and adjoining inland areas), where the bike infrastructure and network access are generally much, much better from personal experience.

The scores, however, don't reflect this. They rate Carlsbad below San Diego, and Oceanside above both. In my experience, network access is vastly better in Carlsbad than in either Oceanside or San Deigo.

take a deep dive into their methodology, it’s pretty thorough. it’s fairly heavily weighted towards utility riders, so it had me asking questions like “how many of the grocery stores within a couple miles could i ride to without using any high stress routes?” ditto for schools, churches, movie theaters etc etc

the answer will probably surprise you. they disqualify a trip for using any high stress routes.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

I wonder why Amsterdam and Copenhagen were not top rated.

What makes Copenhagen the world’s most bicycle friendly capital? | Visit Copenhagen

By James Thoem, Copenhagenize

www.visitcopenhagen.com

Yes, Amsterdam immediately came to mind, probably the oldest with major bike infrastructure. Malmo pretty good as well, or was 20 years ago when I visited. But Amsterdam is the only city I've cycled in where bikes have right of way at junctions over cars, who have to wait instead.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Copenhagen is impressive, too. I cycled there during the pandemic.

Copenhagen is notable for a big number of cargo e-bikes, many of them made in Freetown Christiania.

Danes hardly ride e-bikes in Copenhagen: Short commute distances and a single climb (achievable even for me on the pedal power and a 3-gear IGH).

 

[scottsdalecommuter]

i cycled a few weeks ago in Chicago while there for a conference and found it to be a very nice and effective way to get around-they have rentable e-bikes that we used that were cheap and easy to ride and had a nice front basket for our bag. my wife was less sure with the traffic, and then quickly realized the cars are barely moving with so much traffic so it's pretty safe. we were only downtown for our visit so can't speak to the rest of the city. when we would go to dinner, we would ride the back there and they have places you lock them up so your trip ends, then we would walk around the city on our way back. we had a very nice time biking in Chicago!

 

[PedalUma]

I had not heard of Corvallis, OR before. It sounds really nice. I would live in any of the top five. And it is interesting that they are all college towns with good food and bookstores.

 

[Chazmo]

this is sometimes an interesting look, updated people for bikes ratings of bike infrastructure in the US, Canada, and selected (not sure by what metric) other countries.

of course the top five of any significant size in the US are all college towns, and the top two are in Northern California.

1 davis, ca. (81)
2 berkeley, ca (73)
3 corvallis, or (71)
4 boulder, co (70)
5 cambridge, ma (68)

for large cities (over 500k) the results are slightly more surprising!

1) minneapolis (72)
2) seattle (66)
3) san francisco (63)
4) st paul (62)
5) new york (61) interestingly they also listed the boroughs separately, and brooklyn would have been #1 at 73, were it a separate city)

globally, Paris had the highest score for a mega city at 89 (!!!) with munich close behind (85) and then Barcelona (79) and Berlin (78.) a sorry state of affairs when the highest US college town doesn’t come to multi-million population cities/metros in Europe!

some cities that have good reputations for cycling, but didn’t break out of mid pack, and some cities that are about as bad as you’d expect :

Denver (47)
Boston (35)
San Diego (33)
Los Angeles (25)
Chicago (11)
Houston (11)

of course people will quibble with the methodology, but there is a clear methodology which goes beyond anecdotal or opportunistic experience.

Explore the City Ratings | PeopleForBikes 2025 City Ratings

Browse over 2900 cities across North America and see how they rank for biking.

cityratings.peopleforbikes.org

the network access score is the most interesting part, which ranks how many useful destinations can be reached from a given census block without using high stress routes. this is really the meat of the analysis imo, since a lot of places have some nice scenic trails and paths but gaping holes in the network or traffic conditions that would allow one to actually use a bicycle for a wide range of tasks and recreation.

My son is moving to Brooklyn soon. I may have to give him a bike just to get him started!

 

[Bicyclista]

Not surprised that San Diego proper scored low. Network access is poor nearly everywhere I've ridden there.

Thankfully, I ride mostly in coastal "North County" (Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, and adjoining inland areas), where the bike infrastructure and network access are generally much, much better from personal experience.

The scores, however, don't reflect this. They rate Carlsbad below San Diego, and Oceanside above both. In my experience, network access is vastly better in Carlsbad than in either Oceanside or San Deigo.

Yes, @Jeremy McCreary, North County has it much better than San Diego proper, and it's even worse as you go south to Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, and San Ysidro. (And forget about going east to La Mesa, El Cajon, Santee, or Spring Valley.) But even as bike infrastructure in San Diego is middling at best, the rides are varied and interesting. Riding around San Diego Bay, even via a disconnected network, you go through downtown, shipyards, industrial, waterways, a salt mine, suburban, wildlife preserves, sand dunes, ocean views, bay views, golf course, high rise condos, the Hotel Del, and a ferry back to downtown. If you go all the way to the border with Mexico, you ride through horse country and a nature preserve. The view of the border fence dying into the waves of the Pacific Ocean is satisfying in a symbolic way. And then there is the San Diego River bikeway, where you can see birds of the Pacific Flyway come and go year round.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

But even as bike infrastructure in San Diego is middling at best, the rides are varied and interesting. Riding around San Diego Bay, even via a disconnected network, you go through downtown, shipyards, industrial, waterways, a salt mine, suburban, wildlife preserves, sand dunes, ocean views, bay views, golf course, high rise condos, the Hotel Del, and a ferry back to downtown. If you go all the way to the border with Mexico, you ride through horse country and a nature preserve. The view of the border fence dying into the waves of the Pacific Ocean is satisfying in a symbolic way. And then there is the San Diego River bikeway, where you can see birds of the Pacific Flyway come and go year round.

Thanks for all the ideas! Exploring by ebike is the best!

We've put the bikes on the train for rides on Coronado Island (including the Hotel Del) and all over the Old Town and Mission Bay areas. The train got much easier when I switched from a 70 lb to a 38 lb bike.

You've inspired me to move up our next target — the city waterfront, including the shipyards, and some of the famous food trucks. After that, it's Point Loma, Sunset Cliffs and environs.

Have had my eye on the San Diego River through the Mission Trails area but will have to see if I can add that bikeway to the trip.

Do you still live and ride in the area?

 

[Bicyclista]

Thanks for all the ideas! Exploring by ebike is the best!

We've put the bikes on the train for rides on Coronado Island (including the Hotel Del) and all over the Old Town and Mission Bay areas. The train got much easier when I switched from a 70 lb to a 38 lb bike.

You've inspired me to move up our next target — the city waterfront, including the shipyards, and some of the famous food trucks. After that, it's Point Loma, Sunset Cliffs and environs.

Have had my eye on the San Diego River through the Mission Trails area but will have to see if I can add that bikeway to the trip.

Do you still live and ride in the area?

Yes, I live in Hillcrest and bike from my condo.

Regarding Sunset Cliffs and Point Loma, you can ride one of the trails in Sunset Cliffs Park up to Lomaland Drive (you cannot do this in a car). You are then inside the campus of Point Loma Nazarene College. From there you can ride to the tip of Point Loma and down to the tidepools, which are best seen at low tide, of course. In fact, you can ride down from Carlsbad on 101, through Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, the UCSD campus, Gilman Drive, along Rose Creek, Mission Bay, the San Diego River bikeway, Ocean Beach, and Sunset Cliffs. Just make sure you carry an extra battery to ride back home!