Minneapolis has been named the #1 bike-friendly city by Bicycle Magazine. In our modern society, bikes represent 'going green' by choosing not to drive cars that indirectly melt our ice caps. Many environmental experts say that it is important for humans to stop driving fossil fuel mobiles so that we don't kill our Earth. Most American cities are built to accommodate cars, not bicycles, leading to tons of non-helmet biker bro deaths every year.
I have never been to Minneapolis, and I am not sure if I ever will. Not sure how alt it is. Sort of get it confused with Michigan and Wisconsin, like they should all merge into one super-state full of white people. I know that the biggest mall in the world is in Minneapolis. Maybe people have to ride their bikes there because parking can be really bad, especially around the Christmas Holidays.
Can u believe that Minneapolis beat cities like Portland, Austin, New York City, Brooklyn, Williams Burger, San Fransisco, Apple HQ, Chicago and Suburbia, USA?
Seems like the city is really gonna try to 'brand itself' as 'being green':
"I was so excited by this news, I overinflated my bike tires," bike enthusiast Mayor R.T. Rybak said. "We've come a long way from when the first bike lanes were striped on our streets back in the 1970s. Biking is now a much better way of getting around town."
In Bicycling magazine's May edition, which hit newsstands this week, Minneapolis is noted for having a large and supportive biking community. The article also mentions the extensive infrastructure in place for cyclists here, including bike-pedestrian bridges, greenways and a bike-share program that will begin this year.
Did your city 'make the cut'? Are these cities really 'bike friendly' or is it all about mountain biking trails?
America's Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities
1. Minneapolis
2. Portland, OR
3. Boulder, CO
4. Seattle
5. Eugene, OR
6. San Francisco
7. Madison, WI
8. New York City
9. Tucson, AZ
10. Chicago
11. Austin, TX
12. Denver, CO
13. Washington, DC
14. Ann Arbor, MI
15. Phoenix/Tempe, AZ
16. Gainesville, FL
17. Albuquerque, NM
18. Colorado Springs, CO
19. Salem, OR
20. Scottsdale, AZ
21. Louisville, KY
22. Chattanooga, TN
23. Long Beach, CA
24. Cary, NC
25. Milwaukee
26. Boston
27. Philadelphia
28. Pittsburgh
29. Charleston, SC
30. Arlington, VA
31. Sioux Falls, SD
32. Boise, ID
33. Kansas City, MO
34. Columbus, OH
35. Tulsa, OK
36. Grand Rapids, MI
37. Billings, MT
38. St. Louis
39. Cleveland
40. Greensboro, NC
41. Lexington-Fayette, KY
42. Omaha, NE
43. Salt Lake City
44. Miami
45. Indianapolis
46. Fargo, ND
47. Anchorage, AK
48. Baltimore
49. Little Rock, AR
50. Rochester, NY
Should I move to Fargo / Arkansas / Montana so I can be a pure bicycle enthusiast?
Have u been to Minneapolis, is it really 'bicycle friendly'?
Is anywhere in America truly bicycle friendly, or do we need to build a cross country bike expressway?
Wonder if I should buy a fixed gear bike and move to Minneapolis. Does n e 1 know where I can find a good bike scene to become a part of? Just want to wear cut offs, drink beer, and deliver some sort of local pizza / sushi / organic product. Seems like that might be the perfect life. Just want to be like this guy, except maybe more alt.
Wonder if this news will hurt the brands of Austin + Portland.
Are cars more efficient than bicycles?
Comments
Minneapolis is 2 alt.
we have amazing music clubs, lots of vegan restaurants, multiple urban outfitters, several liberal arts colleges.
come to Minneapolis and ride the chillwaves with us.
@chilled out, it is a true testament to our alt-ness that we from Minneapolis still bike when it is below zero and snowing.
@Tom,
tru testament that you got a small wiener in the winter...all the time
@chilled out, biking in the snow/cold weather is the altest of all. it's so alt that it will never be truly popular b/c real alts can't sacrifice fashion for function when it's -35 degrees and there's ice everywhere.
@jhb,
ya ok dumbfuck using that logic lets all start wearing fucking parkas in the summer...
@chilled out,
you trendy douche.
Midwest for life.
the pacific northwest blows
@MidWest,
ya well I gess I dig being able to do drugs and cool things and not get thrown in fuckin jail...the midwest = 1984 ...bunch of fucking conservy farmers...
nobody likes the midwest cept u
...fkin bro d-bag
@chilled out, is one of those drugs you enjoy doing called Meth or PCP? SO...MUCH...ANGER.... and yeah, you should check out those minneapolis farms if you ever make it there. Try the North Side, maybe around 1 A.M.
@ND-B, GLITCH! should be @PAC NW 4 LIFE
@ND-B,
Love my crank and PCP
It is too cold in Minneapolis to bike 6 out of 12 months a year.
Copenhagen > Minneapolis
@xavierderosnay, tell that to the cyclists that live here, see them all year round, brotha
@DayGlowwed,
PAC NW > > > Europe
baby bro.... pac nw is all
baby bro....
pac nw is all pissy n rainy all day. MPL$ is so altpunkfuksexrockinhellya that you will never ever in a big boy's pants' chance step foot in this g spot city. u couldnt handle it.. so fvckn alt that everyone loox @ it like a fvckn tundra and shit. pdx has been drained of its alt juices for a while now. that shit tv show portlandia doesn't help matters for them pdx pussys and seattle is yuppie central. MPL$ gots 7,300 peeps/sq mileage in 50 sq miles in this shit... pdx only gots like 4,000 peeples/sq mile in like a whopping 100 and something sq miles. we stack em tall & proud here. come 2 tha hood where we do the most good....MPL$ i can see any type of music i want on any fvckn nite of the week...electronic, altshits, etc.. dont make no dam bit of difference. we play hard here.
4 real tho...pdx is a rad community of peeps, but MPL$ aint a ƒorce 2b fvckn with. tha bike scene is fvckn huge here, and im sure it is in pdx 2, but we gots a better music and arts scenes.
but damn... u guys got the timbers and all tha beer in tha world...fck maybe pdx is better..FVCK
peace
@HOMOSAPIEN_FUCK, ha ha. you are awesome. you are so right.
i live in tempe and it says it's #15, but i always have to bike on the sidewalk because there's always either no bike lanes or the bike lanes are literally in the middle of the street, in between two car lanes
@World Champion, got the middle of the street bike lanes in tampa bro. shit sux.
@World Champion, plus it's hot and spread out.
@World Champion, WTF are you talking about? Not in the middle of Tempe, like down Mill or Rio Salado or University.
@Dick, mill and university are pretty much the only streets i ever bike on, lol. except for i also go down college quite often, and college has some nice bike lanes
The Minneapolis accents are really annoying. Minneapolis = not alt
@scraperbike,
word
Minneapolis is all about the lakes...there's alt lake, gay lake, senior lake, bro lake, date lake, moms in stretch pants lake, grumpy old men lake... it's all bikes and strollers and walkers...
My real life bro lives in MPLS. He was riding his fixie and was hit by a bro who was txtng on his phone while driving. Insurance gave my bro 200 dollars for a new fixie. He never bought a new bike. Huge bruise = alt. Dead fixie = 200$ alt? Moral of story, MPLS bikes get in the way and are annoying even if they are my bro.
BTW I can't believe Fargo is on the list, lets just say I go there twice a month for bread and eggs and I have never seen a decent bike trail, maybe they use the sidewalks?
@Drunk Aaron Neville, let me tell you a secret about Fargo....we're nuts
minneapolis seems like a 'chill' place with plenty of alt bands (via the Hold Steadies and Replacement Bros) but i've heard that it's 'cold as balls'
Does Minny have soup?
'Does n e 1 know where I can find a good bike scene to become a part of?'
we b chillin at wall mart.
Feel like summer is just around the corner
Will alt summer fashions differ from last year?
Are Livestrong bracelets still cool? I hear you have to cut them so fish don't get stuck in 'em
every1 rides bikes there via dwi's via the replacements via feelings
Long Beach, CA 'represent'
"i wish your bike had 2 seats"
-female at the end of the night
feel like segwayz are gonna replace fixiez.
also granolaz are gonna replace meatz.
also carbon dioxides are gonna replace airz.
also robotz are gonna replace hookerz. can't wait.
minneapolis is better than you. get over it.
[your] problem / solution:
-----------------------------
cold weather / proper clothing
accents / you believe everything you see on tv?
fixie / no one rides fixie (coaster breaks, duh)
being scared of fixies / get in shape
texting while driving / don't
using words like 'alt' to be ironic/ don't bother
annoyed / stop listening
jealous / start biking
@midwestisstillbest, It's okay. This is a satire website. Making fun of the hipster genre (most of them don't know it yet) is what this site is about. And, my brother, who lives in Dinkytown, totally got hit by a driver on his actual, for real, fixed gear bike. It was not a unicorn, I assure you. Do not make MPLS look hostile, lets high five over a bowl of knoephla soup and talk about what the line up might be at Rock the Garden. Amirite?! Don't make me look more midwestern than you!!
@Drunk Aaron Neville, 'rock the garden' = maltstream
nice try tho bro
@Nipslip, I was trying to relate to his midwestern tastes. But I agree with your point.
Hunstville Allybama represent, land of independent southern rap (via Gside.) We don't even have sidewalks let alone bikelanes (via fat people and corporations owning zoning laws) but we have Chili's's's's as far as the eye can see. We also have a kewl indie record store in a hip abandoned factory. Come check it out and I'll take ya out to Chili's, yall!
so many alt minneapoltans on here 'gives me hope'
feel like 24th & Hennepin might b the nexus of the 'alt experience' [via hold steadybro]
gonna drink grain belt and watch the twins yall
naw, 26th & lyndale is where you want to go for 'authentic alt experiences' [via cc club, common roots, treehouse records]
@uptown, Ecopolitan is way more 'alt'er, what with rebelling against the Tofu Establishment of 'Vegan America' via raw food ethics. if you can't take the cold weather...shut your mouth & don't bother w/ this thread.
Damn this makes me jealous.
St. Paul is decent but I want the BEST.
EEEEUUUUUUGGGGGEEEEEENNNNNNNEEEEEE
and how the fuck are you supposed to bike in the snow?! MN my ass....
There are tons of bikers populating the campus of the liberal arts college I attend in Minneapolis. <3 seeing bros with their pant legs cuffed in class.
relevant comment about madison wi being in the top 10
@trq, madison is the most mainstream city in the usa.
is ur comment relevant because it's pointing out the irony?
@Henry, uw-madison campus is mainstream (now), but willy st is all hippies/flower gardens/glass shops. and the capitol dome is lit by color-changing rainbow lights.
bike-commuted 12 miles each way to a summer job on lake st in s mpls (from parents' house in sw 'burbs), all on one trail; must say the greenway bike path is pretty neat--just don't get bike-mugged east of 13th ave.
STUPORBOWL
Mpls is rockin'. If u can't handle the cold stay out but if ur hardcore like everyone In Mpls come join the party.
woot! Fargobro up in this joint.
You'd love it here carles, all the church pot lucks you can eat most sundays, you don't even need to sit through a boring old white dude talk about how the government is run by n-words and jews
this list is lame, can't believe rochester even got on it...there are NO bike lanes, not even a shoulder to ride my fixie on ugh
I saw an ad for Minneapolis on a plane recenlty...
it was awesome.
what about davis, california?
Williamsburg would have ranked higher but the hasidum jews r relly obnoxious bout us alt bikers. they all have big minivans 4 all their ugly children and they ignore traffic laws & they h8 us.
I feel like us billyburgers should organize against them.
wants 2 have a protest ride/critical mass down Bedford Ave against these hasidum jews 2 promote bike safety.
Does ny1 want to help me organize? I don't think trans. alt. will help me.
uni-cycles for everyone!
"i ain't never been to your little midwest town, what makes you think i'm going to your little midwest town?"
living in austin, i've seen more cyclists than any other city, but the city itself is definitely not bike friendly. it is very rare i come across a bike lane, bike posts are old, a friend just had her bike stolen by the thief just taking the rack out of the ground. there's also a big problem with car drivers, partly because of the lack of bike lanes, but still not necessary to run bikers off roads or yell at them. the bike community is strong here, but like i said, the city, not bike friendly. and why do you all feel like you have to talk like that?
Kay lemme settle this out.
Minneapolis=aight'. I say this experiencing Minn. and living in Seattle. They don't have accents in the city. PLUS Arguing over which region is better over the interwebz=fucking annoying.
Does any1 else think Portland is butthurt cuz they aren't numero uno? They like to pride themselves off of their kewlaltgranolaeatingways. I still <3 Portland tho.
@hrovirgin, midwest is best
@midwestisbest, sunchips is best
Bicycle need good roads that true ,but it do not emits co2 and many more harmful gas in the environment, Government should promote bicycle over automobiles.
I just moved from Minneapolis to Austin. I love both cities, and I'm a bike commuter--no car. Austin has a larger bike community presence, but the city is NOT very bicycle friendly. Minneapolis has 10 times the bike trails, the drivers in cars are WAY more respecting of cyclists, and YES, they have a shit-ton of all-year-long cyclists. I get yelled at by drivers all the time in Austin: "get off the road! use the sidewalk." that hardly ever happened in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis biking rocks. so does the city.
Having lived in both Madison and Minneapolis, I can say that Madison is infinitely more bike-friendly than Minneapolis. Madison has its own blocked off bike lanes while Minneapolis rarely has even a painted line (and when there is, cars are parked in it). Minneapolis even has certain areas where you're not allowed to bike during peak traffic hours. Madison has great trails as well, so that's not a weakness. A far greater number of Madison students bike to class than at the U. Finally, the amount of glass in the streets of Minneapolis makes me cringe every time I ride over it.
minnycity is so alt,best in the midwest
Im canadain bro. thats as alt
Im canadain bro. thats as alt as it gets, except if your swedish.
I just moved from NYC to
I just moved from NYC to Portland so its great that I've moved up the list of "Bike Friendly Cities". I did just purchase a used car here at http://autos.oregonlive.com since I have a need for one now.
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