[CappyS]

Hello
I am relocating to New Haven for the upcoming academic year. While looking for housing, I'm wondering how bikeable New Haven is, and if I should look to live in certain neighborhoods that may be more practical for a bike commute to the downtown area- specifically near the hospital, on George St. Bike friendly to me means safe, and not terribly arduous (extremely hilly).
Bike friendly is, of course, third to safety of the neighborhood and affordability (under $600/room in a house). Right now I'm preliminarily looking at Westville and Amity. Maybe Beaver Hills?
Google Maps shows the Canal Heritage trail running from Hamden to downtown-- is anyone familiar with this trail? It goes right through Newhalville, which I hear is not a great place to live, what a shame.
And in any case, how bike friendly is the area by the hospital??
Just FYI, I have not done any apartment searches in person, and I'm getting most of my information through posts on other forums.
Any advice is so very appreciated! Thank you!

[nico7]

In all seriousness, the central downtown and hospital areas are not bike friendly. I did that myself (usually from Sachem St. to Cedar St.), and then soon found myself taking the less-traveled routes (longer time and distance) because many major routes were too dangerous due to the high volume of vehicle traffic and especially the aggressive driving. You can look into the local news to see the stories of (often student) pedestrian deaths and injuries in New Haven in recent years.

[Stylo]

No worse than NYC/Brooklyn but you definitely need to watch yourself. A lot of people bike in NH.

[smarcus]

You will not have to worry about hilly areas in New Haven.
Besides worrying about urban traffic, you can bike through areas fine.

-The CT Transit buses have bike racks, too.
-Also, Union Station added bike rack areas.
-There is a potential plan to have a bike sharing program.
-The Farmington Canal Trail is great. There have some high profile muggings on the trail. Currently, downtown you have to exit maybe 3/4 miles of where it will eventually end up. You can see the preliminary work at the end, but not yet complete all the way. GOOD LUCK

[nico7]

Originally Posted by smarcus

You will not have to worry about hilly areas in New Haven.
Besides worrying about urban traffic, you can bike through areas fine.

-The CT Transit buses have bike racks, too.
-Also, Union Station added bike rack areas.
-There is a potential plan to have a bike sharing program.
-The Farmington Canal Trail is great. There have some high profile muggings on the trail. Currently, downtown you have to exit maybe 3/4 miles of where it will eventually end up. You can see the preliminary work at the end, but not yet complete all the way. GOOD LUCK

There is at least one large hill: going north on Prospect St. from Sachem St towards Albertus Magnus. I would not recommend that as a bike commute.

[smackfu]

One plus is that nearly all the downtown is no-right-on-red. And many of the lights have 4-way reds to allow people to cross.

OTOH, the lanes are narrow and there is street parking on both sides of most roads so you might get doored at any time.

[JayCT]

New Haven has the second highest percentage of people who bike to work. The Elm City Cyclists are a very large and well organized group. There are bike lanes and sharrows all over the city. If you are use to biking in traffic you will not have any problems. Jay

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by JayCT

New Haven has the second highest percentage of people who bike to work. The Elm City Cyclists are a very large and well organized group. There are bike lanes and sharrows all over the city. If you are use to biking in traffic you will not have any problems. Jay

2nd highest in what?

[CappyS]

Thanks for all your feedback, you've all been very helpful!

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Stylo

2nd highest in what?

In the country. I think Portland OR is first. Jay