Minneapolis Ranked Most Bike Friendly City by Bicycle Magazine (Bloomington: tax, law)

[Jimrob1]

I live in Portland and don't understand how this city gets all this Best Bike Friendly city comments. Yes there are alot of bikes here and people riding them all over town. Thats where it ends. There are not really alot of actual bike paths separated from cars, and its a very densely packed in city to say the least. There have been a number of bike car crashes of late and I find it a dangerous city to ride it. There are bikes in the middle of the street sharing narrow space with cars buses, streetcars, light rail. Bikes on sidewalks with so many pedestrians trying to keep from being hit by one.

Minneapolis seems to have a number of actual trails for people to ride on, and I think does a much better job and is much more bike friendly that PDX. I have seen trails in MSP that are for walkers an joggers and those that are just for bikes. I definitely would say Minneapolis is the actual Bike Friendly city and I hope it keeps improving on this subject.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by moving123456

Roads are for bikes too. Riding a bike on the sidewalk is sometimes illegal.

While both of the above are true, I find it annoying when bicyclists do things like run red lights when there's no traffic and do other things which would be a traffic violation for an automobile just because they aren't a car. Walking the bike across on a crosswalk is one thing, but riding across? Is that really legal?

I could also see where that sort of activity (which I remember seeing quite a number of times on both Pilot Knob Road on Eagan and on Old Shakopee Road in southern Bloomington) would lead some car drivers to question the legitimacy of those bike riders on the roadways.

It only takes a few bad eggs to create a bias.

[MplsTodd]

I rode my bike to my office today--a bit windy, but a good day for biking in April.

I think Minneapolis has done a great job making itself friendly for biking. While the bike paths around the lakes, creeks and rivers really helped, I felt Minneapolis became a serious city for biking with the Midtown Greenway--that's an awesome amenity and makes it so easy to bike through the heart of the city.

[moving123456]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

I find it annoying when bicyclists do things like run red lights when there's no traffic and do other things which would be a traffic violation for an automobile just because they aren't a car.

It only takes a few bad eggs to create a bias.

I also find it annoying and I do ride bikes myself too. I have seen multiple bike riders get stopped and ticketed for running stop signs in St. Louis Park, but I haven't ever seen it in Minneapolis. It might happen in Minneapolis too, but I have never seen it happen and many seem to ride like they are not even slightly worried about it

[Ben Around]

I don't have a problem bicyclists not stopping for stop signs if no traffic is coming. If they start ticketing bicyclists for doing it, they better start ticketing drivers for rolling stops. There is a stop sign in front of my house and probably >80% of drivers don't come to a complete stop. I have no problem with it, as long as there is no other traffic.

[Explorer John]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

I don't have a problem bicyclists not stopping for stop signs if no traffic is coming. If they start ticketing bicyclists for doing it, they better start ticketing drivers for rolling stops. There is a stop sign in front of my house and probably >80% of drivers don't come to a complete stop. I have no problem with it, as long as there is no other traffic.

I'll slow down and roll through stop signs if nobody is around, but never stop lights. Beyond that, I'm pretty much for obeying traffic laws just as a car would. I hate seeing a cyclist in front of a line of cars at a stoplight, then dart across the road when there's a gap in traffic (often see this going down Summit and is certainly not limited to "stupid arrogant hipsters on fixed gear bikes"). Definitely doesn't set a good example or get people on the side of biking.

On a different note I'm really excited to see Nice Ride Minnesota get rolled out this summer. Awesome that the city is taking the lead on this in the US. Will be interesting to see how successful the program is.

[Radical_Car]

Here is the forum on the Portland form saying Portland is taken over by Minneapolis now. //www.city-data.com/forum/portl...-friendly.html

[DaPerpKazoo]

Regarding stop signs, I always roll them as a bike rather than powering through them like many do. One thing that I've noticed lately is that a lot of drivers (at least here in SW) have started to automatically yeild to bikes in the street as if they were pedestrians. This makes me really uncomfortable, as it sets a precedent of ambiguity that will also probably teach some people to expect cars to yeild to them at all times.

I've always been under the impression that it was illegal to ride on the sidewalk in Minneapolis. If it's not, it's certainly far more dangerous than the street is, at least at any speed faster than a six year old going around the block for the first time. And bikes DO have a right to take a lane on anything other than a freeway, and they have a right to three feet of clearance even when they're not taking a lane.

I do have to admit, I get really pissed off about bikers going the wrong way on one-ways. I almost killed a guy about two hears ago when I was driving down Lagoon and he was coming the other way, moving between the parked cars. The speed at which we were approaching eachother was probably close to 50 mph, and because of how he was ducking between the parking lane and the traffic, we couldn't see eachother until it was almost too late.

If feel like as long as you're assertive and not shy about lane splitting or taking a lane, most drivers (if they have a problem with the law) will just sit and fume to themselves, and you generally don't get yelled or honked at unless you actually do make a mistake and make a cut that you shouldn't have.

Sometimes I'll bike downtown during rush hour and bike around for awhile just to split between the rows of cars sitting in gridlock. It's my way poking fun at suburban commuters.

[kalit]

I'm confused on how Sioux Falls got on that list. The last time I was there (last summer), the only thing they had on some back roads were a bike and an arrow painted on the road, but no separate lane or anything. Also, the way people drive there, it's horrible to drive bikes there anywhere near the main streets. I usually just rode on the sidewalks though since there usually aren't too many people walking around there outside of downtown.

[Explorer John]

Originally Posted by DaPerpKazoo

Regarding stop signs, I always roll them as a bike rather than powering through them like many do. One thing that I've noticed lately is that a lot of drivers (at least here in SW) have started to automatically yeild to bikes in the street as if they were pedestrians. This makes me really uncomfortable, as it sets a precedent of ambiguity that will also probably teach some people to expect cars to yeild to them at all times.

I feel you on that one. I really don't like getting the wave while sitting in the middle of the lane at four way stops when it's not my turn to go.

Here's some info on all of the new projects being rolled out: New Projects. Taking a look at the "Existing, Funded and Planned" map is neat. Pretty damn extensive, especially if funding can be secured for all of the planned routes.