New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that college towns are even better at encouraging bicycle commuting than the most notable big cities (Portland, Seattle, etc); even when excluding commuting for school. What's their secret?
"Here's a secret you won't hear often: The United States has many cities where biking is far more popular than in Portland," writes Michael Andersen. "They're called college towns. And it's time for urban planners to stop ignoring how well they work and start learning from them."
College towns such as Davis (19.1%), Boulder (12.1%) and Palo Alto (9.5%) have percentages of workers commuting by bike that put cities such as Portland (6%) to shame. Andersen reviews some of the lessons that college towns can offer their big city brethren:
- Universities breed 20-minute neighborhoods
- Universities create car-free spaces
- Universities use public spaces to enable density
- Universities charge for auto parking
FULL STORY: 4 things U.S. college towns could teach planners about biking
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research