Seattle is a bikeable metropolis, according to Walk Score, a Seattle-based developer that seeks to help buyers and renters find transit-friendly communities. The Bike Score rates cities by factoring bike lanes, hills, road connectivity, and the percentage of people in an area who commute by bike. Cities with scores of 70-100 are considered “very bikeable,” those with 50-69 “bikeable,” and those under 50 only “moderately bikeable.” When Bike Score first published its ratings in May of 2012, Minneapolis and Portland topped the list at 79 and 70, respectively, while Seattle posted a solid 64, coming in seventh place.
With the amount of hills in Seattle, the city is bound to trail Portland, which is geographically flatter. A study by Adam Bejan Parast, writer for Seattle Transit Blog, compared the two cities’ street connectivity, bike facilities, land use, slope and “barriers.” Parast concluded that downtown Portland is more accommodating to bikers, following the pattern of many European cities with heavily populated urban environments offering a high-quality non-motorized transportation network, safe bicycle facilities, and terrain that is more or less level. In contrast, Seattle’s infrastructure supports “islands” of bikeable communities rather than high connectivity between neighborhoods or districts.
According to Inman News, the Bike Score has added new ratings for U.S. areas not previously measured. Eugene, Ore., came out higher than her sister city, Portland.
- Cincinnati (Bike Score: 37)
- Austin, Texas (45)
- Pittsburgh (39)
- Philadelphia (68)
- Miami (57)
- Oakland, Calif. (57)
- Houston (49)
- Los Angeles (54)
- Eugene, Ore. (75)
- San Diego (48)