 Cyclists in Fort Collins’ Tour de Fat. Photo by Alex Chiang on flickr. |
The League of American Bicyclists publishes a ranking of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the country. For years the only 3 cities to attain the highest score of platinum were Boulder, Portland, OR, and Davis, CA. But earlier this month they added a 4th to the list: Fort Collins.
The league awards scores of platinum, gold, silver, and bronze. To score highly, a city needs not only great bike infrastructure, but also great events, great recreational trails, educational opportunities, advertising, the whole package. Colorado cities typically excel in the latter categories especially.
Until now, no state had more than 1 platinum level city. Colorado is the first. According to the complete list of award winners, Colorado also has the most gold level cities, with 4.
Here are the local awardees:
Platinum:
Boulder
Fort Collins
Gold:
Breckenridge
Crested Butte
Durango
Steamboat Springs
Silver:
Aspen
Colorado Springs
Denver
Gunnison
Longmont
Bronze:
Arvada
Carbondale
Castle Rock
Golden
Greeley
Lakewood
Summit County
Vail
Our goal must be to have Denver join the Gold list–at least– for next time.