Yesterday I biked north to attend a presentation where Vancouver, WA received a Bronze Bike Friendly Communities award from the League of American Bicyclists.
Vancouver’s award came from the efforts of Dennis Hatton, president of the Vancouver Bicycle Club (folks pictured), and the ongoing work of some great staff, including the famous Todd Boulanger.
Andy Clarke from the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) presented the award to Mayor Royce Pollard, an occasional bike rider, at a City Council meeting. The LAB has captured the imagination and competitiveness of activists and city leaders with its Bike-Friendly Communities Ratings (half of cities that apply fail to get any award, then awards go Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum).
Vancouver, at Bronze, isn’t likely to outstrip Portland’s Gold rating any time soon. Portland is aiming to be the “first large” city to receive Platinum (Davis, CA is the only Platinum city), but may be challenged for Oregon’s first Platinum ranking by Corvallis (also Gold) or Eugene (Silver). Beaverton and Bend (Bronze) are also working to get a higher ranking.
Andy Clarke was glad to hear of our struggle with the mountain bike trails in Forest Park, as it “gives the League something to tell Portland to do.” He was on his way to the International Mountain Bike Conference in Whistler, BC.
Work to do! Of course, as an organization serving Oregon and Southwest Washington, we’ll be aiming to get all those cities (and more) to Platinum!
All bike-friendly communities and their rankings
BikePortland.org’s write-up
Oregonian story
