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Spring 2017 Bicycle Friendly Communities Announced!

The League of American Bicyclists recognizes 37 communities with Bicycle Friendly CommunitySM awards

Today, the League of American Bicyclists recognized 37 communities with Bicycle Friendly Community awards out of 50 applicants. This round saw six communities move up from an Honorable Mention to Bronze, nine communities receive a Bronze award on their first application, and 22 communities renewing as BFCs, including five that moved from a Bronze to a Silver award.

These 37 communities join a group of communities, in all 50 states, that are transforming their neighborhoods. There are now 416 communities currently recognized with a BFC award for their efforts to make biking better.

BFCs by rank.jpg

This round was an amazing mix of communities, from leading communities such as Fort Collins, CO, which received a Platinum award, to communities being transformed by investments in biking such as Carrollton, GA, and communities returning to the BFC program, such as Miami Beach, FL, which re-applied after first being recognized 14 years ago. We are proud to announce the following Bicycle Friendly Community awards:

Community

State

Population

Award Level

Fort Collins

CO

161,000

Platinum

Jackson and Teton County

WY

24,000

Gold

Anchorage

AK

298,695

Silver

Appleton

WI

73,463

Silver

Colorado Springs

CO

416,427

Silver

Gainesville

FL

125,661

Silver

Golden

CO

20,330

Silver

Irvine

CA

258,386

Silver

Long Beach

CA

474,140

Silver

Miami Beach

FL

90,669

Silver

Oceanside

CA

175,948

Silver

Saint Paul

MN

300,851

Silver

St. Louis

MO

318,955

Silver

Batavia

IL

26,495

Bronze

Bethlehem

PA

75,000

Bronze

Carrollton

GA

24,388

Bronze

Cleveland Heights

OH

44,962

Bronze

Columbia

SC

133,393

Bronze

Duluth

MN

86,265

Bronze

Fairfax County

VA

1,125,385

Bronze

Kalamazoo

MI

75,000

Bronze

Kirkland

WA

87,281

Bronze

Lebanon

NH

13,474

Bronze

Los Angeles

CA

3,928,864

Bronze

Miami Shores

FL

10,800

Bronze

New Ulm

MN

13,522

Bronze

Pueblo

CO

106,595

Bronze

San Buenaventura (Ventura)

CA

109,708

Bronze

Savannah

GA

142,919

Bronze

Sierra Vista

AZ

44,286

Bronze

Silverthorne

CO

4,271

Bronze

Springfield

MO

166,810

Bronze

St. Cloud

MN

68,253

Bronze

St. George City

UT

80,000

Bronze

Sturgeon Bay

WI

9,144

Bronze

Tybee Island

GA

3,713

Bronze

Watsonville

CA

51,199

Bronze

This round, saw six communities move up from an Honorable Mention to Bronze, nine communities receive a Bronze award on their first application, and 22 communities renewing as BFCs, including five that moved from a Bronze to Silver award.

While it is impossible to cover all of the great work of these communities in a press release, please see these selected highlights showing some of the amazing efforts and examples from the communities that applied in this round.

“What stood out to me was the number of communities that adapted the program to suit their needs and used the comprehensive nature of the program,” says Ken McLeod, Policy Director of the League of American Bicyclists. “In our programming there is always a tension between simplicity, which is easier to communicate, and thoroughness, which serves our mission of building a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. It was great to see so many communities work within the comprehensive BFC program and supplement it with really incredible information, showing that they value and want more ways to engage in making biking better.”

“We applaud these communities for making improvements for people who bike in a ways that build upon their existing strengths and are based upon their particular needs, whether that is infrastructure, education or encouragement,” said Bill Nesper, Interim Executive Director at the League of American Bicyclists. “We are encouraged by the way that communities are using bicycling as a part of their solution to issues of health, job access, traffic safety and the environment and using our program to make progress in those issues. We look forward to continuing to work with these communities as part of our mission to build a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone.”

There were also 13 communities recognized with an Honorable Mention in this round:

Community

State

Population

Adrian

MI

20,861

Barberton

OH

26,234

Brevard

NC

7,609

Brookhaven

GA

51,910

Germantown

TN

40,123

Howard County

MD

313,000

La Crescent

MN

5,074

Mount Hope

WV

1,389

Sartell

MN

16,788

St. Marys

GA

17,121

The Colony

TX

39,810

Watertown

WI

23,891

West Bend

WI

31,676

About the Bicycle Friendly Community program

The BFC program provides a roadmap to building a Bicycle Friendly Community and the application itself has become a rigorous and an educational tool in itself. Since its inception, more than 800 distinct communities have applied and the five levels of the award — diamond, platinum, gold, silver and bronze — provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve.

Each community that applies for a BFC award receives a report card. The report cards for communities that receive an award are available in our award database and communities that receive an Honorable Mention have their report card available for one year after its award. Explanations of each award level and key data from each report card are available here: https://bikeleague.org/building-blocks-bicycle-friendly-communities.

To apply or learn more about the BFC program, visit bikeleague.org/community.

About the Bicycle Friendly AmericaSM Program

The Bicycle Friendly CommunitySM, Bicycle Friendly StateSM, Bicycle Friendly Business and Bicycle Friendly UniversitySM programs are generously supported by program partner Planet Bike. The Bicycle Friendly Community program was created in 1995 and has processed more than 1,200 applications since 2002. To learn more about building a Bicycle Friendly America, visit bikeleague.org/BFA.

The League of American Bicyclists is leading the movement to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. As leaders, our commitment is to listen and learn, define standards and share best practices to engage diverse communities and build a powerful, unified voice for change.

 

The Bicycle Friendly America program is generously supported by League Members.