Vicious Cycle Portland is not so bike-friendly—But it could be. Here’s how.

November 1, 2007

Repeat something often enough and people will assume it’s true.

Portland is bike-friendly.

Portland is bike-friendly.

Portland is bike-friendly.

Year after year, Bicycling Magazine ranks Portland the best cycling city in the country. The League of American Bicyclists gives us a gold rating, and we may soon become the first big city to join Davis, Calif., in the coveted platinum category.

Virgin Vacations recently put Portland among the world’s “bike-friendly paradises.” Last year, the Austin American-Statesman noted, with some jealousy, that Portland “lives the dream of car-bicycle equality.”

Really? Tell that to Brett Jarolimek, the 31-year-old expert cyclist who died after colliding with a garbage truck on North Interstate Avenue on Oct. 22, or to Tracey Sparling, the 19-year-old student who was crushed by a cement truck at West Burnside Street less than two weeks earlier.

BY COREY PEIN

Full Story: http://wweek.com/editorial/3351/9896/?SOURCE=RSS