Recent statistics show that while large U.S. cities have invested a lot in bicycle infrastructure over the past few decades, which has fueled a growth in cycling, a similar trend has been noted in small to medium-sized cities. And, even though Portland has the largest percentage of bicycle commuters of all the large cities, it still hasn’t reached the level of smaller cities such as Davis, California with 19 percent, and Boulder, Colorado with 12 percent of the population commuting by bike.
Among the explanations offered for this are that “Smaller cities may offer some advantages for cycling because their shorter trip distances are more easily covered by bike, and because lower volumes of motor vehicle traffic make cycling less stressful.” Who could argue with such reasoning?
