This morning, the League of American Bicyclists released their list of Bicycle Friendly communities. Awards are based on the community’s promotion of biking in terms of infrastructure development, education, and encouragement, among other things. There are five levels of awards given: Diamond (though no community received a Diamond rating), Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. There is also a list of honorable mentions.
Urbana has moved up from a Bronze award in 2010 to a Gold award this year, making it the highest-rated city in Illinois! To get a feeling for how significant it is to be given a Gold rating, take a look at some of the other cities we share this rating with: San Francisco, Euguene, Seattle, Madison, etc. And so no one in CU feels left out, I should mention that Champaign was given a Bronze rating, certainly nothing to scoff at.
This is great news for all of us in the CU area. Keep up the good work, guys! Now let’s work on getting Platinum.
For more info, see the website of the League of American Bicyclists and this City of Urbana press release.
[…] around, it’s also healthy and fun. Loads of cities in the US have events on this day and as Silver and Gold Level Bicycle Friendly Communities, Champaign and Urbana are no […]
[…] be certified at the Gold level. This is particularly exciting news following the certification of Urbana and Champaign as Gold and Silver-level bike-friendly communities this past fall. Let’s see if we can’t make Platinum, the highest level, within a year or […]
[…] the community. It’s times like these that we can feel privileged to be living in certified Bike Friendly Communities. First held in 1956, Bike Month allows cyclists to come together, promote biking, and connect […]
[…] and Champaign have both made significant efforts towards making themselves bike-friendly communities, being certified at Gold and Silver levels, respectively. The Kickapoo Rail Trail will be but another way that Champaign-Urbana can build a community […]
[…] well above the well above the national average of 0.6% commuters biking to work. In Urbana, a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly City, 5.8% of residents bike to work. (I cannot find stats on the winter share, so if anyone has that, […]
[…] the Kickapoo Rail Trail is also a way that C-U can work towards Platinum bicycle-friendly status. So far Urbana is at the gold level, the only state to reach this status in Illinois, while Champaign…. While both Urbana and Champaign are great for cycling, the Kickapoo Rail Trail will offer […]
[…] their cycling infrastructure, though there are still many areas where progress can be made. Urbana is the only gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community in Illinois, and Champaign is just a bit behind, being certified at the bronze-level. UIUC is bronze-level […]