America's Most Bikeable Neighborhoods and Cities

Congrats Davis, CA! You have three of America's most bikeable neighborhoods. Based on a scoring system that takes into account bike lanes, hills, destinations and road connectivity, Walk Score determined that the northern California city has the most to offer for avid cyclists. Three neighborhoods in Davis were given perfect scores; three other neighborhoods -- in Madison, WI; Boulder, CO; and Eugene, OR—also scored perfect 100s for bikeability.

Davis' motto is "Most bicycle friendly town in the world" and it looks like they're living up to their promise. Davis residents own more bikes than cars. The college town, home to the UC Davis Aggies, boasts an impressive network of bike lanes, owed largely to the town's flat terrain. In fact, an impressive 95 percent of Davis streets have bike lanes. In 2006, the city was the first to win the Platinum Bicycle-Friendly Community (BFC) Award by the League of American bicyclists. Bike on, Davis. In the last ten years, the city has allocated $14 million on bike projects. There is an active and ongoing effort to keep Davis bicycle-friendly and it's been incredibly successful, making Davis a model for cities and neighborhoods around the country.

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As for the rest of the list, Sacramento, CA has a strong showing, as does Tucson, Arizona (which is the top-rated city overall). The bad news?

More than eight in 10 neighborhoods across the United States fall into the two least bikeable categories. And more than half of them — 3500 plus — are concentrated in very bottom category. Conversely, just 3.2 percent of the neighborhoods make the top-ranked category, Biker's Paradise, while another 14.6 percent can be considered Very Bikeable.

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Photo via (cc) Gabriel Amadeus