Should Seattle really be considered the most bike-friendly city in America?

It may be difficult to believe, but Seattle is the best U.S. city for riding bicycles, according to Zillow.

Zillow recently ranked the Emerald City above Portland and San Francisco. The ranking was based on factors such as percentage of bike commuters and the duration of commutes, rentals with bike storage, and the amount of protected bike lanes.

With seven miles of protected bike lanes, those taking bikes to work have an average commute of 27 minutes, GeekWire reports.

Don’t believe that Seattle is a bike city? According to numbers released during the Alaskan Way Viaduct closure, more than 5,000 riders crossed the Fremont Bridge in one day.

Some may be proud of that fact, as there have been tremendous efforts to make biking a higher priority for the city. Others … not so much.

KIRO Radio’s Tom Tangney asked 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny O’Neil what he thought:

Tom Tangney: What’s your response? You live on Capitol Hill, does that make you proud?

Danny O’Neil: No. It kind of doesn’t make sense. With the topography and all these hills, should we be the most bike-friendly city? If you want to ride your bike, fine. But we’ve also created this protected class – they can operate as pedestrians and go on sidewalks, act as cars and ride on roads, and they have their own lanes impeding all sorts of things.

TT: If you could pass a law, would you say they should be treated as cars?

DO: Yes.

TT: Do you want them to share the roadway or have dedicated bike lanes, because that is safer?

DO: Yeah, it’s safer, but they have enough as it is. I don’t think we need to go making more.

TT: You don’t think so? We don’t have nearly enough if you want to encourage bikers.

DO: I don’t want to encourage bikers. When you decide to ride your bike in a major American city, you do so at your own peril.

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