The Chainlink

NYC vs. Chicago

I just spent the weekend in New York and had the opportunity to ride CitiBike around Manhattan.

Previously, I thought that Chicago was a better city for cycling: more bike lanes and less crazy drivers.

Now, I think New York has surpassed Chicago. It felt like almost every street had a bike lane. And the bike lanes generally felt wide and generous, not squeezed in the door zone like a lot of the lanes I'm used to here.

I did encounter a number of trucks parked in the lanes. And one has to be far more alert for pedestrian jaywalking there.

Anyone else have similar or different experiences?

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Permalink Reply by Michelle S on May 6, 2014 at 8:39am

I have to confess I rarely ride bikes in other cities, and I didn't ride in NYC when I was there last summer. However, some of the things I noticed were that the long north-south protected lanes on some streets looked nice, and the old-style bike lanes on the quiet east-west side streets in the Upper West Side looked very calm and inviting. Overall, though, I was struck by how much the distances are so much greater in Manhattan -- not to mention the other four boroughs -- than Chicago. Also, I'd forgotten how narrow and HILLY the streets are in the Wall Street area. I would not like to bike in there at all. I can't imagine trying to get up a big hill on a heavy bike share bike.

Permalink Reply by Robert Underwood on May 6, 2014 at 8:47am

Never ridden there myself but I would sure like to experience it to see what the differences are between our cities. 

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on May 6, 2014 at 9:05am

Yes, agreed!

I forgot to mention, though: there is way way way more salmoning in New York because the PBLs on the avenues are so wide and people don't want to travel all the way over to the next avenue to go in the "proper" direction. :)

Michelle Stenzel said:

the long north-south protected lanes on some streets looked nice, and the old-style bike lanes on the quiet east-west side streets in the Upper West Side looked very calm and inviting.

Permalink Reply by H2 on May 6, 2014 at 10:17am

I haven't ridden the citibikes in NY so I can't completely compare them. When I am there I am spending more time in the boroughs which I think is why I still think Chicago tops NY since we have more connections to the neighborhoods. And to go along with what someone else wrote - the distances are much more in NY. I would not want to take any of the heavy bike share bikes over the bridges in NY! The underpasses here give enough of a workout! :)

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on May 6, 2014 at 11:50am

Go up to Montreal and rent a bike there.  It's pretty cool.  Washington DC is not bad, either, downtown.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on May 6, 2014 at 3:23pm

Manhattan is Manhattan a mile and a half wide and 12 miles or so long.

It's nice they have a bike trail along the entire circumference but there's really no side streets or alleys until you go out to Brooklyn, Queens.

I guess if you're fortunate enough to be able to live AND work in Manhattan and commute by bike it would be great, for the rest of us who don't make that kinda money looks like we need to bike elsewhere.

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