4 ms·

This article claims San Francisco is a "great biking city". Are you kidding me? It's dangerous as hell, I never felt safe biking there. Come to Portland an

This article claims San Francisco is a "great biking city". Are you kidding me? It's dangerous as hell, I never felt safe biking there. Come to Portland and you'll see what a real biker-friendly city is.

jacquesm 10y ago
> Come to Portland and you'll see what a real biker-friendly city is. Come to Amsterdam instead.
- andai 10y ago
  Indeed, Amsterdam is so biker-friendly that it is a hazard to pedestrians!
  - jacquesm 10y ago
    That's a good point actually, but the scooters are far more dangerous to both pedestrians and cyclists than the cyclists are to the pedestrians. Most pedestrian-cyclist collisions end with a 'sorry' or a bunch of cursing, rarely with an ambulance.
    - URSpider94 10y ago
      Yes! The Dutch should really ban bromfiets from the bike lanes.
- sixQuarks 10y ago
  Amsterdam is 5,448 miles from SF. Portland is 635 miles from SF Amsterdam is 8.57 times further away than Portland In my personal estimate, Amsterdam's bike friendliness is about 6 times that of Portland. Therefore, it still makes more sense on a bang-for-buck basis, for an SF resident to check out Portland vs Amsterdam.
  - jacquesm 10y ago
    I'll throw in the 'more fun' factor then, which by my estimate is at least 20 ;)
    - sixQuarks 10y ago
      I'm not so sure about that. There are some biker dedicated "highways" in Portland, and even a large bridge that is off-limits to cars. I've been to Amsterdam several times, while I agree it's more fun, it's definitely not 20 times as fun. I'd say 6 is about right.
      - jacquesm 10y ago
        Hm, still 3 to go then. Guess I won't be buying you dinner then! But if you ever do make it past that hurdle let me know and consider yourself invited.
        sixQuarks 10y ago
        come to Portland, we'll ride around, and I'll buy you a beer. I think you'll change your mind
- frenchman_in_ny 10y ago
  Didn't Amsterdam have a "park it anywhere" bike share system about ~20 years ago? The white bikes, which if memory serves mostly ended up in pieces, in the canals, chained up to people's front steps, or repainted and sold by drug addicts for next to nothing.
vijayp 10y ago
Agreed -- I feel far safer biking around in Manhattan then sf. There are way more separated lanes in NY, traffic moves much more slowly, there are no tram tracks, and the lack of right on red makes it less likely I'm going to get run over by an inattentive driver.
lexap 10y ago
Try Vegas. Compared to most American cities, SF is pretty bikeable. Of course I want it to be better as an SF biker myself, but still it's pretty good compared to the norm.
draw_down 10y ago
I wouldn't ride a bike in SF for several reasons.
dang 10y ago
I bike in SF all the time and think it's great!
- WillyOnWheels 10y ago
  I love biking in San Francisco but I have a death wish.
  - dang 10y ago
    Please don't have a death wish.

jacquesm 10y ago

> Come to Portland and you'll see what a real biker-friendly city is. Come to Amsterdam instead.

andai 10y ago
Indeed, Amsterdam is so biker-friendly that it is a hazard to pedestrians!
- jacquesm 10y ago
  That's a good point actually, but the scooters are far more dangerous to both pedestrians and cyclists than the cyclists are to the pedestrians. Most pedestrian-cyclist collisions end with a 'sorry' or a bunch of cursing, rarely with an ambulance.
  - URSpider94 10y ago
    Yes! The Dutch should really ban bromfiets from the bike lanes.
sixQuarks 10y ago
Amsterdam is 5,448 miles from SF. Portland is 635 miles from SF Amsterdam is 8.57 times further away than Portland In my personal estimate, Amsterdam's bike friendliness is about 6 times that of Portland. Therefore, it still makes more sense on a bang-for-buck basis, for an SF resident to check out Portland vs Amsterdam.
- jacquesm 10y ago
  I'll throw in the 'more fun' factor then, which by my estimate is at least 20 ;)
  - sixQuarks 10y ago
    I'm not so sure about that. There are some biker dedicated "highways" in Portland, and even a large bridge that is off-limits to cars. I've been to Amsterdam several times, while I agree it's more fun, it's definitely not 20 times as fun. I'd say 6 is about right.
    - jacquesm 10y ago
      Hm, still 3 to go then. Guess I won't be buying you dinner then! But if you ever do make it past that hurdle let me know and consider yourself invited.
      - sixQuarks 10y ago
        come to Portland, we'll ride around, and I'll buy you a beer. I think you'll change your mind
frenchman_in_ny 10y ago
Didn't Amsterdam have a "park it anywhere" bike share system about ~20 years ago? The white bikes, which if memory serves mostly ended up in pieces, in the canals, chained up to people's front steps, or repainted and sold by drug addicts for next to nothing.

vijayp 10y ago

Agreed -- I feel far safer biking around in Manhattan then sf. There are way more separated lanes in NY, traffic moves much more slowly, there are no tram tracks, and the lack of right on red makes it less likely I'm going to get run over by an inattentive driver.

lexap 10y ago

Try Vegas. Compared to most American cities, SF is pretty bikeable. Of course I want it to be better as an SF biker myself, but still it's pretty good compared to the norm.

draw_down 10y ago

I wouldn't ride a bike in SF for several reasons.

dang 10y ago

I bike in SF all the time and think it's great!

WillyOnWheels 10y ago
I love biking in San Francisco but I have a death wish.
- dang 10y ago
  Please don't have a death wish.