Right after this photo, Mayor Rick Kriseman put his helmet on. He swears. City of St. Pete via Flickr/CC If you wish to ride your bike in Florida, odds are, you want to ride it in St. Petersburg. That’s not only our opinion– although it is also our opinion– it’s the result of a PlacesForBikes examination. In Florida, St. Petersburg is tops with cyclists; of nearly 500 cities across the US, the ‘Burg ranks 22nd (stunning: we beat Newark). And we’re acquiring on the remainder of the country: that exact same survey states St. Petersburg ranks 11 in the “acceleration” category, which means “the pace at which conditions are improving for bicyclists.” No shock, really, when the mayor himself rides a bike– he’s ridden with this press reporter twice, and the speed he kept recommended one, this press reporter is practically out of shape and 2, the mayor isn’t really paying lip service to biking– he actually loves to ride his bicycle. Contribute to that bike lanes, bike shares and miles of public waterside along which biking is a flat, salted happiness, and now we’re a little put out that we didn’t rank higher nationally. The other Florida cities ranked– in order of “next best” to “hitchhike instead” are: Miami, Tallahassee, Key West, Tampa, Venice, Gainesville, Jacksonville, The Towns (which we’re quite sure ranks # 1 for souped-up, STD-laden golf carts, but that’s a whole other study), Orlando, Estero, Fort Lauderdale, Aventura, Melbourne, Melbourne Beach, Vero Beach, Clermont and Seminole. How the hell did we beat Gainesville? I mean, we’ll take it, but that’s … well, actually, that’s a sign of how fantastic we are. Here’s more details about the city’s score, and if you want to see how other cities throughout the country accumulate, you can learn more here.
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