10 new cities labeled Bicycle Friendly; Boulder goes platinum

The final results are in, and the League of American Bicyclists has added 10 new cities to its list of 96 Bicycle-Friendly Communities.

The League also granted four-year renewals to 19 cities that previously had been named bicycle friendly. In the biggest announcement, Boulder, Colorado, was elevated to platinum level, joining Davis, California, and Portland, Oregon, in those lofty heights of the friendliest of friendlies.

I've already reported Seattle's choice as a gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community while they hosted the international Pro Walk / Pro Bike Conference earlier this month. Other cities added for the first time:

Gold
Seattle

Silver
Wood River Valley, Idaho

Bronze
Arvada, Colo.
Billings, Mont.
Claremont, Calif.
Columbia, S.C.
Oceanside, Calif.
Roseville, Calif.
Salem, Ore.
Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Amazing. It's heavily weighted to communities west of the Mississippi. The list of renewed Bicycle Friendly communities has a few more representatives from the eastern states (check the bronze category):

Platinum
Boulder, Colo.

Gold
Fort Collins Colo.
Jackson and Teton County, Wyo.
San Francisco, Calif.
Stanford University, Calif.

Silver
Olympia, Wash.
Presidio of San Francisco, Calif.

Bronze
Brunswick, Maine
Carmel, Ind.
Carrboro, N.C.
Lawrence, Kan.
Louisville, Ky.
Mountain View, Calif.
Orlando, Fla.
Roswell, Ga.
Sacramento, Calif.
San Jose, Calif.
South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
St. Petersburg, Fla.

If you're looking  for cities in the Eastern and Central times zones, they're in the “honorable mentions“:

Baltimore, Md.
Bowling Green, Ky.
Cedar Falls, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Doylestown, Pa.
Fayetteville, Ark.
Ocean City, N.J.
Ogden, Utah
Pittsfield, Mass.
Rochester City & Monroe County, N.Y. 

These cities are stitching bicycles into their fabric, but need to establish records in two or more of the categories that reviewers consider: education, engineering, enforcement, encouragement and evaluation.

Andy Clarke, president of LAB, couldn't say too many good things about Boulder in a press release:

“Boulder well deserves the platinum designation,” said Clarke, “because they are actually delivering the quality of life benefits to which so many other communities aspire. The number of single occupant vehicles is falling; bike use, walking and transit is increasing. People can get almost everywhere in town by bike – and it’s a normal thing to do.”

The League of American Bicyclists lists all the Bicycle Friendly Communities on a map those shows their  locations in 32 states.

That's a photo of a bridge into Folsom from the bike trail along the American River in the Sacramento metro area. Folsom is a silver level community