In case you haven't noticed, a lot of Portland commuters prefer to get there from here on bicycles.
Whenever someone releases a list of the nation’s most bike-friendly cities, Stumptown is at or near the top. But on a micro level, how do the city’s individual neighborhoods -- or "communities" -- stack up against other major metropolitan areas?
Well, once again, Portland kicks bike seat.
At least that's the conclusion of CityClock.org, which did an analysis after some things about a 2012 list of America's Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities didn't add up.
Using U.S. Census commuting data, the online magazine compiled an inventory of the top 10 cycling neighborhoods “based on actual proportion of people commuting by cycling (bike mode share).”
Portland dominates, with four neighborhoods (actually, since City Clock combined some, the number is closer to six), in the top 10. Hosford-Abernethy -- Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard to Powell Boulevard and 29th Avenue to the Willamette River, including the Little Amsterdam of Ladd's Addition -- is the nation’s best urban community for bicyclists, according to the data dive.
A whopping 26 percent of trips in the area likely are made on bicycle, the Census analysis shows.
Check out the top 10:
10. Lower West Side in Chicago, Illinois. (Highest proportion of daily commuting bike trips in the area: 15.7 percent; average proportion of bike mode share in the area: 15.7 percent.)
9. Sunnyside in Portland. (Highest proportion of commuting bike trips in the area: 16.9 percent; average proportion of bike mode share in the area: 16.9 percent.)
8. Alamo Square in San Francisco. (Highest proportion of bike trips in the area: 17.8 percent; average proportion of bike mode share in the area: 17.8 percent.)
7. Arbor Lodge in Portland. (Highest proportion of commuting bike trips in the area: 18.5 percent; average proportion of bike mode share in the area: 18.5 percent.)
6. Humboldt Park in Chicago. (Highest proportion of bike trips in the area: 18.8 percent; average proportion of bike mode share in the area: 18.8 percent.)
5. Bywater in New Orleans. (Highest proportion of bike trips in the area: 18.9 percent; average proportion of bike mode share in the area: 18.9 percent.)
4. Pennsport in Philadelphia. (Highest proportion of bike trips in the area: 20.2 percent; average proportion of bike mode share in the area: 18.8 percent.)
3. Spruce Hill in Philadelphia. (Highest proportion of bike trips in the area: 21.9 percent; â¨average proportion of bike mode share in the area: 19.75 percent.)
2. Humboldt, King, and Boise in Portland. (Highest proportion of bike trips in the area: 22.2 percent; average proportion of bike mode share in the area: 19.4 percent.)
1. Hosford-Abernethy (including Buckman) in Portland. (Highest proportion of bike trips in the area: 25.9 percent; average proportion of bike mode share in the area: 21.5 percent.)
On a second list examining the top college and universities in the country, Eugene ranks fourth. (No surprise: The bike mecca of Davis, Calif., tied with Palo Alto for first place.
-- Joseph Rose