Move over PDX

I came across this article at MPLS Bike Love. Is Minneapolis going to give Portland a run for its money in the number 1 spot for the most bike commuters?

The number of Minneapolis workers who commute by bicycle jumped 49 percent in 2007, according to a city report highlighting recently released U.S. Census Bureau estimates. About 7,200 city residents biked to work in 2007, up from about 4,840 in 2006.

Maybe those reports of Midtown Greenway traffic jams weren’t exaggerated. Among the nation’s 50 largest cities, Minneapolis trails only Portland, Ore., in the percentage of people who bike to work, the Census Bureau reported. About 3.8 percent of commuters rode bicycles in Minneapolis, compared to 3.9 percent in Portland.

Also of note:

Minneapolis also ranked high in other forms of green commuting.

Census data indicated about 12,000 people, or 6.4 percent of residents, walked to work last year, putting Minneapolis 9th among the 50 largest cities. Minneapolis ranked 10th in public transportation ridership with more than 25,000 commuters, or about 13.4 percent of residents, riding a bus or light rail train to work.

By comparison, the city ranked 40th for the number of people who drove alone to work.
The commuting estimates have a margin of error of plus or minus 0.8 percent. The data was gathered from long-form Census Bureau surveys completed by about 5,050 city residents in 2007.

Is Minneapolis a green alternative transportation center that has been flying under the radar? We usually look to cities like New York or San Francisco for these sort of livable cities. While Portland still is the leader in many ways, it will be interesting to see what effects the central corridor and other projects will have on Minneapolis residents commuting habits.