Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/1027685
W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA NA . C O M 19 Awarded to just 30 cities, Missoula's gold-level rat- ing means scores of resident cycling enthusiasts, and visitors can safely travel as two-wheel commuters, twisting and turning down well-mapped dirt trails. According to the Destination Missoula Website, the city has worked for "more than 30 years to inte- grate and promote bicycle commuting"—from devel- oping off-street bike and pedestrian trail systems, to creating miles of urban bicycle lanes, and outfitting city buildings with bike-friendly storage. Bicycle Friendly America program director Amelia Neptune says that theirs is an opt-in program for communities to be reviewed, based on an initial application process that leads to assessments via 100 different data points in five categories: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Evaluation (Plan- ning). "Not everyone who applies gets an award, mind you," she says. "Some communities are not quite there yet." Before achieving its gold-level rating, Missoula stepped up from Bronze in 2004 to Silver in 2008 and 2012, until it reached gold status in 2016, improving in various categories including infra- structure, enforcement, education, public policy and safety. Other cities in Montana, such as Bozeman, Billings, and Helena, have all received "Bicycle Friendly America" awards from e League of American Bicyclists (LAB), Neptune says. But Mis- soula is the only city in Montana that has reached gold-level. Neptune says that the League works with "eyes on the ground" advocates by distributing surveys to cyclists in the community, and to its network of members across the country to understand an indi- vidual community and gain context. article and photos by LORI GRANNIS T HERE'S SO MUCH TO LOVE ABOUT MISSOULA: POWDER SKIING, BLUE RIBBON TROUT STREAMS, AND A CHARMING, ECLECTIC DOWNTOWN FILLED WITH GALLERIES AND FOODIE-FRIENDLY HAUNTS. It's a town that draws people in for visits who then relocate here. Now that the city has earned a gold-level rating as a "bicycle friendly community" from the League of American Bicyclists, it's just one more reason to love living in the Garden City. L E V EL B I K I N G T R A I L S