When you first think of cycling cities in the US, you might think of Portland, Minneapolis or Seattle. But some of the top cycling cities are smaller communities with colleges: Like Davis, California and Ellensburg, Washington.

As the good folks at the Mountains to Sound Greenway point out in a recent blog post, Ellensburg’s biking and walking rates beat the pants off it’s much larger neighbor on the far side of the Cascades.

From MTS Greenway:

Did that headline come as a surprise to you? The findings certainly surprised me. Seattle consistently earns accolades nationally for walking and biking such as Walkscore’s 6^th most walkable large city, Walkscore’s 7^th most bikable, and Bicycle Magazine’s 10^th. However, at least in terms of U.S. Census commuting to work statistics, Ellensburg beats walking pants and cycling shorts off Seattle:

• The top three communities for walking to work are Ellensburg (17%), Roslyn (12%), and Cle Elum (11%). Way to go Kittitas!
• The top three cities for biking to work are Ellensburg (7%), Seattle (3%), and Redmond (1%).

This only tells part of the story however, as commuting to work only makes up a small part of our daily travel. People who walk and bike to do errands, go the park, visit neighbors, etc are not counted in these commuting statistics.

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