A very interesting look at how Groningen, a city in the north of the Netherlands, has become a wonderful place to cycle via a combination of serendipity and design. From a medieval times as a fortress city that prevented sprawl to a controversial transportation development plan in the 1970s, a number of unique factors have contributed to the genesis of this amazing bicycling culture. My favorite result? By consistently favoring cycling and pedestrian traffic over automobiles, the city center is very quiet. It’s something that I never noticed as a child on my visits there with family, but appreciate very much as an adult.
I imagine that cycling is deterred during their snowy winters. How do they manage to get around then?
They roll on!