Yeah, this is a couple of years old now, but things haven’t changed a bunch around these parts since then. Being #4 bike friendly doesn’t jibe with the number of bikes stolen day in and day out in Bellingham. The #4 rating has got to be based on the wrong stuff and/or is just a bunch of marketing fluff.
Somehow the number of bikes stolen has to ding a city out of the top 10. If not, it’s like ignoring health code violations in a restaurant review. It doesn’t matter how good the food tastes when you are doubled over in front of a toilet. The same goes for bike friendly town ratings. It doesn’t matter how many trails and sharrows your town has if you walk out in the morning and your bike is gone.
On my rating sheet, Bellingham has got to do more than they are doing to squelch bike theft if they want a high rating. When I regularly see the homeless on better bikes than I can afford, then no soup for Bellingham.