Thousands took part in the World Naked Bike Ride through the streets of Portland, July 30, 2022 (KOIN)
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland has managed to be the No. 1 city for on-time airport travel, food trucks, and even weed smokers — but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. A new study says the Rose City is merely second-best for nude cyclists.
With many places like Chicago and New Orleans participating in the World Naked Bike Ride in June, online platform LawnStarter has ranked the 200 biggest U.S. cities from best-to-worst for naked bike rides.
The main categories analyzed in the study were naked biking popularity, cyclist friendliness, nudist friendliness, safety and climate.
Based on these metrics, Philadelphia was named the best overall city for naked biking.
“While there isn’t a sizable nudist population in the City of Brotherly Love, full public nudity is allowed in Philly — as long as you aren’t being ‘lewd,’” LawnStarter said. “It also is legal to be topless throughout Pennsylvania, making the city a beacon for biking in the buff.”
Portland followed closely after at No. 2. According to the website, the Rose City has the highest Google search interest for its yearly Naked Bike Ride. And although it is typically illegal for residents to expose their genitalia in public places, Travel Portland says nudity is still allowed in the form of protest or when it isn’t “lewd.”
Within the top 10 cities, Lawnstarter surprisingly says Portland is the most-likely to have decent weather for the event scheduled for Saturday, August 12.
Here is how Portland performed out of 200 cities in each individual category.
- Naked-biking popularity: No. 1
- Cyclist friendliness: No. 3
- Nudist friendliness: No. 67
- Safety: No. 43
- Climate: No. 26
Seattle, New York City and Austin, Texas, were the other places that filled out the top five.
At No. 23, Eugene was the only other Oregon city on the list.
In Washington, Spokane sat at No. 49, while Vancouver was placed at No. 59, Bellevue at No. 70 and Tacoma at No. 71.
Glendale, Ariz., Miramar, Fla., and Surprise, Ariz., were the bottom three cities.