As I'm interested in running while travelling, I was wondering what other folks think are the most friendly cities to run. With "friendly", I mean having ample public green-space, some real running/walking/biking trails, enough quiet streets, neighborhoods that you don't feel nervous about jogging through in the dark, and having enough scenic spots to keep it interesting.
An unfriendly city would be one full of freeways/railways/industrial areas blocking your way, few parks, loud traffic everywhere, dodgy neighborhoods: somewhere that you'd rather escape from to do your run.
To start it off, here's my humble opinion:
Most friendly: Sydney, AUS. Sydney has huge amounts of scenic, quiet waterfront, with little coves and parks, surrounded by pleasant neighborhoods, plus the entire beach coastline is connected by trails. And there are some large parks in convenient locations: Centennial Park, the Domain, etc. Beautiful Sydney is a running paradise!
Most unfriendly: Las Vegas. There are too many streets that dead-end at the I-15 freeway, many intersections have no pedestrian crossings, and it's really hot most of the year. Of course, most people aren't there for outdoor sports, are they?
A last note: I'll compile the results for my running-routes blog at www.joggingroutes.org
Keith
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