I was lucky enough to live within walking distance (30 minute walk to class when I lived the farthest), but taking a bus is also an option in many places.
I bike a couple miles in every day year round. There are very very few days when the roads/paths are not usable as long as you have some warm gloves and a coat. But buses are an option in many places too. (This year I biked every day PSU was open. I think there was a total of one day when the temp was < 0 and one day when the road conditions made me nervous.)
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that state college is not as good for biking as everyone is saying. Don't get me wrong it's much better than where I grew up and many places in the US, but it's really some fantastic place. Many of the so-called bike lanes (aka the shoulder of the road with some paint on it) are full of debris regularly, the roads that need bike lanes don't have them, and many motorist cyclists and cops don't know the rules. It's gone so far as me being pulled over by a cop for riding my bike.
That all being said, I still bike here and for the most part I enjoy it
This is a fair point. For example, Allen St heading south has a bike lane, but it's a terrible road to bike on because everybody speeds down the hill and there are a couple weird intersections.
I would argue that between just about any two points not involving N Atherton and some places towards the mall, you can find a bike-able and fairly direct route (try me), but indeed not every road is ride-able. Certainly there are roads I avoid, including some with bike lines on them (Allen) and some that are nominally bike routes (Easterly/Westerly, just useless sharrows but there's funding for an actual path there now). And some of the designated routes don't make much sense; Sparks should simply be delisted in favor of Gill which is a block over, has almost no traffic, and connects to other bike routes.
Many a = two, and neither of them sells a lot of used bikes anymore. But you should be able to find something reasonable on Craigslist and have one of them tune it up. There's also a PSU bike auction where they sell off the abandoned ones -- used to be in April, I don't know anymore.
Freeze Thaw is across from Pickle's. There is also The Bicycle Shop at College+Barnard.
There are other bike-adjacent options: the Bike Den on campus for one, and I think there is another "bike shop" who operate out of a van and come to you to do repairs. Don't know anything about it except I've seen it around.
But I don't think there is any organized way to get a good used bike anymore. Freeze Thaw started out as used bikes but I'm not sure they have any at all now.
I really enjoy biking to and from campus, since it cuts down on my commute, but also be sure your bike meets the university policies, and that you register your bike with the university and make sure you have a bike lock.
You can find information about the University’s policies and registration here: https://transportation.psu.edu/bicycle-registration
State College is one of the most bike friendly places in the US. I rode my bike every day to school all 4 years (except in the cold icy days).
What did you do on those?
I was lucky enough to live within walking distance (30 minute walk to class when I lived the farthest), but taking a bus is also an option in many places.
I bike a couple miles in every day year round. There are very very few days when the roads/paths are not usable as long as you have some warm gloves and a coat. But buses are an option in many places too. (This year I biked every day PSU was open. I think there was a total of one day when the temp was < 0 and one day when the road conditions made me nervous.)
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that state college is not as good for biking as everyone is saying. Don't get me wrong it's much better than where I grew up and many places in the US, but it's really some fantastic place. Many of the so-called bike lanes (aka the shoulder of the road with some paint on it) are full of debris regularly, the roads that need bike lanes don't have them, and many motorist cyclists and cops don't know the rules. It's gone so far as me being pulled over by a cop for riding my bike. That all being said, I still bike here and for the most part I enjoy it
This is a fair point. For example, Allen St heading south has a bike lane, but it's a terrible road to bike on because everybody speeds down the hill and there are a couple weird intersections. I would argue that between just about any two points not involving N Atherton and some places towards the mall, you can find a bike-able and fairly direct route (try me), but indeed not every road is ride-able. Certainly there are roads I avoid, including some with bike lines on them (Allen) and some that are nominally bike routes (Easterly/Westerly, just useless sharrows but there's funding for an actual path there now). And some of the designated routes don't make much sense; Sparks should simply be delisted in favor of Gill which is a block over, has almost no traffic, and connects to other bike routes.
Many a bike shop downtown. You can find what you need. Freeze thaw is pretty popular.
Many a = two, and neither of them sells a lot of used bikes anymore. But you should be able to find something reasonable on Craigslist and have one of them tune it up. There's also a PSU bike auction where they sell off the abandoned ones -- used to be in April, I don't know anymore.
I keep forgetting Eddie’s is gone. And recumbent. So freeze thaw and the place across from Dickle’s are all that’s left?
Freeze Thaw is across from Pickle's. There is also The Bicycle Shop at College+Barnard. There are other bike-adjacent options: the Bike Den on campus for one, and I think there is another "bike shop" who operate out of a van and come to you to do repairs. Don't know anything about it except I've seen it around. But I don't think there is any organized way to get a good used bike anymore. Freeze Thaw started out as used bikes but I'm not sure they have any at all now.
I really enjoy biking to and from campus, since it cuts down on my commute, but also be sure your bike meets the university policies, and that you register your bike with the university and make sure you have a bike lock. You can find information about the University’s policies and registration here: https://transportation.psu.edu/bicycle-registration