Worst cities for bike theft 2007

Guess what? DC didn't make the list of ten worst cities for bike theft this year. Here's the list according to Kryptonite

1. Philadelphia, PA
2. Chicago, IL
3. New York City, NY
4. San Francisco, CA
5. Tucson, AZ (tie)
    Portland, OR (tie)
7. Denver, CO
8. New Haven, CT
9. Cambridge, MA
10. Austin, TX

Last year, we were 4th. Eat it San Francisco. You can see all our previous placings (that I could find) here. I'm shocked. Kryptonite is a little shocked too.

Yup, I’m shocked, but that’s what the data tells us. This list is compiled by our proprietary data….input from our regional managers, hundreds of shop visits, input from colleges and universities we talk with, our customer service interactions (both over the phone/email and at events) and data from police in various cities. When we did the compilation, there wasn’t even a city close to Philly. Not even close.

There are a few other things here that are interesting….New Haven is a first timer on the list. Cambridge replaces the city across the river, Boston. No Washington, DC for the first time in a long time.

I'm note really sure what we've done to move off the list. It may be nothing (that others are slipping faster). I still read about and here about people having their bikes stolen. A friend of mine had her brand new bike stolen this week from out of her condo's common room (Cable locks are not good).

Comments

[Peter]

I do notice that a lot of towns on the list are:
a) large
b) have strong or up-and-coming cycling commmunities.

Coincidence?

Probably not.

[Purple Eagle]

Is the ranking based on per capita thefts or total thefts? Obviously this makes a big difference.

I would expect college towns to be high on the list, at least in a per capita measure.

[washcycle]

Since posting this, two of my friends have had their bikes stolen.

One had her bike locked up in her condo's common room. Someone came and stole all the bikes one night. She had a cable lock.

The other had her house broken into and her two bikes - among other things - stolen.

Each of them had a brand new bike. So sad.