Meet the one city in America where cars have been banned since 1898

Bike culture has recently been booming in the U.S. But there’s a little place in the north that’s been in love with bikes for generations: Mackinac Island, Michigan, a historic tourist destination on the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan between Lakes Michigan and Huron. Because motor vehicles have been banned here since 1898 more than 100 years everyone has used bikes for everything a bike can be used for, and for more than you might imagine. Along with multi-season commuting, it’s a place where everyone socialises on bikes, from teens to guys in sports coats.

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Headlight use isn’t common, but it’s making slow inroads along with handlebar bells. Islanders enjoy their night sky and navigating by treeline and moonlight. Hardly anyone wears a helmet Islanders just seem to realise that the safe, human scale of bikes outweighs the need for such extra gear. If helmets worked for them they’d be hanging from every handlebar.

Copenhagen Bicycle Chic became popular a few years ago, yet generations of Islanders have known that bikes are a part of fashion, part of looking good.

The air is cleaner and injuries are fewer. Mackinac Island in Michigan, residents are healthier due to the exercise. There’s a cherished egalitarianism: everyone gets around the same way. They also save a tremendous amount of money that would normally go to commuting by cars.

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