Making my first human-powered foray into downtown New London, I turned my Specialized Roubaix road bicycle from Huntington onto State Street, gliding quietly between the Garde Theater and the library.

This city has a lot to offer, but with businesses leaving the state in search of smart, young employees, it had better get bike-friendly in a hurry.

Downtown New London is something else from the seat of a bicycle. It wraps its arms around you. I rode through with bright morning sun throwing new light on old facades that have stood since horse drawn carriages raised dust on Bank and State.

I’ve pedaled on bike lanes through downtown Chicago and San Francisco, both designated as “bike-friendly” by the American League of Bicyclists. I felt far more comfortable in these major cities than in downtown New London with no bike lanes.

Bike-friendly means designated bike lanes, bike racks about town, cars and bicycles politely sharing the road. It’s about bicycling education for all ages, and police support.

It’s a community-wide philosophy, including drivers who realize how bicycles are improving their city, bringing citizens into downtown, closer to the heartbeat of the city, boosting the economy and helping it thrive.

It works in cities a lot bigger than New London, though it takes cooperation from many: the mayor, planning, engineering, public works, law enforcement, advocacy groups, and the public.

In a 2016 survey of Electric Boat’s influx of new talent into the city, 1,500 respondents overwhelmingly expressed their desire to work and live in a modern, bike and pedestrian-friendly urban environment.

These young millennials want to enjoy a downtown with open air dining and bars, shops, bookstores, coffee shops.

They want what urban planners call a “livable” city: a friendly atmosphere supported by businesses and activities that draw you in, an accessible downtown with open doors that pique the curiosity.

And they want to bicycle there.

Studies show that bike-friendly infrastructure can have a positive impact on real estate values, the health of the local workforce, and retail sales.

Connecticut cities need to move fast because millennials will comprise half the global population by 2020, and the livable cities they desire are why companies are leaving Connecticut.

General Electric’s Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Bornstein said in a Day article that his company is fleeing Connecticut because it is “boring and unappealing to young entrepreneurs and tech savvy members of the millennial generation.” The same generation joining Electric Boat in huge waves.

I visited City Planner Sybil Tetteh to find out what the city thinks about bicycles and pedestrians.

I felt the ride on State and Bank was dicey, but Tetteh assured me New London is friendly to bicycles. She rides her bicycle to work at her office on State Street.

A new study recommends exciting improvements that represent a leap into the future for New London, including a bike-friendly Bank Street (the heart of downtown), adding bike lanes on Governor Winthrop Boulevard and a shared pathway along Water Street. The city has a multi-use path at Waterfront Park and a bike lane on Montauk Avenue, with plans for another on Jefferson.

But progress always faces opposition. I asked Tetteh about the difference between New London and Connecticut towns formally recognized as bike-friendly: West Hartford, Farmington, New Haven, and others who overcame the same hurdles New London faces.

She speculated that public opinion may be the core difference and the biggest obstacle.

Maybe New London needs someone like West Hartford resident, attorney, and cyclist Scott Franklin, who wasted no time in changing attitudes and earning his city bike-friendly status from the American League of Bicyclists in 2014.

Franklin chairs the West Hartford Pedestrian and Bicycle Commission, and credits smart, motivated volunteers.

He says “Our ultimate goal is to make West Hartford so bike and pedestrian-friendly that our kids will want to stay and raise their families here.”

Progressive West Hartford has won accolades, including “Best Place to Live,” a Top 10 “Great Cities for Raising Families,” and one of “20 Great Places to Retire in Connecticut.”

Franklin cites strong advocacy, commitment and cooperation as key elements for success.

New London has much to offer, yet if it is to ever become the hip little city that attracts educated workers and business, it must commit and cooperate to become truly bike and pedestrian-friendly.

But if citizens refuse to embrace concepts that would make New London a modern city, we will soon wave goodbye to millennials and the future.

John Steward lives in Waterford and works at Electric Boat. An avid cyclist, at age 63, he’s training for his first 100-mile “Century” ride this summer. He can be reached at tossinglines@gmail.com.