Excellent article and resources on StreetsBlog:

For 20 to 30 years now, many cities have been laying down bike infrastructure where it’s cheap and easy..

...cities are now looking systematically for possible connections between their existing bikeways.

These examples [in Austin, New York City, Tallahassee, Seattle and Vancouver B.C.] demonstrate the value in shifting away from focus on the “low-hanging fruit” of bike infrastructure – streets with excess auto capacity or unused parking – and toward the most important roads for bicycle connectivity, even if they require difficult tradeoffs. These changes may be more politically difficult, but if chosen well they promise bigger payoffs in ridership and safety.

http://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/05/22/connecting-cities-scattered-bikeways-is-going-to-be-harder-but-worth-it/