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Most walkable U.S. cities

By Trystan L. Bass

Posted Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:11pm PDT

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Who wouldn't enjoy a short commute to work, a convenient grocery store, nearby schools for the kids, and green parks to relax at on the weekends? Where can you live in a place like that?

Try the top pedestrian-friendly American cities, as ranked by WalkScore.com. Combining U.S. Census data, real estate information, and Web technology, this site plots over 1 million locations in over 2,500 neighborhoods across the country. You can even plug in your own address to see how walkable your neighborhood is.

The current top-10 rankings feature some expected metros and a few surprises:

Sure, big cities with lots of public transit like San Fran and NYC are walkable, but a sprawling Southern California ‘burb like Long Beach and the tangled freeway mess of Los Angeles? Yep, those aren't typos -- even these areas have plenty of neighborhoods that are great for walking.

WalkScore.com bases the ranking primarily on mixed density. This means a city must have a useful mix of housing, jobs, shopping, schools, and parks. If you live there, you should be able to easily walk to all the everyday services you need. Also, the streets have to be equally safe for pedestrians and bicyclists as they are for cars.

Many newer suburban developments have been built around cars, not people. Ultra-wide streets encourage speeding, intersections don't have crosswalks, and distances between shops and parks are vast. That's why older, big cities tend to rank higher on walkability.

But Southern California proves that pedestrian pockets can exist most anywhere, thanks to careful city planning. And many people can add some walking into their lives with a little planning of their own.

Find just one shop or park near your house (use WalkScore.com or another map tool), and make a point of walking there instead of driving. If you usually drive your kids to school, encourage them to walk once a week. Try walking or biking to work when the weather's clear. Or if the office is too far, take public transit so you only have to walk a few blocks.

Walking is great for your health, it's cheaper than a gym membership, and it reduces pollution. Plus, you'll see a side of the neighborhood you usually miss when sitting in a car.

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Posted by men7al Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:23am PDT
there is no subways in nebraska you get here on car or you get run over..no way around that lol...
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Posted by kim Thu Apr 30, 2009 9:05am PDT
same thing for San Antonio Texas! If you dont own a car then you dont go anywhere!!!
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Posted by sarah Sat May 2, 2009 12:06pm PDT
Well manhattan is a great place to take a walk however I wouldn't say that all areas are safe at all times always always keep your gaurd up!
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Posted by sarah Sat May 2, 2009 12:07pm PDT
yeah nyc is great to take a wakl just make sure you always keep your gaurd up
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Posted by ledebbie13 Sat May 2, 2009 8:57pm PDT
i walk everywhere/take public transit when in san francisco. always be alert when walking through the tenderloin!! during the day & night! i've done it alone and it's not that bad, just keep walking and don't look at anyone! haha
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Posted by RichardG Mon Nov 23, 2009 5:06am PST
I would agree with this list, but Washington, DC should be ranked higher, and I find it laughable that L.A., which is spread out to Kingdom come, made the list.
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Posted by JaimeC Mon Nov 23, 2009 9:25pm PST
I looked at WalkScore.com before and it is a joke. They are just a mashup of ads that run on Google maps, and Google maps itself. They do NOT take real world factors into account. For example, the suburb I grew up in Michigan got nearly the same WalkScore as my house in Los Altos. However, clearly, no one walks half a mile in the snow to get groceries in winter, yet the WalkScores are nearly the same. Likewise, San Francisco is NOT a walkable city. WalkScore counts a local convenience store near my friends house the same as a major grocery store which is a little farther from my house. So, her San Francisco apt gets a better score than my house even though we BOTH DRIVE to the grocery store. Also, of course, she has to drive to do her laundry, whereas my washing machine is in my house. She drives as much, or more than I do, yet her score is much higher. It's a joke. Another example, same friend had no car when she lived in New York City. Nearly the first thing she did when she got to San Francisco was buy a car ! She says it's impossible to get around without a car in San Francisco (and she would rather NOT have a car). But WalkScore shows San Francisco higher than NYC. It stands to reason that the two highest density cities in the U.S. would compete for the top spot, but realize, NYC is almost TWICE as dense as San Francisco. It should score way, way higher than SF, but WalkScore has it the other way. It's a joke.
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