Drum Roll Please: America’s Most Walkable Neighborhoods Revealed
Last month, Sweet Digs blogger Tracey Taylor reported that Walk Score would soon be announcing “America’s Most Walkable Neighborhoods.” Well, the results are in and, not surprisingly, the Bay Area scored the #1 spot! And which city took top honors? San Francisco will wear this year’s walkability crown, scoring an 86 for Chinatown, the Financial District and Downtown neighborhoods.
Walk Score helps people find walkable places to live, and in this day and age with gas prices being what they are, global warming on our minds, and obesity lurking around every corner, this should be an important factor in urban areas. Walk Score has made it easy to type in an address and find out what is nearby (grocery, coffeeshop, gym, restaurants, etc), as well as obtaining a score on the walkability of your neighborhood. Urban areas will tend to have a higher score than suburbs, although I am pleasantly surprised that my suburban neighborhood has a rating of 52, which is better than I had anticipated.
And just what makes a neighborhood walkable? Walk Score has a range of factors that go into the ranking, including density, parks and public space, and well-connected streets, among others. For the full list with descriptions, you can check it out here. Scoring for walkability is on a scale from 0-100 and they give these guidelines for interpreting the score:
- 90 – 100 = Walkers’ Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.
- 70 – 90 = Very Walkable: It’s possible to get by without owning a car.
- 50 – 70 = Some Walkable Locations: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.
- 25 – 50 = Not Walkable: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.
- 0 – 25 = Driving Only: Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car!
And in case you were wondering, here is the list of the Top 10 Most Walkable Neighborhoods in the nation:
1. San Francisco (86)
Chinatown, Financial District, Downtown
2. New York (83)
Tribeca, Little Italy, Soho
3. Boston (79)
Back Bay-Beacon Hill, South End, Fenway-Kenmore
4. Chicago (76)
Loop, Near North Side, Lincoln Park
5. Philadelphia (74)
City Center East, City Center West, Riverfront
6. Seattle (72)
Pioneer Square, Downtown, First Hill
7. Washington, D.C. (70)
Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, Downtown
8. Long Beach, CA (69)
Downtown, Belmont Shore, Belmont Heights
9. Los Angeles (67)
Mid City West, Downtown, Hollywood
10. Portland, OR (66)
Pearl District, Old Town-Chinatown, Downtown
I love the fact that Redfin is active in 7 of these 10 cities. (They would be active in 8 if Oregon allowed rebates on home purchases.)
David said:
I’d have to disagree that SF is more walkable (even in those ‘hoods) than NYC or those Chicago ‘hoods. Additionally, the financial district here is tiny compared with Chicago’s Loop, ditto with Chinatown compared to Lincoln Park or Tribeca. Finally, practically no one lives in the Financial district/downtown here, whereas Lincoln Park/Near North Side/Tribeca/Little Italy/SoHo/, etc are actual residential neighborhoods.
So basically, only Chinatown is walkable here. Oh well.
July 17, 2008 11:34 AM
Russell Huth said:
David, you don’t include North Beach/Telegraph Hill and SOMA, along with some of South Beach as included in downtown/financial district as well as Nob Hill and lower Nob Hill, you should include Russian Hill because I consider downtown as east of Van Ness…where you include diverse neighborhoods in NYC you limit your focus in SF…Of course NYC is much larger but there are other things to consider like how far do you have to walk to get anywhere…SF I think may beat NYC in the downtown area in how many areas you cover in a mile.
July 17, 2008 3:58 PM
David said:
They don’t measure areas you can cover, they measure amenities/sq mi essentially.
I think it’d be better to compare areas where people actually live–ex out the Loop, Financial District and Wall Street, and then check out the ‘hoods.
It’d also be interesting to see price/walkable area and compare. I bet you have the same density of amenities in, say, Lakeview in Chicago as you do in North Beach for less than 1/2 the $$/sq ft.
July 18, 2008 10:32 AM
Russell Huth said:
David, I think you are right about Chicago, except the difference is that I do not need air conditioning I only heat in January and I do not have screens on my windows. San Francisco has the cleanest air of any major city. BTW I live near Union Square, which makes most of the city walkable and a easy metro ride to GG Park.
AND I love Chicago except for the weather…we don’t receive hardly any rain in May but you can’t know it won’t snow in Chicago in May. Unfortunately, I think weather is too important for me to consider Chicago except as a place to visit.
I will leave this on a positive note and say that when I stay with a friend right on Lake Michigan, I thought that was the quintessential city condo.
July 18, 2008 8:51 PM
Janel said:
The walkbility site scores individual neighborhoods then gives the city an overall index. Check this out for the actual neighborhood scores: http://wwwwalkscore.com/rankings/walkers-paradises.php
Fourteen of the top twenty neighborhoods are in New York City, so it’s strange SF is number 1 in the list. In fact, the top three neighborhoods score 100 — all in New York City. I am a bit puzzled about why SF is number one on the list — somehow size must be in the equation? Having lived in San Francisco for over ten years without a car (Inner Mission, Haight/Fillmore, Bayview (pre-light rail) and Russian Hill( on the side steeply dropping into northbeach/chinatown – a deadly walk up hill home) and now living in New York City without a car (Upper West Side)…. sorry, NYC hands down for walkability. And I agree with David — so what if the SF financial district is walkable?
July 20, 2008 10:07 AM
Janel said:
Here’s the corrected link http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/walkers-paradises.php
July 20, 2008 10:08 AM