Top 10 Most Walkable Cities In America

1. San Francisco, CA

The city is known for its stable, relatively mild climate and progressive viewpoints, and 90% of San Francisco residents have a Walk Score of 70 or above, while 99% have a Walk Score of at least 50. Only 1% live in so-called car-dependent neighborhoods. The top areas are Chinatown, the Financial District, Downtown and North Beach.

2. New York, NY

Most of Manhattan, and even much of the boroughs, are well known for their heavily foot-based culture. In fact, many New Yorkers don't even own cars, given the city's 24-hour, reliable public transportation, not to mention the high cost of parking and gas.

3. Boston, MA

With it's famously labyrinthine roads and tight parking, it's a good thing Boston has world-class subway and ferry service (although many lament that the T does not run 24 hours). 74% of Boston residents have a Walk Score of 70 or above, and 97% have a Walk Score of at least 50.

Read the full story here

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Comments

[JamesofDC]

I have to put in a word for that much maligned city, WDC.

I have walked around cities all over the world"London, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Chennai, Barcelona (never made it to Paris) and I have to put DC up against any of them. The whole ten mile length of Connecticut Ave. is great, something new or old or surprising in every block, all swathed in leafy green, with gardens everywhere, and endless bistros to duck into.

Isn"t it amazing how adding a couple of bucks a gallon in gasoline prices can change the focus of an entire nation in about fifteen minutes? What are all those poor folks in their McMansions going to do with their McDrugs on the market?

[Heidfeld]

People here forget to mention scooters. Most small capacity scooters (50-100cc) get over 75mpg and are now very clean. They are very efficient and save tons of parking space. A lot of cities become livable with public transportation augmented by a scooter.

Walking is great, and I do a lot of it... but sweating is not fun. Walking or riding a bycicle to work are not always realistic if you dress nicely and sweat (and people that are in shape actually sweat more than those that are out of shape).

So yes, walking and bycicling are great. Public transport is also great. But if everyone replaced their car with a motorcycle or scooter, we would have no problems at all, and everyone could still get everywhere.

[combatveteran]

Like to see that on those 40 degree BELOW zero mornings.

[DXM]

Ummm... I would have a problem without my car. While the small city of 15,000 people where I live just a ten-minute walk from downtown is very walkable (and, of course, not on this top ten list), using either public transportation, a scooter or bicycle to get to where I work is totally impractical. I work 38 miles away from where I live via the interstate. Taking public transportation (a train into Boston then another train out followed by a couple of bus trips) would take me THREE HOURS EACH WAY compared to my 45 minute commute by car. Taking a bicycle or scooter I couldn't use the highway and the back ways would increase my commute to almost 50 miles (never mind the fact that a bicycle or scooter are totally unusable in this climate for almost half of the year). Fortunately I can telecommute some of the time. Assuming I could sell my house in this market, I could move closer to where I work but they are not walker friendly or very desirable and the housing is MUCH more expensive. In any case, not everyone can shed their cars as much as some would like to see it happen.

[myklwain]

Um, I visited the beautiful city of Seattle this summer. Do not attempt to tour this town on foot. If you do prepare to climb. WTF!

[FatherWolf]

Um, I visited the beautiful city of Seattle this summer. Walked from Ivar's to the Space Needle and back. I'm used to walking up hills.

[lysistrata]

We are now finding out how much quality of life the cars take from us. Public transportation and pedestrian friendly down towns are wonderful if you have it and worth every penny we pay for it.

Ranking the best cities in the world has Honolulu as the best American city just a notch better than San Francisco near the bottom of the top 30.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

I used to live in the Chicago suburbs, where driving a car is a necessity. I hated dealing with the insurance, gas prices, upkeep/maintainance, insurance, car payments, etc., etc..

I live in NYC now, and I haven't driven a car in 2 1/2 years. I love it. The MTA isn't perfect, but it's pretty reliable, and you can go anywhere in NYC by subway.

I think there are a lot of Republicans who think public transportation is socialism.

[RS]

Speaking of NYC, here's some light humor:

I have just started using the subway to get to and from work. On my first trip uptown, I asked the A train motorman, "Sir, I need to get to the George Washington Bridge bus terminal. When the train stops at the 175 St. station, at which end should I get off?" The motorman replied, "It doesn't matter, mister--both ends stop!" :-)

[TLV]

It's just like Jon Stewart said...it's like being addicted to cocaine therefore we should buy more or it and fill our kids' rooms with it.

[mossy1]

Although I've only been to (and walked in!) five of the ten mentioned, they are definately as advertised - as a matter of fact, walking around San Francisco is something I love so much, riding the cable cars is just "icing". Also, it was walking around Seattle that led me to a wonderful discovery - underground Seattle.
Walking around Washington DC is great, as well as Chicago. Another discovery: If we hadn't been walking in Chicago, we wouldn't have discovered the Chicago Art Institute (where, I found out ten years later, Barack and Michelle had their first date.
Yep, walking in cities is wonderful.

[UpstateNY]

It's not secret that we are a car-centric society - but that doesn't mean we can't change. We must return to the sustainable model of living - goods are made and sold within a community; our food grown in nearby farms and the ability to walk or use public transportation in our daily life. It would make us more fit (we are way too fat in America), it would bring back good jobs in factories and it would support our local farms and safeguard our food supply. Think about it - it's an important part of loosening the strangle-hold foreign oil interests have on us.

The Bush Administration is drenched in oil. He would never support re-building our mass transmit systems but we have to get a new administration that does. Europe has a train system that can take you between countries in a few hours - it takes 6 hours (and 1 stop) to go from Albany to Washington DC - that's just one example and it is just stupid!

[Ramus]

I'm a Manhattan resident and don't own, nor want, a car.I take the bus to work and everything from the vet to the doctors to soup to nuts is in easy walking distance. I know some people who have cars and they all have country houses so need a car to get there. A car is a money sink. When I need one I rent one. All the people I know in San Francisco have cars. Manhattan should be ranked number one place to live car-free.

[bikerdude]

ii'M surprised that Washington, DC didn't make the list. It has a really good public transit system and most parts of the city are definitely walkable. Much more walkable that LA.

[BrianMac]

I would agree with that but being a Washingtonian, I find it frustrating that the Metro does not run overnight like NYC subways. Sunday through Thursday they close at midnight and Friday and Saturday, 3 am.

[arkgrfx61]

I too am a Washingtonian and while the metro is very handy (especially when it's only a ten minute walk from my condo) There are limitations....besides the times (that you mentioned, Brian) which are actually better now, then they were a few years ago before the 3 am closing - the fact that you have to go all the way into town and come back out to Virginia from Maryland - I'd love to see them build a line (i think it's the mythical purple line) that runs basically around the beltway - thus allowing the people in the outer suburbs to cross travel between the two without having to go all the way into DC.
Other than that, our transportation system is definitely better than most.

[iemmathu]

How on earth did Los Angeles make it to number 9 on that list. That is ludicrous! Los Angles is by far one of the least walkable places I have ever been.

[Myshkin57]

Yeah. LA is one of the least car or bike-friendly places on earth. What were they thinking?

[1028jenn]

I'm surprised to see L.A. on the list, too... Hollywood, maybe. City center of L.A. or Westwood, yes. But for the most part, L.A. is not a walkable city at all. Some neighborhoods stand out, but overall, this city was a poor choice for the list.

[marleysghost]

I was just in San Francisco and found it just as walkable as ever. Public transit is just fine from Bay to Breakers and the BART system is easy to use. I went over to Oakland without a hitch. It is too bad the City is so dirty, though. I guess you can't have everything.

[sco8d]

No surprise that most of the cities on the list are old urban and most of these cities were built before the car. I could see a shift from suburb to center cities in the near future. I work in Philly and most of my co-workers are poor and black and from the city and also way more green than most of the crunchy environmemtalists, not by choice but by need.

[leduck]

i live in the most foot freindly city in the country
i live in suburban L.A.
i can walk a couple blocks to our local 7-11
a couple blocks to the nearest gas station
3 miles to the nearest mall
i can walk 6 miles to the nearest supermarket
the freeway is just as close as the gas station -- that's nice
of course if i want to go to the beach, i have to walk 30 miles
if i want to go downtown, it;s another 30 mile walk
any family memebrs i'd want to visit are at least 30 miles away if not more

i think if the walk didn't kill me first, i'd probably end up with the strongest legs on the planet

[sparkandy]

Same here, about the same distances. I could walk to both of my jobs if I had time, but I only have 30 minutes between them and don't have the time. And in this part of the country that's unusual. Most people live a minimum of 5 miles from work, and many live more than 40 miles. One thing I love about large urban areas is the ability to walk to everything you need. On the other hand, I can't stand the congestion. This is one of those places where everyone with a driver's license has a car. Period.

[marignymitch]

One of the many reasons I live in New Orleans is because I don't need a car. Most of my shopping (grocery store, drugstore) is done on foot. It an easy walk from my house Downtown in Faubourg Marigny, through the French Quarter, to the CBD and Warehouse District and the restaurants, stores and theaters therein. If I have to get Uptown in a hurry or go to the 'burbs (once every two months perhaps) I catch a cab. (The plodding St Charles Ave streetcar is for tourists, not city dwellers on the go.)

However this being N.O. walking sometimes turns into running for my life. But I consider such incidences as enhancements to my cardio-vascular routine.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Stylish.

[mouselion]

Your last statement explains why I prefer Brattleboro over N.O. When I run -- it's because I want to.

[philistine]

When I was growing up in New Orleans, I took the streetcar to school nearly every day. Later, I took the streetcar to work from uptown to the CBD. The pace seemed just fine to me, especially considering the adventuresome nature of the cab drivers. And Glory be, the streetcar line is now open along its entire route for the first time since Katrina.

When I wasn't taking public transportation, I was on my bicycle. When the highest point in the city is a =/-30' high man-made hill, bicycles are a great way to get around, although the volume of automobile traffic has made such travel a bit more adventuresome over the years. Maybe we can find our future in our past.

Cheers!

[Topfeeder]

I miss New Orleans. Haven't been in years, since way before Katrina. Nola, Savannah and Charleston are my 3 favorite walking Southern cities.

[wm1066]

Minneapolis the City of Lakes, with its great parks system isn't on this list?
I smell a rat!

[rivrgrrl]

At first, I thought the same thing. But reading the article, I think they mean walking as a lifestly, i e to work, to shop, to entertainment and just plain getting around. In order for people to do that, they need an adequate system of public transportation, which Mpls is working on, but has a ways to go yet. Extending the light rail out in spokes from a central hub in every direction would be a great improvement. The bus system, from what I've only heard is ok but could use some improvements too. And now they are raising fares as well.

Yes, we have some great walking and biking trails in the cities and more and more people are using them for transportaion routes, not just daily strolls. We'll continue to make progress here, but the truth is, until we get some decent leadership in this state, the progress will be a lot slower than it could be otherwise.

[wm1066]

At one time we had a great trolley car system.
Carl Pohlad made alot of money tearing that apart and selling the cars.
If I heard right some of those cars are still working in Mexico.

[Myshkin57]

I lived in Minneapolis. There are some great neighborhoods for walking. But the city's really not set up for walking to be your main/only means of transport.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Having lived in BOTH #1 and #2, I'd suggest the order be switched.

a) It is much easier to get by in NYC without a car than SF.

b) If you expand SF from city to the comparable population Bay Area, my point gets even sharper.

It might be more pleasurable to walk in SF, but that's not the point.

[kkuchenb]

I completely agree. I've never met a San Franciscan who is completely carless. On the other hand, I know dozens of New Yorkers who have to check to see if their licenses are still valid when they find they have to rent a car. And try shelpping your groceries over one of those famous hills or getting back to San Francisco from Berkeley late at night. BART is designed for commuters, not residents, and forget about using it after midnight. I've gone to concerts deep in Brooklyn that finished after 1:00 am and was tucked up in bed within an hour.