Chicago's 10 Most Walkable Neighborhoods (PHOTOS)

Chicago has again been ranked one of America's most walkable cities, behind New York, San Francisco and Boston, according to an annual report released last week by Walk Score.

According to Walk Score, their ranking is intended to measure how easy it is to live a car-free or "car-lite" lifestyle in any given location. The site's algorithm awards points based on the distance an address is from any number of amenities including parks, coffee shops and grocery stores. (The score doesn't, the site notes, take into account pedestrian design or safety.) The site argues that better walkability can help an area's environment, health, property values and even community involvement.

Looking deeper into Walk Score's Chicago report (with a nerdy-fun map to match), HuffPost Chicago wanted to highlight the top ten neighborhoods identified by the site, the majority of which are within walking distance to Lake Michigan.

While some of the neighborhood names are a bit dubious -- when was the last time you heard someone neighborhood-drop that they live in Dearborn Park or Park West? -- the rankings are interesting nonetheless. Chicago's walk score averages 74 (out of 100), while all the top 10 neighborhoods cleared the 94 marker.

As MarketWatch reported, Jacksonville, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Oklahoma City; Fort Worth and Nashville led the way in terms of the country's least walkable cities.

As for Chicago's least walkable locales? Harbour Point Estates, Trumbull Park, Eden Green, Cottage Grove Heights and Golden Gate all registered walk scores below 35.

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1. Printers Row

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Comments

[MCL1]

07:28 AM on 08/11/2011

I live in the South Loop, which is pretty darned walkable!

[montemalone]

10:56 PM on 08/02/2011

Park West is Armitage/Clark.

And what's above that CVS at Division and State? I've always wondered.

[lakefront liberal]

10:20 PM on 07/28/2011

There are many neighborhoods in Chicago that are pleasant, enjoyable places to walk, but the "algorithm" used by Walk Score weighs the distance any given address in the neighborhood is to "amenities" such as grocery stores, coffee shops, and other places. I live in the Gold Coast, where I'm a 10 minute walk to 3 full grocery stores, 3 24-hour pharmacy/convenience stores, several restuarants, a bookstore, a hardware store, 3 parks, etc, etc. It may be touristy, crowded, and lack some of the character that one finds in many Chicago neighborhoods, but if you need your meds or that 3am snack, you don't have to walk too far to get your fix.

I thought that Near North included all of River North, Streeterville, Gold Coast, and Old Town, btw. I don't know who compiled these neighborhoods!

[project cooper]

01:02 PM on 07/28/2011

So u do not have to run through them?

[Elisabeth Neda Scott]

08:53 PM on 07/27/2011

Too bad the photographs don't match the neighborhoods.

[macmanchgo]

12:33 PM on 07/27/2011

Obviously put together by someone who doesn't live here or doesn't know the city or its neighborhoods very well.

[wewin]

10:52 AM on 07/27/2011

This article is just a click magnet! pointless! HP, I mean AOL makes money, that's it.

[RationalDubSteppa]

04:29 AM on 07/27/2011

Andersonville is missing from that list! What gives!!

[montemalone]

10:57 PM on 08/02/2011

And Boystown, Edgewater, North Center, Lincoln Square, Wicker Park, .........

[SarasotaHuskie]

04:00 PM on 07/26/2011

Those neigborhood names do exist (Sheridan Park etc) and they're semi-official: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhoods_of_Chicago

[leoklein]

01:07 PM on 07/27/2011

You mean, they "exist" on a map drawn up supposedly from polling in the 1970s?

All you have to do is to go to those neighborhoods and ask the people where they think they're living.

Names like 'Sheridan Park' are a joke -- as the feedback on this embarrassing post would indicate.

[Over The Hill]

02:19 PM on 07/26/2011

How can you not include Andersonville on this list? I'm inclined to agree with jorofo.

[rj2860]

02:19 PM on 07/26/2011

What about Edgewater and Andersonville?

Edgewater (live there) has lots of restaurants, in particular the area of Broadway/Granville and on Bryn Mawr and lake front parks & beaches plus multiple Red Line stops and grocery stores, antique stores, college campus, etc.

Andersonville has restaurants, bars, shops, night life, grocery stores, garden shop, etc.

Both neighborhoods are safer than so-called "Sheridan Park" aka Uptown (though I am rooting for Uptown it has great potential. Edgewater and Andersonville both have a good mix of condos, apartments, private homes. Edgewater has hi-rise, lo-rise, 3 flats, 2 flats, single family.

[jorofo]

01:41 PM on 07/26/2011

Someone who actually knows something about Chicago should write articles about Chicago.

[Dana911]

12:33 PM on 07/26/2011

Most (not all, so don't freak out on me) of the neighborhoods they chose have little to no ethnic diversity and are tourist haunts. What happened to the Northwest Side? I live in Logan Square - which is scenic, full of restaurants and cool hangouts, and has easy access to public trans. Plus it's one of the few neighborhoods in the city w/ a substantially mixed population (though that seems to be changing as the years go by).

P.S. Hyde Park is very walkable. I grew up there. There is more culture and history packed into that tiny enclave than all the Wrigleyville's and Boystown's and Old Town's combined.

[sayber]

05:40 PM on 07/27/2011

Not every neighborhood needs "ethnic diversity" !

[vicbar88]

12:09 PM on 07/26/2011

I'm surprised that they actually have even one.

[writeon1]

11:49 AM on 07/26/2011

I guess they had to narrow it down but Chicago has many walkable neighborhoods and they aren't all downtown or near north. I grew up in an area of Chicago not really close to downtown and we walked everywhere. http://newsy1.wordpress.com