The Best Cities For Walking

You don't need fancy workout equipment or a pricey gym membership to get in shape. Plain old walking is one of the easiest -- and cheapest! -- forms of exercise, and it's seriously effective.

Walking boasts many of the health benefits associated with any type of physical activity, like lower cholesterol and blood pressure, weight management and lifted spirits -- but without the injury-causing impact of something more intense, like running. Walking just an hour a day can lessen the effects of genes that influence us toward obesity. It's also easy to sneak in a few extra minutes of walking throughout your day, by parking farther away in lots, opting to take the stairs instead of the elevator or going on walking meetings at work.

In urban areas designed for walking, markets, drugstores and perhaps even the office might be in walking distance, but in sprawling suburbs or towns without sidewalks, ditching the car might not be feasible for everyone. However, research shows that improving a town's walkability can help keep its residents maintain a healthy weight.

With the help of Walkscore.com, Prevention magazine assembled a list of the top 25 cities for walkability. Click through the slideshow below to see the top 10, and be sure to click over to Prevention.com for the full list. The closer a city on this list scores to 100, the better it is for walking. Then, tell us in the comments if you agree or disagree, and if your city made the list.

For more on fitness and exercise, click here.

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Comments

[Chriseco]

12:37 PM on 04/03/2012

I am happy that New York was mentioned. I have had some great walks through this city. Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge are known worldwide, but I recently went on a walk on the High Line. I went with someone I met on IvyDate and it turned out to be one of the nicest dates I have had in a long time. I can only recommend it and if you have time, invite your date for a slice of pizza at Artichoke and Basil.

[getpeace]

11:20 AM on 03/31/2012

New York City! Never a dull moment, lots of colorful sights, and a mass of beautifully diverse humanity.

[Cheryl Roshak]

10:49 PM on 03/29/2012

Cambridge, MA came in over New York, NY? What does Cambridge have that New York City doesn't have? Some of the results struck me as funny, as in strolling through downtown Newark on a sunny afternoon, birds singing, bells ringing.... ;)

[Dasher2]

10:37 PM on 03/29/2012

Walking is such great exercise. I have been walking 7-10 miles a day for the past 18 months. My only question is anyone know where the hell I am?

[Fortuosity]

06:08 PM on 03/29/2012

Newark? No one walks for fear of their lives in Newark,,,THEY RUN!!!

[Fortuosity]

03:16 PM on 03/29/2012

This article is bogus.

Portland, Oregon isn't even on here.

[intelliwoman]

12:57 PM on 03/29/2012

I work in Philly and I wouldn't walk a block more than from the bus to my secured office. Its a rathole.

[Mrs RAC]

08:53 AM on 03/29/2012

Is this list a joke? Did they bother to check the crime rates for assault for any of these 'walkable' cities?

[iRock]

10:29 AM on 04/01/2012

Why is it that white women are always worried about someone attacking them???????

Get. The. F. Over. Yourself.

[mom of the princess]

07:29 AM on 03/29/2012

Someone forgot the southern states. Places you can fly to and never need a vehicle after you take a taxi to your location: Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, Orlando, FL, New Orleans, LA and Honolulu HI.

[iRock]

10:30 AM on 04/01/2012

Uh, I've been to NO, Orlando and Honolulu. Those aren't walkable cities in my book.

[rutgerjen]

07:01 AM on 03/29/2012

I seriously do NOT agree w this list. Several of the cities including Paterson, jersey city, and Newark are some of the most dangerous cities in the country.

I was born and raised in nj but now live in Texas. I feel that Austin should be here.

[My Daed]

11:20 PM on 03/28/2012

I would list Boston above Cambridge. Cambridge has many 'squares' like Harvard Square, Inman Square, etc, but also many long stretches without shops or community. Boston sort of like Philly has sections which roll into each other, but can walk the entire city in one afternoon.

[mkthinker]

09:05 AM on 03/29/2012

I live on the Boston side of the river, but often cross over and walk around Cambridge. You are right about the stretches between squares ( I once walked from Harvard to Porter). On the other hand I can walk downtown and rarely have a 'dead' zone of just houses or parking. But I think parking and walking to many stores is easier in a Cambridge square then in Boston. This really just has to do with their parameters. However, either way when I leave town and go to other cities I now feel tethered to whatever car got me there. It starts to feel confining, like I am stuck babysitting a large chunk of metal and taking care of its needs constantly. "Oh there is where I want to be, but there is no parking so lets deal with that issue for 20 min."

[kevingiampa]

10:53 PM on 03/28/2012

Wow! Thanks for the great list!

Hey, I have some free time. Anyone want to take a walk with me through Newark tonight?

No? Wait, where's everyone going?

[ArtsyJane]

09:03 PM on 03/28/2012

I have walked in Cambridge, Ma, it is indeed pretty walk-able.

[imissmydog]

05:34 PM on 03/28/2012

That Citgo billboard in Boston is terrible.

[bikefolder32]

05:24 PM on 03/28/2012

NY and NJ - walkable, but aren't they also among the most polluted, because you're sharing the walking space with high car traffic as well?

I've never been to NY, but I've spent a lot of time in Paris, France, which is similar in structure, size, and walkability. Charming place, all your needs within a block or two, but I'd come indoors at the end of the day and have black gunk to scrape out of my nose because the air in the subways and from the cars and buses on the boulevard was so full of pollutants.
Not an exagerration. Black nostrils.

[MJoelle]

11:03 AM on 03/29/2012

Good. Don't walk in New York! It's crowded enough for those of us who live here as it is. I believe the point of the article is that there are so many things to look at while you walk the walking time seems like nothing. I walk home to my apartment in Harlem regularly from downtown/mid-town...a decent 6-8 mile walk that seems like nothing because of all of the amazing and stimulating things I see every day. I would never step foot in a gym, so this works for me. As far as breathing the air? Well, I could have clean air in a city like Seattle (where I've lived) and feel at the end of the day like I'd received a partial lobotomy from the lack of intellectual points of interest (totally subjective, I know.) If you were not so overwhelmingly enthralled with Paris that you actually had time to complain about the smog from their excellent public transportation, I'm going to guess you'd hate New York.

[bikefolder32]

05:14 PM on 03/29/2012

Hold the attitude - I love Paris - I lived there. But that doesn't mean it's HEALTHY to be there. Maybe you should get that chip-on-shoulder sydrome checked out - too much taxi smog.

[dansup]

11:40 PM on 04/01/2012

London makes for some dirty nostrils too