Walk Score: Every Big-City Neighborhood in America

Posted by Eric de Place

07/17/2008 05:30 AM

40 cities, 2,058 neighboords, and one Walk Score to rule them all.

SF walkscore It's here! The largest 40 cities in America, ranked by their walkability. Plus, every single neighborhood in those cities -- all 2,508 of them -- rank-ordered for your walking pleasure.

** In a surprise upset, San Francisco edges out NYC for top honors in walkability. Who else made it into the Top 10?

** The Northwest's most walkable neighborhood is in Portland. It's the Pearl District, no suprise, ranking as the 15th best neighborhood for walking in the nation. (Seattle's best showing, Pioneer Square, is 18th). See the rest of America's best walking neighborhoods.

** But Seattle is the Northwest's walking leader, earning a higher overall score than Portland. (The Emerald City ranks 4 slots higher than the Rose City.) Still, both Northwest metropolises do well by national standards. Who doesn't do so well?

** Plus, there are all kinds of new goodies at the Walk Score site. You can take a photo tour of a walking oasis in an unwalkable city. Or you can learn the secrets of walkable cities. You read the Walk Score blog. And then you can help improve America's Walk Score.

Today's release from Walk Score is truly path-breaking. It's the first time this stuff has been quantified and compared on such a large scale. And it's a huge step toward creating great urban places. Walkable neigbhorhoods are easier on our pocketbooks; good for our waistlines; great for kids, older folks and others who don't drive; and helpful to the whole planet. All of us here at Sightline extend a big fat "Congratulations!" to our friends at Walk Score. Walk on, you guys!

Readers, you already knew all about Walk Score, right? We've written about it here and here, among other places. And we loved it when they roled out an early release of the Seattle neighborhood rankings last month.

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Comments

Posted by Phil Brooke 07/18/2008 02:31 PM

Tacoma is a great destination for walking as well. Ruston Way, The New Thea Foss downtown waterfront, Point Defiance Park, Historic Stadium District/Refurbished Wright's Park.

Incredible sights abound!

Posted by Dave Gardner 07/18/2008 02:43 PM

Bravo! This is a true measure of success (unlike GDP).

Dave Gardner
Producer/Director
Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity
www.growthbusters.com

Posted by Rodd Pemble 07/18/2008 03:42 PM

Fascinating interactive layouts through Google. I wonder how do these winners compare with European cities like Copenhagen or Bern, Paris or Rome?

Posted by Tina 07/22/2008 06:34 AM

My walk score is just 20 so as you see my present neighborhood is not very walkable. This service can be especially useful for those who are going to buy a house cause it can help to estimate a particular location. But how often do we walk nowadays? I ve found one more service called drive score at http://drivescore.fizber.com/ With it one can see how close establishments are by car. Homes are often located in an area where restaurants, libraries, grocery stores, hospitals and other businesses are easier to get to by car than on foot.

Posted by Matt the Engineer 07/22/2008 09:57 AM

(sigh) Tina, I think you've missed the point.

Posted by eldan 07/22/2008 07:10 PM

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22But+how+often+do+we+walk+nowadays%3F%22=utf-8=utf-8=t=org.mozilla:en-US:official=firefox-a

I'm not sure "Tina" is an actual human being. Or at least, not one commenting individually on things she happens to come across.

I am sure that advertising turned into self-parody a long time ago.

Posted by MVP 07/22/2008 08:09 PM

Ah, mystery solved! Thanks Matt The Engineer, Eldan, and Google! I was wondering why "Tina's" rhapsody was beginning to sound so familiar!

This Google link helps pin-point the common thread, too (without the extra mozilla/firefox stuff that somehow got tagged onto Eldan's link):

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en=%22But+how+often+do+we+walk+nowadays%3F%22

Posted by MVP 07/22/2008 08:24 PM

Hmmm, guess I must've meant this Google link, for Internet Explorer:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en=how+often+do+we+walk+nowadays%3F

Posted by MVP 07/22/2008 08:49 PM

Golly, for some reason that link doesn't connect directly, either (at least not on my computer).

Oh well, y'all get the idea...

(I think I need a summer holiday, away from Internet links :-)

Peace,

Michelle

Posted by Katie 07/23/2008 04:48 PM

Referenced this posting on my blog here http://www.djc.com/blogs/BuildingGreen/. Walkscore is quite a tool,
but it doesn't always seem to me to adequately represent a neighborhood. Even looking at the neighborhood results, I wonder why Capitol Hill isn't on the list but First Hill is... or how Lower Queen Anne beat out the University District. Based on my own experience, some places the tool says are walkable might be according to its logistics but not in the least when you get to the neighborhood, based on topography, safety or even comfort of walking and area atmosphere. Then again it is hard to measure those aspects, which can be preferential anyway. Either way, a tool like this is valuable.