Most Walkable Cities list revealed. do you agree?

[Black Jack22]

Houston should be lower.

[JulianJT]

After spending 4 days in San Francisco, I can't agree more with their being #1. It is very pedestrian friendly, and the foot activity on the street is nothing short of amazing.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by Black Jack22

Houston should be lower.

What the hell you mean it should be lower??? Its like in the lowest point it could be. You can live in Houston without a car,but I wouldn't reccommend it.

[ainulinale]

For whatever reason, the people who created this list used the top 40 cities by city proper, not metro area...how absurd.

[NYCBoy1212]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Oakland and Berkeley have many walkable areas-Id guess either of those places by themselves would rank in the Top 10 in they were included in this list.

But I do get your point.

On the other hand, I've lived in New York and San Francisco and in my opinion, walking around San Francisco is more fun and I like being outside more in SF than in NY. I wonder if that had anything to do with their "research".

Also,
Maybe super large cities(aside from NY which crams 8 Million people into 300 sq mi) are so unwalkable because their borders are so broad that they cant focus on a truly walkable core. Boston, another small city being 3rd sort of supports my little suppositon. LOL

This is what the website considered walkable



Walkable Neighborhoods

Picture a walkable neighborhood. You lose weight each time you walk to the grocery store. You stumble home from last call without waiting for a cab. You spend less money on your car—or you don't own a car. When you shop, you support your local economy. You talk to your neighbors.
What makes a neighborhood walkable?
A center: Walkable neighborhoods have a discernable center, whether it's a shopping district, a main street, or a public space.
Density: The neighborhood is compact enough for local businesses to flourish and for public transportation to run frequently.
Mixed income, mixed use: Housing is provided for everyone who works in the neighborhood: young and old, singles and families, rich and poor. Businesses and residences are located near each other.
Parks and public space: There are plenty of public places to gather and play.
Pedestrian-centric design: Buildings are placed close to the street to cater to foot traffic, with parking lots relegated to the back.
Nearby schools and workplaces: Schools and workplaces are close enough that most residents can walk from their homes.

Streets Designed for Everyone

Complete Streets are roads are designed for everyone who uses them, including bicyclists, pedestrians of all ages and abilities, and people getting on and off transit vehicles. These streets are:
Accessible: There are wheelchair ramps, plenty of benches with shade, sidewalks on all streets, etc.
Well-connected: Streets form a connected grid that improves traffic by providing many routes to any destination.
Built for the right speed: Lanes are narrow or traffic calming is in place to control speed.
Comfortable: Pedestrian medians at intersections, count-down crosswalk timers, bicycle lanes, protected bus shelters, etc. make the street work better for those outside of a car.
http://walkscore.com/walkable-neighborhoods.shtml

[Joe_Ryder]

For the most part, cities that were well established before the Interstate system tend to be walkable, at least in the older areas while cities that experienced their growth after the Interstate system built around the interstates and are the primary infrastructure. Places like SF, Boston, NY, etc. were going strong long before interstates or even cars for that matter and they HAD to be walkable while the cities that grew up with the car are actually products of the car.

Strip-malls, bedroom communities, HOAs, single-use zoning laws, and all of the things that make any city a nightmare for the pedestrian all came about right along with the interstate systems.

Walkscore-dot-com can't really be relied on. It tends to list liquor stores as grocers. Here in CA, they sell beer, wine, and liquor in the grocery stores so many liquor stores call themselves grocers because they also sell soda pop and stale corn chips. If the have a truck that comes by once a month with sandwiches in plastic wrappers, they get to be a deli. So what looks like a nice neighborhood with lots of local grocers may easily be a ghetto with a liquor store on every corner. This is probably how LA got such a high score, plenty of liquor stores. The massage parlors and adult book stores also tend to call themselves therapeutic massage specialists that fall loosely under the category of clinic. I'm sure the same might be true of other cities that scored higher than they really should.

[Black Jack22]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

What the hell you mean it should be lower??? Its like in the lowest point it could be. You can live in Houston without a car,but I wouldn't reccommend it.

I think you misunderstood me. I think Houston should be below number 26, like 29 or 30 or even lower.