Living in a Walker's Paradise
Here's the full list of the 138 walker's paradises (Walk Score 90 or above) in the largest 40 U.S. cities. Twenty-two cities have at least one walker's paradise. New York leads the pack with 38 walker's paradises!
NeighborhoodScore
1Tribeca, New York100
2Little Italy, New York100
3Soho, New York100
4Garment District, New York99
5Chinatown, San Francisco99
6Murray Hill, New York99
7Chinatown, New York99
8Financial District, San Francisco99
9Financial District, New York99
10Old Westport, Kansas City99
11Midtown, New York99
12Greenwich Village, New York99
13Chelsea, New York99
14Battery Park, New York99
15Pearl District, Portland99
16East Village, New York99
17Dupont Circle, Washington D.C.99
18Pioneer Square, Seattle99
19Clinton, New York99
20Upper East Side, New York99
21Morningside Heights, New York98
22City Center East, Philadelphia98
23West Village, New York98
24Loop, Chicago98
25Upper West Side, New York98
26Downtown, New York98
27Gramercy, New York98
28City Center West, Philadelphia98
29Downtown, San Francisco98
30Logan Circle, Washington D.C.98
31Old Town-Chinatown, Portland98
32North Beach, San Francisco98
33Downtown, Seattle97
34Lower East Side, New York97
35Downtown, Washington D.C.97
36North Sutton Area, New York97
37Near North Side, Chicago97
38Carnegie Hill, New York97
39Back Bay-Beacon Hill, Boston97
40Lodo, Denver97
41Cobble Hill, New York97
42Hamilton Heights, New York97
43U Street Corridor, Washington D.C.97
44Boerum Hill, New York97
45South End, Boston97
46First Hill, Seattle96
47Lower East Side, Milwaukee96
48Mission, San Francisco96
49Core, San Diego96
50Nob Hill, San Francisco96
51Central Park, New York96
52Pacific Heights, San Francisco96
53West End Historic District, Dallas96
54Downtown, Portland96
55Fenway-Kenmore, Boston96
56Golden Triangle, Denver96
57South Of Market, San Francisco96
58Foggy Bottom, Washington D.C.95
59Federal Hill, Baltimore95
60Washington Heights, New York95
61Belltown, Seattle95
62Mount Vernon Square, Washington D.C.95
63Harlem, New York95
64Roosevelt, Seattle95
65Yorkville, New York95
66Cortez Hill, San Diego95
67Western Addition, San Francisco95
68Central, Boston95
69Richmond Grove, Sacramento95
NeighborhoodScore
70Five Points, Atlanta95
71Country Club Plaza, Kansas City95
72Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco95
73Downtown, Cleveland95
74Lincoln Park, Chicago94
75Sunny Side, New York94
76Presidio Heights, San Francisco94
77Carroll Gardens, New York94
78Castro-Upper Market, San Francisco94
79Park Slope, New York94
80Northpoint, Milwaukee94
81Downtown, Sacramento94
82Murray Hill, Milwaukee94
83International District, Seattle94
84Russian Hill, San Francisco94
85South Lake Union, Seattle94
86University District, Seattle94
87Fordham, New York94
88Midtown, Sacramento94
89Downtown, San Antonio94
90Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego94
91Central Business District, Louisville93
92Juneau Town, Milwaukee93
93Lake View, Chicago93
94Adams Morgan, Washington D.C.93
95Marina, San Francisco93
96Capitol Hill, Denver93
97Lower Queen Anne, Seattle93
98Plaza Westport, Kansas City93
99Poncey-Highland, Atlanta93
100Northwest, Portland93
101Kalorama, Washington D.C.92
102Uptown, Chicago92
103Edgewater, Chicago92
104Fells Point, Baltimore92
105Mid City West, Los Angeles92
106Kilbourn Town, Milwaukee92
107Riverside Park, Milwaukee92
108Fort Green, New York92
109Boulevard Park, Sacramento92
110Bay Ridge, New York92
111Noe Valley, San Francisco92
112Riverfront, Philadelphia92
113Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista, Philadelphia91
114Inner Harbor, Baltimore91
115Inner Richmond, San Francisco91
116Lloyd, Portland91
117Hanover Place, Kansas City91
118Cherry, Charlotte91
119Marquette, Milwaukee91
120Poplar-Ludlow-Yorktowne, Philadelphia91
121Pennsport-Whitman-Queen, Philadelphia90
122University Heights, New York90
123Near South Side, Chicago90
124Marina, San Diego90
125Yankee Hill, Milwaukee90
126Potrero Hill, San Francisco90
127Fairmount-Spring Garden, Philadelphia90
128East Harlem, New York90
129Rogers Park, Chicago90
130Friendship Heights, Washington D.C.90
131Georgetown, Washington D.C.90
132Downtown, Austin90
133Wallingford, Seattle90
134Hosford, Portland90
135Downtown, Los Angeles90
136Buckman, Portland90
137Cherry Creek, Denver90
138Inwood, New York90


http://www.walkscore.com/

Is nice to see San DIego up in that list :D

Lol if Chinatown, San Francisco is up there then U.S.A. sucks a lot for walking

Lol if Chinatown, San Francisco is up there then U.S.A. sucks a lot for walking

West Coast wise, SF is the only major city that is more pedestrian oriented. Seattle and LA can come close.

Yeah KC rocks.. I actually can't believe its up there with New York and San Francisco

West Coast wise, SF is the only major city that is more pedestrian oriented. Seattle and LA can come close.

San Diego is more pedestrian than Los Angeles!

Lol if Chinatown, San Francisco is up there then U.S.A. sucks a lot for walking


Given the places rated near the top, I'd imagine whats being measured is the shear crush of pedestrian traffic, rather than the quality of the walk!

^^ so, what are the main requirements for those city to be called as a "walker paradise"? wide and well built pedestrian way?

It's based on "walk score." If I understand, that doesn't count anything qualitative. It's just proximity of certain types of businesses. Even if nothing can be walked to easily.

San Diego is more pedestrian than Los Angeles!


pe·des·tri·an
   /pəˈdɛstriən/ Show Spelled[puh-des-tree-uhn]

lacking in vitality, imagination, distinction, etc.; commonplace; prosaic or dull: a pedestrian commencement speech.

Yes, you're correct :D

San Diego is more pedestrian than Los Angeles!

Only the downtown area of San Diego. In fact I had a hard time getting around there.

Well, San Diego is a large city, you won't get around if you're just gonna walk to point A to point B, especially in areas where public transportation is nonexistent (like North County).... If we are talking about pedestrian streets in San Diego and not just sidewalks, then you might be right, but I know "every corner" of San Diego County (i was born and grew up there 'till last May) and I can assure you that you can get very well around in most of San Diego County, at least in the most populated areas like National City, Chula Vista, La Mesa, El Cajon, Imperial Beach, downtown, Grossmont, Coronado etc. Btw, San Diego public transportation is not that bad ;), buses there run every 10 to 15 mins in most of the cities i mentioned above, except, probably in areas such as Otay Ranch, East Lake, or La Joya, where you have to wait at the bus-stop for 20 mins or so (at night) ... Anyway, i wish Miami had a good transportation like San Diego, I don't drive here and it takes me 1.15 hours to get to downtown! while in San Diego it takes you just 20 to 25 mins from Imperial beach to downtown San Diego..

It's based on "walk score." If I understand, that doesn't count anything qualitative. It's just proximity of certain types of businesses. Even if nothing can be walked to easily.

Correct.

On the website, I put the address cross in the outback,

Then the site always shows a score of 0 for the address cross.

Compared with the list,

I think Financial District, Tribeca, Midtown are the most walkable neighborhoods in New York City.

pe·des·tri·an
   /pəˈdɛstriən/ Show Spelled[puh-des-tree-uhn]

lacking in vitality, imagination, distinction, etc.; commonplace; prosaic or dull: a pedestrian commencement speech.

Yes, you're correct :D

haha.. good one

Correct title: USA's most walkable neighborhoods.

^^ Whats the difference?

When you see "America" you gotta automatically assume it's United States of America...otherwise it would be "Americas" or "N/S America"

Exactly so the title is correct

It would be more accurate to say US. It would certainly be more clear...which should be obvious due to the frequent debates on this topic.

For those who don't study grammar, the "United States of America" doesn't suggest that we ARE America, just that we're in America. Anyone in NA/SA can choose to rename their country to "Peruvian Provinces of America" or whatever.

I don't understand why Latin Americans get pissed off when USA is referred as America. Everybody knows that when you say America you actually refer to USA.

San Diego is more pedestrian than Los Angeles!
Los Angeles has far more densely packed neighborhoods than San Diego and a transit network that includes "true" brt, lrt and hrt that is far superior than SD's "trolley" and limited bus service. Even going by the very same Walkscore standards LA ranks at #9 while SD doesn't even make it into the Top Ten. In fact LA overall gets a 67 and SD comes in at 56. SD may have one or two boutiquee gentrified neighborhoods where the former Republican suburbanites feel "safe" but that doesn't mean that it is a walkable city. Perhaps SD can be better compared to Orange County but not LA.

This list is crap. How come DC, Chicago, or Boston did not rank higher?

The list is interesting but would have been better if they had taken aesthetics into consideration. Under their criteria, a slum or truly boring area could rank high.

"Most" walkable strikes me as a little peculiar. Once you become walkable, I'm not sure how you become "more" walkable.

For example, what would Beverly Hills between Wilshire and Santa Monica do to become "more walkable"? Or Westwood? Or DT Pasadena? Or Santa Monica between the ocean and, say, 5th? Plenty of shopping, restaurants, bars, tourist sites, housing, etc. I suppose that more housing would bring more people to the streets. But that isn't "more walkable" that just means "walkable but crowded".

IMHO, Long Beach DT should be there on the list too. Thats pretty walkable...

I don't understand why Latin Americans get pissed off when USA is referred as America. Everybody knows that when you say America you actually refer to USA.

Obviously not everyone "knows" that. There goes your argument.

This list is crap. How come DC, Chicago, or Boston did not rank higher?

Because the "scores" don't take quality into account. Last time I looked, it was all BS based on proximity to certain types of businesses.

The list is interesting but would have been better if they had taken aesthetics into consideration. Under their criteria, a slum or truly boring area could rank high.

.

If you begin to including matters as subjective as aesthetics then it becomes "walkable for whom"?

IMHO, Long Beach DT should be there on the list too. Thats pretty walkable...

If you go to Walkscore Cities Long Beach is ranked #8 and LA #9 respectively.

klam: agreed, but how can you not be subjective here? There are probably 20 neighborhoods in SF that I would rather walk around than in the highly-rated Financial District. In fact, if I had to walk for 3 hours, I would immediatly walk out of the FD to North Beach, Fisherman's Wharf, Union Sq., SoMa or one of the hills.

To me "walkable" implies pleasant to walk in and would include good sidewalks, low traffic, attractive shops, parks, low crime, moderate crowding, etc., not just proximity to a 7-Eleven and a liquor store.

As LA forumers we both know that some of LA's most walkable areas are also its older and possibly higher crime ridden areas as well. But I do understand your concern.

klam: a legitimate point that I won't deny. There can be hoods that are quite walkable but not very attractive aesthetically, and that's an OK usage as long as we clarify that we are using the word in that way. And I wouldn't deny that parts of Western, Vermont and many other streets are walkable without being particularly attractive.

But I would hate to call Harlem or SoHo in 1975 "walkable". And when LA puts in medians or upgraded streetscapes, it seems to me an area becomes more walkable.

But just for discussion sake, which is more walkable: the hood around La Cienega and Beverly or the hood around Vermont and Sunset? One is much more upscale (Sofitel vs. Motel 6; designer furniture vs. used furniture) and there are other differences; but do they go to the idea of walkability or not?

Interesting.

For Milwaukee, saw a number of Yuppie sounding neighborhoods on the list.

But not Walkers Point!

I got a 97 where I live in north Oakland.

I don't understand why Latin Americans get pissed off when USA is referred as America. Everybody knows that when you say America you actually refer to USA.

Yes, everybody knows that... But to agree with that is totally different.

Since this part of SSC is international, I thought it was America lato-sensu, not only USA.

Only the downtown area of San Diego. In fact I had a hard time getting around there.

Same with L.A. The most walkable part of the city is obviously downtown but then you have the Wilshire Corridor, Hollywood, Sunset Blvd, etc. just to name a few. We have pockets of walkable areas here which is better than nothing.

LAnative: Agreed. But even highly walkable areas of LA don't get as much foot traffic as they might in other cities because they are also drivable. Good access by road and free or cheap parking is available so walking is not the only option. Westwood, Culver City, SM, mid-Wilshire, Beverly Center, Hollywood, Wilshire/Alvarado and many others fit this profile: you can get there by foot, transit or car. There will be even better connections when Expo and Purple Lines are done.