Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,750 posts, read 23,822,981 times
Reputation: 14665
Advertisements
OK, so realistically most Americans love to drive and will not give up on their vehicles. I'm willing to bet even with $5.00 a gallon gas most people would still drive, and many just don't have any other choice. Then there are those who are mass transit advocates, and love living in high density neighborhoods.
Boston gets a lot of praise for being among the most walkable cities in the US, but driving there really sucks. It's the very density and old design of the city that makes driving and parking there an ordeal and expensive. Much of its road infrastructure is very old and outdated in the city and its suburbs. And lets be real, who really wants to drive in Manhattan, or anywhere in NYC for that matter?
At the other end of the spectrum there are huge spead out cities designed around driving like Houston and Phoenix that are gung ho about freeways, and the freeways are indeed impressive. However these cities are also very weak on the walkability scale, and their downtowns leave something to be desired.
This leads me to the question, where is the happy medium? What city do you feel is manageable to drive in and out of, park in, has good road infrastructure, fairly good transit (or in development), and also a nice urban layout where that is conducive to pedestrian activity? A nice mix of urban density and elbow room. I realize every major city has traffic issues and nowhere is close to being perfect but what city do you feel has the best mix of being drivable and walkable?
I think Chicago as well, and maybe even Toronto. I don't think driving in either city would be the most enjoyable thing, but it's very doable unlike NYC (in my opinion...that traffic is just too crazy in NYC). And I think Chicago and Toronto are both very, very walkable cities.
EDIT: I mentioned Toronto before realizing I think the OP was only looking for US cities. My bad.
I'd say interior Northeastern and Midwestern cities. It will probably depend on the neighborhood in those cities/metros, but I think in many cases in both areas, you can go either way.
Many of the *suburbs* of the SF Bay Area (not Silicon Valley) might fit this category.
+1
For me, the Oakland-Berkeley area was the first place to come to mind.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
