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Albuquerque 23? Not bad, i think it deserves maybe 16.. however thats about to chage with all the new urban plans and designs for the newer developed areas.. its not all about throwing up houses in a suburban manner...
Houston should be higher - I never have to use my car. I get up, get on metro to work, walk around downtown, and when I get home, walk around my neighborhood.
Houston should be higher - I never have to use my car. I get up, get on metro to work, walk around downtown, and when I get home, walk around my neighborhood.
SF and NY are very very walkable though.
Chicago...meh. Maybe inner loop.
Houston is 600 square miles and los angeles is 500 square miles. houston has 2.2 million people and los angeles has 4 million people. los angeles is twice as dense as houston, therefore, los angeles should have more walkable communities then houston. LA may not be a pretty or bustling or vibrant as san francisco or new york city, but it makes sense to me why it's higher then houston.
Houston is 600 square miles and los angeles is 500 square miles. houston has 2.2 million people and los angeles has 4 million people. los angeles is twice as dense as houston, therefore, los angeles should have more walkable communities then houston. LA may not be a pretty or bustling or vibrant as san francisco or new york city, but it makes sense to me why it's higher then houston.
Well, a lot of the "city limits" of houston are vacant though (floodplains, green areas, industrial areas etc., especially south on 288 before the beltway.
FWIW, my zip code is like 9,000/sq mile.
Don't get me wrong though - L.A. is probably somewhat more dense overall. It just shouldn't be that high.
That website can often give a good general picture, but it has its flaws. I've looked over their list of "most walkable cities" before, and read their explanation. My recollection is that they rate "walability" on the basis of the number of establishments that provide entertainment or various personal services and everyday shopping needs located within a certain distance--I believe it's one mile. There is a potential flaw there, since the sheer number of amenities does not tell you anything about the variety. Still, it often gives a good idea about the atmosphere of a neighborhood or a small town.
The trouble with the city rankings is that, as I recall, they rank large cities on the basis of number of "walkable neighborhoods." This means that once you arrive in one of these neighborhoods you can stroll around to a variety of activities. The problem is that they don't penalize cities for having their "walkable neighborhoods" spread out over a wide area. As long as a city has numerous such neighborhoods, it gets a high score, even if you need a car to drive around between all these neighborhoods rather than being able to get around much of the city via a well-designed public transit system. It looks as if most of the cities high on this list are good fits, but any that seem to rank higher than they should probably have some good neighborhoods strewn about a very wide area, without good transit connections between them. So it gives you some general idea, but it's not perfect.
Houston should be higher - I never have to use my car. I get up, get on metro to work, walk around downtown, and when I get home, walk around my neighborhood.
SF and NY are very very walkable though.
Chicago...meh. Maybe inner loop.
I agree and disagree.
I dont agree with LA being so high either. In fact, San Diego is alot more walkable than LA. Part of the reason why I moved here instead of LA.
But I do agree with the ranking Houston was given. That city was not made for pedestrians walking. The blocks are long without intersections, wide roads, tons of parking. There is public transportation which is being encouraged more, but when you can drive into downtown and find ample parking, thats not encouraging.
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