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Redfin cites Walk Score data from just last year, when Philly scored a 79 (at 4th place)(https://press.redfin.com/news-releas...us-cities-2020), but I do certainly recognize the lower number on Walk Score's site currently.
This might be hair-splitting, but there must have been a meaningful shift in the methodology for Philly to have dropped 4 points, especially as it only has increased its infill/density during that time.
BTW and FWIW, Walk Score is a Redfin subsidiary. Redfin is interesting: it's a real estate brokerage masquerading as a search engine.
BTW and FWIW, Walk Score is a Redfin subsidiary. Redfin is interesting: it's a real estate brokerage masquerading as a search engine.
I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing. Be that as it may, it's still gotten better since being bought by Redfin. Remember when people were pointing out that apartments across a busy thoroughfare from a large mall, but with no pedestrian crossings were scoring highly? That doesn't appear to happen anymore as far as I can tell.
I treated the territory covered by Penn's and Drexel's campuses as a separator rather than a tie, so I think your explanation here is as sound as if not sounder than my own. After all, both universities are major activity generators, and both of them have developed the streets that run through their campuses with new street-level retail on some of their academic buildings. (Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh's Oakland section (next to the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon Universtiy) they ain't, but they're closer to that now than they used to be.)
Your observations about the buildings in the Schuylkill floodplain with entrances at both bridge and ground level is a good one. Railroad tracks separate the buildings from the Schuylkill River Trail, but there is a grade crossing at Locust Street that provides ground-level access to the trail from the adjacent Fitler Square/Center City West area. Another crossing at Race Street does the same for Logan Square, and a huge new two-tower apartment building with a large supermarket just went up next to this crossing.
Right, I think your argument is likewise solid as there aren't (for the most part?) people living in that stretch. I'll also add that SEPTA regional rail is pretty well-used as is the Amtrak station and there will be a pretty good contingent of people who will disembark at 30th Street Station with people crossing to and from the other side of the river by foot.
Pittsburgh will be an interesting one as there's a pretty obvious break from the downtown core to the East End and another large bloc, Southside Flats, separate from both of those two. For a US city and metro of its size, it has a lot of total population in very walkable areas, but they're broken out to different clumps that are mostly very close to each other. It would seem like a few major developments in the more eastern stretches of the Strip District around the borders of the Strip District, Lower Lawrenceville and Polish Hill would probably connect downtown and the East End bloc. It seems sort of like slime mold colonies growing into each other. Unfortunately less likely to happen in the near future would be a revitalization of the Hill District to connect downtown to the East End though at least there's the new freeway cap park though what you get hit with just east of that new park are masses of parking lots.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 01-31-2022 at 11:38 AM..
My block is "only" a 98, but I can say as someone that's worked in Manhattan for 10 years and lives in Hoboken, the vast majority of Hoboken feels more "walkable" to me, outside of a few downtown neighborhoods, than most of Manhattan. The sole reason is that it is built on a more human scale, and I find at any given time I am no more than an 8-minute walk to a grocery store, several restaurants, several bars, a doctors office, a dentist, a dry cleaner, a vet, a cobbler/tailor, etc. Like everyday stuff that a person would find helpful to have close by. In Manhattan, this is true in some neighborhoods (West Village, for example), but not others. Until one opened this year, my office didn't have a grocery store within 15 minutes if you don't count bodegas. You are, of course, ALWAYS close to a ton of bars and restaurants in Manhattan. Just not some of the more everyday essentials kind of places (though Duane Reade's are reliably always within 5 minutes, ha).
My block is "only" a 98, but I can say as someone that's worked in Manhattan for 10 years and lives in Hoboken, the vast majority of Hoboken feels more "walkable" to me, outside of a few downtown neighborhoods, than most of Manhattan. The sole reason is that it is built on a more human scale, and I find at any given time I am no more than an 8-minute walk to a grocery store, several restaurants, several bars, a doctors office, a dentist, a dry cleaner, a vet, a cobbler/tailor, etc. Like everyday stuff that a person would find helpful to have close by. In Manhattan, this is true in some neighborhoods (West Village, for example), but not others. Until one opened this year, my office didn't have a grocery store within 15 minutes if you don't count bodegas. You are, of course, ALWAYS close to a ton of bars and restaurants in Manhattan. Just not some of the more everyday essentials kind of places (though Duane Reade's are reliably always within 5 minutes, ha).
The Hudson County bloc is truly massive, and ranks really high on the list. I think it gets left in the shadows of the larger downtown core.
The geography does isolate Hoboken a bit in reality because of the hills to its west from the other urban parts of the area as well as the train tracks and yard to its south from Jersey City.
I think if I had a roadmap for what to do with NYC development, tops would be making the various commuter rail systems be connected and through-running with Hoboken station no longer being a terminal, but a separate underground crossing into Manhattan and connected with other rail lines, and thus the yard and tracks being underground means development and greenspace above ground to better connect Hoboken.
The Hudson County bloc is truly massive, and ranks really high on the list. I think it gets left in the shadows of the larger downtown core.
The geography does isolate Hoboken a bit in reality because of the hills to its west from the other urban parts of the area as well as the train tracks and yard to its south from Jersey City.
I think if I had a roadmap for what to do with NYC development, tops would be making the various commuter rail systems be connected and through-running with Hoboken station no longer being a terminal, but a separate underground crossing into Manhattan and connected with other rail lines, and thus the yard and tracks being underground means development and greenspace above ground to better connect Hoboken.
Yes, agreed. The Palisades (cliffs, for those not from the area) are very much a real physical barrier, but also a mental barrier as well, for lots of reasons. And Hoboken Terminal indeed separates us from JC (although there as a walkway that goes around it to connect to the Newport watrerfront). At one point, Bloomberg proposed connecting the 7 subway line from Hudson Yards to Hoboken 15th St (right near Hoboken North ferry terminal) and then on to Secaucus to connect to NJ Transit. Which would have made my commute conceivably be reduced to like 10 minutes door-to-door. Alas, was never a truly viable thing financially.
I would personally love for Hoboken to no longer be the terminus for half the NJ Transit lines though, would make it harder for the descending hoards of suburban party kids to get here on the weekends.
As always with Hoboken, so close and yet so far...
Yes, agreed. The Palisades (cliffs, for those not from the area) are very much a real physical barrier, but also a mental barrier as well, for lots of reasons. And Hoboken Terminal indeed separates us from JC (although there as a walkway that goes around it to connect to the Newport watrerfront). At one point, Bloomberg proposed connecting the 7 subway line from Hudson Yards to Hoboken 15th St (right near Hoboken North ferry terminal) and then on to Secaucus to connect to NJ Transit. Which would have made my commute conceivably be reduced to like 10 minutes door-to-door. Alas, was never a truly viable thing financially.
I would personally love for Hoboken to no longer be the terminus for half the NJ Transit lines though, would make it harder for the descending hoards of suburban party kids to get here on the weekends.
As always with Hoboken, so close and yet so far...
Hoboken would still be a stop on NJT with through-running, just not a terminal. Of course, that might mean more of those suburban party kids opt to sit to go to the next stop in Manhattan so that might lessen the burden on Hoboken. On the other hand, if that through-running is into Brooklyn/Queens and then Long Island, you might get another crowd coming in from the east to get their Hoboken fix.
I treated the territory covered by Penn's and Drexel's campuses as a separator rather than a tie, so I think your explanation here is as sound as if not sounder than my own. After all, both universities are major activity generators, and both of them have developed the streets that run through their campuses with new street-level retail on some of their academic buildings. (Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh's Oakland section (next to the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon Universtiy) they ain't, but they're closer to that now than they used to be.)
Your observations about the buildings in the Schuylkill floodplain with entrances at both bridge and ground level is a good one. Railroad tracks separate the buildings from the Schuylkill River Trail, but there is a grade crossing at Locust Street that provides ground-level access to the trail from the adjacent Fitler Square/Center City West area. Another crossing at Race Street does the same for Logan Square, and a huge new two-tower apartment building with a large supermarket just went up next to this crossing.
The Hudson County bloc is truly massive, and ranks really high on the list. I think it gets left in the shadows of the larger downtown core.
The geography does isolate Hoboken a bit in reality because of the hills to its west from the other urban parts of the area as well as the train tracks and yard to its south from Jersey City.
I think if I had a roadmap for what to do with NYC development, tops would be making the various commuter rail systems be connected and through-running with Hoboken station no longer being a terminal, but a separate underground crossing into Manhattan and connected with other rail lines, and thus the yard and tracks being underground means development and greenspace above ground to better connect Hoboken.
It's like you heard about the Gateway Program lol Been in the works for a long time. The North River tunnels in Weehawken built right into the cliffs and seen in clear view from River Road are the major artery bottleneck due to damage from Sandy. Basically the largest transit bottleneck in the US. They are more than 110 years old. This project will double capacity in these tunnels, should also have a huge impact on train times and inter-agency connections throughout the entire Bos-Was corridor.
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