Houston is most walkable metro in Texas according to a GWU study!

[majicdonjuan]

Originally Posted by Kiovo

I feel bad for your co-workers after you get back to work.

I will walk to and from midtown from downtown when the temp is less than 80 but over and I'll take the metro rail. It's not the heat, it's the humidity and the sweating. There is nothing you can do about the sweating. Compared to cold weather places, at least you can put on more layers of clothing to keep warm. I do love places like city centre, town squares etc because it is nice to park, walk around, eat, and do some shopping.

I rarely sweat when walking in Houston unless it's extremely hot (95+) AND extremely humid at those temps. Which surprisingly, isn't normally the case. Mid-to-low 90s and under I'm pretty much OK.

I grew up in Houston though. I think my body is just used to it because I'm bundled up in a pretty good jacket as soon as you start talking about low 60s, and then once you get into the 50s I start getting more and more miserable.

Different strokes they say.

[testmo]

Originally Posted by Weatherguy

Regarding suburbs, some are very walkable. If anyone hasn't seen Cinco Ranch, you have to see it to believe it. Walking trails, lakes, parks everywhere you look. Suburban life isn't really for me, but if I had to do it, master planned communities like Cinco would be outstanding for walkability. What about Sugarland and The Woodlands? Can anyone comment on their walkability?

Imo thats no different than a side walk. Many suburbs have "green belts". I can techincally walk everywhere short of the surface of the sun. These ratings factor in destination points i believe. Not just walking can be physically done. Parks are counted, again i believe, and houston has quite a few parks. but a park wont feed you or let you make atm withdraws etc

[stoneclaw]

Overall, it's hard to see Houston as a real walkable area with the enormous amount of wide freeways, strip centers, run down parking lots, lack of smooth public transit (really talking about lightrail), and feeder roads around town. But as someone mentioned earlier, Houston is looking pretty snazzy with the pedestrian developments taking place in the innerloop.

Things going on around the Buffalo Bayou project, West Dallas, Eastdowntown Houston, Midtown, Montrose, Westheimer and Richmond, UpperKirby, TMC/Rice area, and even close to Uptown Houston is showing signs developing in a walkable fashion. But since Houston is so big and spread out, and lacks smooth public transit, it tends to feel diluted. That's changing rapidly though.

[Social D]

Originally Posted by testmo

Imo thats no different than a side walk. Many suburbs have "green belts". I can techincally walk everywhere short of the surface of the sun. These ratings factor in destination points i believe. Not just walking can be physically done. Parks are counted, again i believe, and houston has quite a few parks. but a park wont feed you or let you make atm withdraws etc

I live in Cinco and within a 5 to 10 minute walk I can get to a Walgreens, Elementary school, High School, Donut shop, 2 pizza places, yogurt shop, Chinese Resturant, McDonalds, neighborhood pool, 4 parks/playgrounds, dry cleaner, auto repair/oil change place, convenience store, several dentist offices, eye doctors, and 2 day care centers, along with the greenbelts for exercise and dog walking. Within a 10 minute bike ride I can add Specs, Kroger, Academy, Bank, and quite a few other things to the list. Not that I need to go to all of these places but the point is that burbs can be at least somewhat walkable. My area does gets a very low score on the walkscore.com website, i guess you need to have a trendy coffee shop and a transit line close by to be considered walkable.

[DSL_PWR]

Everywhere is in walking distance if you have the time..