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Old 07-24-2008, 11:52 PM
 
Location: Jax
8,200 posts, read 35,335,304 times
Reputation: 3441

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There's a great article right now on metrojacksonville.com about walkable neighborhoods. They've been taking a close look at Walkscore's new report.

We're often asked where the walkable neighborhoods are in Jacksonville and we can usually list a handful and leave it right about there. I've even listed some of the less better-known walkable neighborhoods here on the forum and been scoffed at and told "that's not a walkable neighborhood!"

Well now I've been vindicated because those neighborhoods made the list . Ha Ha!

So check out the list. Along with our usual San Marco and Riverside, San Souci made the list, Lakewood, parts of Mandarin, Murray Hill...

The top 20 walkable neighborhoods in Jacksonville, according to Get Your Walk Score - A Walkability Score For Any Address

rank, walk score, population, neighborhood name

1. 88 3,373 Downtown Jacksonville
2. 80 2,886 San Marco
3. 71 1,762 Fairfax
4. 71 9,754 Riverside
5. 70 1,200 Southside (Southbank)
6. 70 611 Normandy
7. 68 3,523 Hogans Creek
8. 67 10,392 Murray Hill
9. 66 4,018 Regency
10. 64 6,055 Springfield
11. 62 2,891 Monterey (Arlington-East of University, South of JU)
12. 59 852 Brakridge (Southside Blvd. near Hodges)
13. 59 4,755 Lakewood
14. 58 7,789 Brentwood
15. 58 2,132 Pickwick Park (Mandarin)
16. 58 5,052 Arlington
17. 58 3,889 Arrowhead (Mandarin)
18. 56 4,495 Lakeshore
19. 56 5,825 Avondale
20. 56 5,296 Sans Souci

Here's a link to the full article:

Metro Jacksonville - Jacksonville's Most Walkable Neighborhoods

And here you can enter your home's address and see what your walkable score is:

Get Your Walk Score - A Walkability Score For Any Address
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Old 07-25-2008, 12:32 AM
 
1,255 posts, read 3,470,550 times
Reputation: 773
Interesting. I've checked out the WalkScore site before just to play around with different cities I've been to or lived in. It gave Lexington, KY a 98% "Walkers Paradise" score, which is NOT the case. That city is only truly walkable in a few select parts of downtown. The place as a whole is VERY suburban.

Another oddity is it gave Washington, DC a lower score (95%). Yes, one of the most walkable cities in the US with some of the best public transportation going.

So, I really dont know what to think of the site & its accuracy. Am I doing something wrong??
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Old 07-25-2008, 06:49 PM
 
Location: Jax
8,200 posts, read 35,335,304 times
Reputation: 3441
Quote:
Originally Posted by KerryB View Post
Interesting. I've checked out the WalkScore site before just to play around with different cities I've been to or lived in. It gave Lexington, KY a 98% "Walkers Paradise" score, which is NOT the case. That city is only truly walkable in a few select parts of downtown. The place as a whole is VERY suburban.

Another oddity is it gave Washington, DC a lower score (95%). Yes, one of the most walkable cities in the US with some of the best public transportation going.

So, I really dont know what to think of the site & its accuracy. Am I doing something wrong??
As I understand it, the score is based on true walkability - feet only ! I don't think they're factoring public transportation into the score. So it's more about the layout and density of the city/neighborhood.

For example, if you enter your own home address, it will pull up the nearest grocery store, restaurant, coffee shop, city park, etc., with the exact mileage from your address. That address will be scored by how far you have to walk to get to these things.

So you can enter one Jacksonville address and get a great score, but enter another and get a really low score.

For the article, they ranked the city as a whole and then individual neighborhoods.

What I found interesting was the ranking. For example, locals in Jax often consider Avondale as a walkable neighborhood on par with its' next-door neighbor Riverside. If you look at the walkability score, Riverside ranks much higher than Avondale; Riverside is more walkable than Avondale (I agree with this).

Even more interesting is that lesser known neighborhoods like Murray Hill and Lakewood get a higher ranking for walkability than Avondale, and again, I agree with this, there's more to walk to in those neighborhoods, but Avondale is better known (rightly so, it's historic).

So it's an interesting dissection of the true definition of walkability .
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Old 07-25-2008, 07:11 PM
 
Location: O-Town
1,781 posts, read 6,937,851 times
Reputation: 503
Downtown Orlando got a 98 where i live got a 20 LOL Winter park got a 85. Where I was from in Providence Rhode Island got a 100.
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Old 07-26-2008, 10:38 AM
 
1,255 posts, read 3,470,550 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by riveree View Post
As I understand it, the score is based on true walkability - feet only ! I don't think they're factoring public transportation into the score. So it's more about the layout and density of the city/neighborhood.
Still, even if public transportation isnt factored in. Lex getting a higher score than DC is just preposterous. I mean 98%?? Lex is barely walkable & only in like 2 VERY small sections of town & that is it. The entire District is walkable. All of it.

Also, Los Angeles got a 100% & Portland got less. Anyone who has ever been to those cities will know how ridiculous that is. Needless to say, I think their scoring is flawed.
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Old 07-26-2008, 07:16 PM
 
Location: Jax
8,200 posts, read 35,335,304 times
Reputation: 3441
Quote:
Originally Posted by KerryB View Post
Still, even if public transportation isnt factored in. Lex getting a higher score than DC is just preposterous. I mean 98%?? Lex is barely walkable & only in like 2 VERY small sections of town & that is it. The entire District is walkable. All of it.

Also, Los Angeles got a 100% & Portland got less. Anyone who has ever been to those cities will know how ridiculous that is. Needless to say, I think their scoring is flawed.
I should have checked this first, here's their scoring requirements (they do count public transport):


We'll be the first to admit that Walk Score is just an approximation of walkability. There are a number of factors that contribute to walkability that are not part of our algorithm:

Public transit: Good public transit is important for walkable neighborhoods.

Street width and block length: Narrow streets slow down traffic. Short blocks provide more routes to the same destination and make it easier to take a direct route.

Street design: Sidewalks and safe crossings are essential to walkability. Appropriate automobile speeds, trees, and other features also help.

Safety from crime and crashes: How much crime is in the neighborhood? How many traffic accidents are there? Are streets well-lit?

Pedestrian-friendly community design: Are buildings close to the sidewalk with parking in back? Are destinations clustered together?

Topography: Hills can make walking difficult, especially if you're carrying groceries.

Freeways and bodies of water: Freeways can divide neighborhoods. Swimming is harder than walking.

Weather: In some places it's just too hot or cold to walk regularly.



So one of these factors may have worked against DC .
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Old 07-26-2008, 07:42 PM
 
702 posts, read 2,176,621 times
Reputation: 299
My neighborhood got a 25 of the possible 100. I would say that is fairly accurate.
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Old 07-26-2008, 09:45 PM
 
Location: Jax
8,200 posts, read 35,335,304 times
Reputation: 3441
Quote:
Originally Posted by apanda View Post
My neighborhood got a 25 of the possible 100. I would say that is fairly accurate.
I'm "between houses" right now (complicated !), so here are my two:


My house is Intracoastal West is like yours, not really walkable:

20 out of 100 "Car-Dependent"

Over in the San Marco/San Jose area, it's much better:

65 out of 100 "Somewhat Walkable"
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Old 07-28-2008, 03:16 PM
 
Location: Jacksonville, FL
3,528 posts, read 8,237,490 times
Reputation: 914
Riverside, Avondale, and San Marco are the only true walkable neighborhoods. All the rest are either too spread out, not enough to walk to (eat, play, etc). What the heck is "Fairfax"? I've never heard of it....
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Old 07-28-2008, 06:09 PM
 
Location: Jax
8,200 posts, read 35,335,304 times
Reputation: 3441
Quote:
Originally Posted by fsu813 View Post
Riverside, Avondale, and San Marco are the only true walkable neighborhoods. All the rest are either too spread out, not enough to walk to (eat, play, etc). What the heck is "Fairfax"? I've never heard of it....
Well, that's why I posted this thread in the first place. I don't think Riverside, Avondale and San Marco are the only walkable neighborhoods, there are others that don't get the "press" as being walkable, even though they are.

Fairfax is near Avondale, but you've never heard of it. Ever hear of Fishweir? Fishweir is also a neighborhood near Avondale, but most people probably never heard of it either. Avondale gets all the glory .

I think the list is food for thought. Look how low Avondale ranks on the walkability score - #19 out of 20 - there are 18 other neighborhoods that are more walkable than Avondale, according to this scoring system.

In fact, according to the walkability score, Avondale, San Souci and Lakeshore all rank equally - they all rate a score of "56" as their walk score.

But when someone asks "what's a walkable neighborhood?", when is the answer "Try San Souci, try Pickwick Park, try Lakewood, try Fairfax"? Maybe the options are expanding...that's what I found interesting about the report .
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