most walkable and densest US city other than new york (largest, suburban)

[reck345]

what is the the most walkable or densest city other than new york in the US.

[DailyJournalist]

1) Philadelphia
2) Chicago
3) San Francisco
4) Boston

[tmac9wr]

For major cities, great cases could be made for cities like San Francsico, Boston, Philly and Chicago...most likely in that order.

[costello_musicman]

Originally Posted by DailyJournalist

1) Philadelphia
2) Chicago
3) San Francisco
4) Boston

Yes those 4 for sure....not in that order though......and I'd put Washington DC as 5th.

[OyCrumbler]

Portland, Oregon is pretty walkable. Neighborhoods are the greater determinants than entire cities.

[LosAngelesNightmare]

San Francisco

this is a fact

[Toxic Toast]

Bloomington, IL
Carbondale, IL
Wichita Fall, TX
Edmond, OK

[matt345]

San Francisco. I'm always amazed how I can walk from one neighborhood to another and then to another without even thinking about looking for a bus/subway/streetcar.

[roboto]

Chicago.

Its denser than SF, Philly or Boston over a greater area (its also a bigger city and has 2 huge airports, and underutilized industrial areas in the south and west which bring the overall city density and walkability score lower). It also has tons of dense walkable neighborhoods from downtown all along the northshore and northwest. It has the second most extensive transit system in the nation and the second largest central area. Easily the second most built-up city in the US.

[LosAngelesNightmare]

Originally Posted by roboto

Chicago.

Its denser than SF, Philly or Boston over a greater area (its also a bigger city and has 2 huge airports, and underutilized industrial areas in the south and west which bring the overall city density and walkability score lower). It also has tons of dense walkable neighborhoods from downtown all along the northshore and northwest. It has the second most extensive transit system in the nation and the second largest central area. Easily the second most built-up city in the US.

sorry chics 5th densest ..not bad for the midswestern town

5. Chicago, Illinois
Coming in as the fifth-densest city in America, and unsurprisingly so, given the excellent public transportation, which has allowed development to progress with a reasonable level of sprawl, is Chicago
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/47215/2004562283329028167_rs.jpg (broken link)
Image from StuckinCustoms on Flickr
The Windy City, charged with rebuilding itself after Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern and burned four square miles of the city in 1871, developed the urban core upwards, and later installed an elevated rail system as the centerpiece of Chigaco Transit Authority. The CTA, which runs 24 hours a day, is the second-largest transit system in the nation, and provided nearly 500 Million rides last year.
4. Honolulu, Hawaii
The fourth-densest city in the United States is, shockingly in Hawaii– this Pacific paradise is shoehorned into some of the most difficult geography of any American city, in the low-lying areas on a mountainous island.
http://aycu10.webshots.com/image/50049/2003037465542821232_rs.jpg (broken link)
You can see in the above photo how the city is forced to contour around the natural obstacles to development– the mountain on one side, and the ocean on the other. Kudos to the Hawaiians for not taking the Kentucky approach to things and simply blowing the top off of the mountain, or building out into the ocean like they do in [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]Dubai[/color][/color].
3. Los Angeles, California
The third-densest city in America bucks its reputation. Long the poster child for urban sprawl, the reality of L.A. is simply that it’s that big– density EVERYWHERE doesn’t make a city any less (or more) sustainably developed. The difference between Los Angelenos and the rest of the citizenry on this list is that L.A. has far more commuters on the road and not using mass transit.
http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/49156/2002006730104107938_rs.jpg (broken link)
From Thomas Pintaric
See the smog? Imagine if they had good public transit.

2. San Francisco, California
Next on our hit parade is San Fransisco– much like [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]Honolulu[/color][/color], the SF-Oakland area has its hand forced by geography, and it also has an excellent rapid transit system– the BART– that enables a tightly-packed populous to move around as they would with automobiles in suburban areas.