If you’re not a big fan of cars or driving, then these cities are for you
Tired of fighting traffic on your daily drive to work? These cities are the most walkable, according to a new report.
The report, “Foot Traffic Ahead 2023,” published on Wednesday by Smart Growth America and Places Platform, focused on ranking the “range of walkability” in the 35 biggest cities in America.
The cities were ranked on metrics including real-estate inventory, square footage, walkable urban-development status and how easily residents can get around without a car on a daily basis.
The 35 biggest cities in the U.S. collectively have a population of 165 million — or about half of the total U.S. population, the report said.
The most walkable city in the U.S., the study found, is New York. In the Big Apple, 73% of office space is considered walkable. Apartments are also concentrated in the city: In New York City, 70% of multifamily rental inventory is in places considered walkable, the report said. Both access to housing and office spaces have resulted in the city’s ranking first on the list.
Here’s the full list:
- New York
- Boston
- Washington, D.C.
- Seattle
- Portland
- San Francisco
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- Pittsburgh
- Philadelphia
The report noted that the leader in “walkable urban housing” is Boston, “in part because of the large percentage of pre–World War II homes built when the default development mode was walkable urban.”
The findings highlighted that the “demand for walkable, well-connected real estate far exceeds supply, and that this “imbalance underscores the urgency of policy reform to deliver more mixed-use, mixed-income housing near transit.”
