San Francisco tops the list; over 2,500 neighborhoods ranked

Front Seat, the civic software company that operates walkability site http://www.walkscore.com/, announced the results of their calculations to identify America's Most Walkable Neighborhoods. With gas topping $4 per gallon, Americans are increasingly looking for walkable places to live. The new list is the first objective national ranking of walkability; findings are based on analysis of 2,508 neighborhoods in the 40 most populous U.S. cities. The full rankings of the 40 cities and each of their neighborhoods can be found at http://www.walkscore.com/.

  According to Walk Score, the top 10 most walkable cities are:

 Rank  City/Score            Most Walkable Neighborhoods
  1)   San Francisco (86)    Chinatown, Financial District, Downtown
  2)   New York (83)         Tribeca, Little Italy, Soho
  3)   Boston (79)           Back Bay-Beacon Hill, South End, Fenway-Kenmore
  4)   Chicago (76)          Loop, Near North Side, Lincoln Park
  5)   Philadelphia (74)     City Center East, City Center West, Riverfront
  6)   Seattle (72)          Pioneer Square, Downtown, First Hill
  7)   Washington, D.C. (70) Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, Downtown
  8)   Long Beach, CA (69)   Downtown, Belmont Shore, Belmont Heights
  9)   Los Angeles (67)      Mid City West, Downtown, Hollywood
  10)  Portland, OR (66)     Pearl District, Old Town-Chinatown, Downtown

In addition to the city rankings, Walk Score lists 138 neighborhoods nationally that scored in the highest bracket -- 90 or above. Tribeca, Little Italy and Soho in New York top the list with scores of 100. The team also identified "pockets" of walkability in the lowest-ranking cities, to show that no matter how walkable the city, people can enjoy the economic, environmental, health and social benefits of walkability.

"We developed Walk Score to help people evaluate the walkability of individual addresses as they search for a great place to live," says Mike Mathieu, founder of Front Seat. "Ultimately, we'd like to see every property listing include a Walk Score -- 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, Walk Score of 80."

The Walk Score algorithm works by identifying the closest grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops and other amenities near a given address. The neighborhoods were weighted by population and assigned a Walk Score between 0 and 100. Walk Scores greater than 70 indicate neighborhoods where it's possible to get by without owning a car, while scores of 90+ qualify as a "Walker's Paradise."

"As Americans look to reduce their environmental impact and ease reliance on cars, the appeal of walkable communities continues to grow," says Christopher Leinberger of the Brookings Institution. "People increasingly value the convenience and connectedness that vibrant, walkable communities offer -- and the health, safety and environmental benefits are icing on the cake."

About Front Seat and Walk Score

Walk Score is a project of Front Seat, a civic software company based in Seattle. Front Seat software connects people to the places we live, the resources we consume, and our communities. Since its launch in July 2007, Walk Score has become the most popular measure of walkability in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., with more than two million addresses scored. The Walk Score team is advised by an eight-person Advisory Board, which includes urban planning, environmental and technical experts from institutions such as Sightline Institute, The Brookings Institution, and Google. Detailed methodology information is available on the Walk Score web site.

Source: Front Seat

Web site: http://www.walkscore.com/