We’re Still Walkable! What Happened?
Last year (at least I think it was last year, they don’t have dates on the article) Prevention Magazine named Portland as the #1 most walkable city in the US. This post on Metroblogging NYC brought my attention to the latest version of this survey. Apparently Portland’s not so walkable anymore since they’ve dropped us to #19! I’m not so bothered by not being number one any more, but by some of the cities that ranked higher. We’re being beaten by the hilly behemoths of San Francisco and Seattle. They’re both walkable, I’ll admit, but I don’t think they top Portland in the walkability department. I couldn’t find a conclusive list of which criteria were being measured in each study, but “% of athletic shoe buyers” seems to be a new one. I walk everywhere and don’t wear “athletic shoes”.
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Newark, NJ @ #100 with no mention of Hoboken,NJ?
They are seriously broken.
I remember reading this survey last year and feeling smug about it. Now it looks like random crap.
SF is a great town to walk in. Charlotte was nice but barely qualifies as a town. Having spent eleven years in San Diego, and been one of a handful of people to walk/bike anywhere, I can tell you it isn’t in the top one thousand places for walking. With the lack of weather it should be great, but it’s hard to go more than few hundred yards without risking death crossing vast streets.
jeez, its like you haven’t even walked since last year. i mean, this year, it totally IS like 19x harder to get places.
like last year, i would walk to the coffee shop that i can see from my kitchen window, this year, shit i wore thru my athletic shoes and decided to buy sandals, and so now i have to drive.
Well, I have to say Portland is not a walkable place compared to NYC or San Fran. It’s not a specific fault…it’s just so spread out. Keep the neighborhood action up and all will be OK. Yeah?
Downtown Portland, including The Pearl and Northwest seem very walkable to me most of the time. But right now all the contruction and roadwork may be reasons for drops in our scores. This, too, shall pass.