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Most Walkable City: San Francisco

Posted by: Nate Berg

18 July 2008 - 6:00am

San Francisco has been named the most walkable American city by the walkability website WalkScore.

"The city by the bay is the most "walkable" in the nation, according to rankings set for release today by WalkScore.com, a service designed to help those seeking a less automobile-dependent life. The distinction encompasses a host of environmental, health and economic advantages."

"WalkScore, a division of Seattle software company Front Seat, evaluated the 40 largest U.S. cities based on residents' proximity to grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, movie theaters and other amenities. Hills were not taken into account in the rankings, just distance and concentration."

"San Francisco scored an 86 out of 100, besting New York's 83 and Boston's 79. Seventeen of San Francisco's neighborhoods ranked 90 or above - considered a "walker's paradise" - including Chinatown, the Mission, Nob Hill and Haight-Ashbury."

Full Story: S.F. a step ahead as most 'walkable' U.S. city
Source: The San Francisco Chronicle, July 17, 2008
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walkable, but...

Submitted by rbregoff on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 10:26.

Because of our particular geography, San Francisco enjoys a density that supports local, walkable businesses, but for an interesting take on real life at the sidewalk level, see the article 'An Eye On the Street' by Benjamin Grant in the SPUR monthly journal: http://www.spur.org/newsletters/0608Urbanist.pdf
Essentially, Grant points out that, while San Francisco looks great from a distance, our neighborhood sidewalks are often unfriendly spaces that are not conducive to community interraction.

One of my favorite overlooked walkable places is (surprisingly)in Orange County. The Balboa/Newport Beach is a dense community with many walkable services and, because of a system of alleys, the sidewalks are uninterrupted by driveways and garage doors. The only thing missing is diversity!

rob bregoff

thanks for the link to the

Submitted by wes on Wed, 07/23/2008 - 08:03.

thanks for the link to the article. Benjamin discusses all of my issues with my old city. If only it wasn't as cemented over as it is. There are so many streets that could be narrowed a bit and provide room for a strip of green, rocks would even soften up the look of SF streets.

Walkscore Problems

Submitted by Ken Firestone on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 06:08.

Unfortunately, Walkscore is flawed.

I plugged in the address of a suburban location across a major highway from a large strip mall, and got a score in the mid 70's.

It would be nice if they could include connectivity, like measuring the road network around the address.

One other good thing about Walkscore

Submitted by Michael Lewyn on Thu, 07/24/2008 - 17:51.

It discusses its own flaws:

http://www.walkscore.com/how-it-doesnt-work.shtml

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Planners, architects, artists, and other community members can make the exploratory walk a key tool in re-making places, stemming from the emotions and atmospheres perceived by people who live there or visit them, and plan outward from the experiential, toward trajectories, shapes, and physical structures.
”