As far as walkable cities are concerned, it doesn’t get much better than San Francisco.
The City by the Bay is Walk Score’s second most walkable large city in the U.S. It’s 805,235 residents benefit from a multitude of transportation options, although cable cars are mostly for tourists. San Francisco is easy to get around via BART, MUNI, and by bus, but walking the hilly terrain affords the best views of the city, the bay, and all its other assets.
Overall, San Francisco has a walk score of 84, out of 100 possible points.
It’s transit score is 80, and its bike score is 75.
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Walk Score also ranks individual neighborhoods in each city it reviews. The top five neighborhoods in San Francisco are:
Chinatown
This tourist magnet is a local’s paradise for good reason. The neighborhood has both a perfect walk score and transit score. Getting almost anywhere by bike is also a snap, with a bike score of 72.
Downtown-Union Square
This nerve center of the big city just misses a perfect walk score, with a 99. It does boast a perfect transit score, with the numerous options expected of a cosmopolitan metro. Downtown-Union Square is the smallest of the neighborhoods, with a population of 2,112. It has an admirable bike score of 81.
North Beach
Lovely North Beach is also a “walker’s paradise,” says Walk Score, giving the neighborhood a walk score of 99. If riding is a better option, the area has many good choices, which helped it to earn a transit score of 96, and a bike score of 71.
Japantown
Delightful Japantown is also a favorite of walkers, with a walk score of 99. It has a transit score of 91, and a bike score of 79.
Lower Nob Hill
Last but far from least is the largest neighborhood in the top five, with a population of 14,408. As with the top four entries on this list, Lower Nob Hill is easy to get around and out of. This neighborhood has a walk score of 99, a transit score of 100, and a bike score of 74.
Walk score measures the walkability of any address based on the distance to nearby places, and pedestrian friendliness. All of San Francisco’s top five neighborhoods are called a “walker’s paradise,” meaning that daily errands don’t require a car. The city as a whole is “very walkable.”
Transit score measures how well a location is served by public transit based on the distance and type of nearby transit lines. The top five neighborhoods in San Francisco fall into the “rider’s paradise” categories, meaning they all have scores between 90 and 100. The city itself has “excellent transit”.
Bike Score measures whether an area is good for biking based on bike lanes and trails, hills, road connectivity, and destinations. San Francisco’s top five are all “very bikeable,” (score in the 70 to 89 range) as is the city as a whole.
