Walk Score, a company operated by Redfin, has determined that New York City is most walkable city in America. San Francisco is named as the second most walkable city, followed by Boston. Walk Score only ranked cities in America with populations exceeding 300,000.
Remember the three Ls of real estate: location, location and location? It’s important to think about them when choosing the right home for your client.
Redfin pointed out that all of the cities in the top ten improved on their 2015 scores, which just goes to show that cities are recognizing how important it is for their respective populations to get around without relying too much on automobiles.
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The city that saw the most improvement, but still ranks at a “car-dependent” 32nd, is Omaha, Nebraska.
Other cities that saw notable growth of at least four points since 2015 are St. Louis, Denver, Aurora (CO), Santa Ana (CA), Austin and Houston.
[graphiq id=”3ia40k644Xb” title=”Energy Consumed by the Transportation Sector” width=”600″ height=”546″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/3ia40k644Xb” link=”http://time-series.findthedata.com/l/112145/Energy-Consumed-by-the-Transportation-Sector” link_text=”Energy Consumed by the Transportation Sector | FindTheData” ]
The top ten list also includes Miami (no. 5), Chicago (no. 6), Washington D.C. (no. 7) and Long Beach (no. 10), with the latter of the list just barely pushing out Baltimore by 0.3 points.
To determine the walkability of cities, Walk Score analyzed over 10 million locations. With its location data, the company then computed two billion walking routes and then combine them with its own algorithm of routes, nearby amenities, distance to aforementioned amenities, population, pedestrian ease and neighborhood boundaries.
Redfin sees the upsides of walkability not just for health benefits or burning calories, but also for quality of life. By choosing a home within walking distance of your favorite restaurants, shops, and friends, you’re less likely to allocate time and money to transit.
