WalkScore.com, the internet’s most popular site for determining the walkability of urban places, released their annual rankings this week to showcase the most pedestrian friendly cities across the United States for 2014. There were few surprises at the top of the list, which includes (in order) New York City, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago, DC, Seattle, Oakland and Baltimore.
Columbus falls further down the list, placing in at #27 out of large cities with an average city-wide walk score of 40 (out of 100). Despite recent biking and pedestrian infrastructure upgrades, this placement is exactly the same as when we first took a look at these scores back in 2008. Which begs the question… does proper infrastructure lead to improved walkability, or is dense private development required before the score is raised?
Many nationally published articles and research papers are indicating that most americans want dense walkable neighborhoods rather than large McMansion houses. Author Jeff Speck takes this a step further and claims that walkability solves most of America’s major issues, including those related to health, the environment and economic vibrancy.
While Downtown Columbus is growing denser at a rapid pace, is the rest of the city destined to remain car-centric as mixed-use multi-story development on High Street is rejected in favor of single-story buildings? Are our own suburbs leading the walkability charge with massive walkable developments like the Bridge Street Corridor in Dublin? Currently, the most walkable neighborhoods in Columbus include the University District, Downtown, Italian Village, Weinland Park, Victorian Village, German Village and Brewery District, all with walkscores over 75. Does the rest of the city of Columbus deserve the same quality of life for residents?
For more discussion on walkability, CLICK HERE to visit our Messageboard.
For more info on the Columbus WalkScore, visit www.walkscore.com/OH/Columbus.
Photo by Alex Silbajoris.