

How walkable is your neighborhood?


My last post commented on an article in Prevention magazine, “25 Best Walking Cities,” which ranked Seattle No. 7 in its list of the nation’s most pedestrian friendly locales.

The article said Seattle made the list because it has the highest number of rail lines converted to trails.

How walkable is your neighborhood? Are the sidewalks great? Can you walk to shopping areas or walk to work? Do you have trails nearby?

A Web site called Walk Score evaluates of the walkability of neighborhoods. More than 2,500 neighborhoods in the nation’s largest 40 cities are given a score and ranked.

You can also obtain scores on the walkability of 77 Seattle neighborhoods.

Walk Score helps people find walkable places to live. Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, and other features. Walk Score measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle – not how pretty the area is for walking.

Here’s Walk Score list of the 10 most walkable Seattle neighborhoods:

  1. Pioneer Square
  2. Downtown
  3. First Hill
  4. Belltown
  5. Roosevelt
  6. International District
  7. South Lake Union
  8. University District
  9. Lower Queen Anne
  10. Wallingford

Most errands can be accomplished on foot in these neighborhoods, and many people can get by without owning a car, according to Walk Score.

The 10 least walkable neighborhoods in Seattle on Walk Score’s list are:

  1. Broadview
  2. South Park
  3. Rainier Beach
  4. Fauntleroy
  5. View Ridge
  6. Matthews Beach
  7. Arbor Heights
  8. North Beach
  9. Windermere
  10. Blue Ridge

These 10 neighborhoods would be considered car dependent by Walk Score.

What do you think of Walk Score’s rankings of Seattle Neighborhoods? Does Walk Score have it right?


Rita R. Robison

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