DC Leads Nation in Walkability
A couple years ago the American Podiatric Medical Association named Arlington #1 on its list of Top 10 Best U.S. Walking Cities. Today we learned on WTOP (Washington Leads Metro Areas in Walkability, December 4, 2007) and on CNN.com (Metropolitan Areas Ranked on Walkability, December 4, 2007) that the entire Washington D.C. area ranks #1 on walkability. A report released today by the Brookings Institution ranks the Washington region first among the country's major metropolitan areas in the number of "walkable places" per capita, thanks to changes in just the past 15 years.
The report by Christopher Leinberger is titled Footloose and Fancy Free: A Field Survey of Walkable Urban Places in the Top 30 U.S. Metropolitan Areas. The report starts:
The post-World War II era has witnessed the nearly exclusive building of low density suburbia, here termed “drivable sub-urban” development, as the American metropolitan built environment. However, over the past 15 years, there has been a gradual shift in how Americans have created their built environment (defined as the real estate, which is generally privately owned, and the infrastructure that supports real estate, majority publicly owned), as demonstrated by the success of the many downtown revitalizations, new urbanism, and transit-oriented development. This has been the result of the re-introduction and expansion of higher density “walkable urban” places. This field survey attempts to identify the number and location of “regional-serving” walkable urban places in the 30 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., where 138 million, or 46 percent, of the U.S. population lives. This field survey determines where these walkable urban places are most prevalent on a per capita basis, where they are generally located within the metro area, and the extent to which rail transit service is associated with walkable urban development.
The Walkability Rankings:
1. Washington, D.C.
2. Boston, Massachusetts
3. San Francisco, California
4. Denver, Colorado
5. Portland, Oregon
6. Seattle, Washington
7. Chicago, Illinois
8. Miami, Florida
9. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
10. New York
11. San Diego, California
12. Los Angeles, California
13. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
14. Atlanta, Georgia
15. Baltimore, Maryland
16. St. Louis, Missouri
17. Minneapolis, Minnesota
18. Detroit, Michigan
19. Columbus, Ohio
20. Las Vegas, Nevada
21. Houston, Texas
22. San Antonio, Texas
23. Kansas City, Missouri
24. Orlando, Florida
25. Dallas, Texas
26. Phoenix, Arizona
27. Sacramento, California
28. Cincinnati, Ohio
29. Cleveland, Ohio
30. Tampa, Florida
The report says that the Washington, D.C. area has the most regional-serving walkable urban places (20) per capita in the country. The major reasons for the high number of walkable urban places in Washington are 1) the success of the Metrorail system and 2) the aggressive use of "overlay zoning districts" that allow and promote walkable urbanism around MetroStations. Of the 20 walkable areas in the DC area, 7 are in Arlington. The 20 areas gives the DC metro area the highest per capita, thus landing us in the top spot. The report cited Downtown, Dupont Circle, West End, Georgetown, Adams Morgan, Capital Hill, Bethesda, Old Town Alexandria, Friendship Heights, Silver Spring, Rockville, Frederick, Ballston, Clarendon, Rosslyn, Crystal City/Pentagon City, Carlyle, Court House, Shirlington, and Reston Town Center as the 20 walkable places in the region.
Other report highlights include:
- Rail transit seems to play a significant role in catalyzing walkable urban development
- Metro areas with old rail transit systems have a greater likelihood of walkable urbanism may be a myth
- Regional differences show that the Northeast and West Coast have a greater prevalence of walkable urban development
- There is potential for the development of many additional walkable places
- A tale of two kinds of metro areas may be evolving: those of Metros benefiting from the trend toward walkable urbanism and those out of position.
Congrats to our region and lets keep up the good work!
Walking Resources:
Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a biking/Metro commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.
