Least walkable cities

[joiei]

A list we didn't make, how did that happen?

Top 10 Least Walkable U.S. Cities
1. Jacksonville
2. Nashville
3. Charlotte
4. Indianapolis
5. Oklahoma City
6. Memphis
7. Kansas City
8. Fort Worth
9. El Paso
10. Mesa

I found this list here.    There is more information here at Treehugger. Walkable communities tend to have the following characteristics  
* A center: Walkable neighborhoods have a discernable center, whether it's a shopping district, a main street, or a public space.
* Density: The neighborhood is compact, rather than spread out, which brings people closer to stores and jobs and makes public transportation more cost effective.
* Mixed income, mixed use: Housing is provided for everyone who works in the neighborhood: young and old, singles and families, rich and poor. Businesses and residences are located near each other.
* Parks and public space: There are plenty of public places to gather and play.
* Accessibility: The neighborhood is accessible to everyone and has wheelchair access, plenty of benches with shade, sidewalks on all streets, etc.
* Well connected, speed controlled streets: Streets form a connected grid that improves traffic by providing many routes to any destination. Streets are narrow to control speed, and shaded by trees to protect pedestrians.
* Pedestrian-centric design: Buildings are placed close to the street to cater to foot traffic, with parking lots relegated to the back.
* Close schools and workplaces: Schools and workplaces are close enough that most residents can walk from their homes.
(using the quotes function on this blog format is the pits)

My Tulsa neighborhood scored a 77 out of 100 points - very walkable - using their Walk Score device.  What do you call these things?  I am having a presenior moment.

Plug in your address and find out the score of your neighborhood.

[Conan71]

ElPaso not walkable?  The illegal aliens keep walking across into EP every day.

[TheTed]

Memphis is far more walkable than Tulsa.

They have a better core and better transit.

Same thing with Kansas City and Indianapolis.

[Hoss]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

ElPaso not walkable?  The illegal aliens keep walking across into EP every day.

+1

[brunoflipper]

quote:Originally posted by TheTed

Memphis is far more walkable than Tulsa.

They have a better core and better transit.

Same thing with Kansas City and Indianapolis.

where the f are you walking in KC?
other than the plaza/westport area...

kc's downtown is getting better all the time but it is still not walkable...
**** all the growth is crazy south and west... anymore, way past stanley is the new hot suburbs... and in another few years lawrence will be contiguous...

i spent nearly ten yrs there and visit three or four times a year...

[cannon_fodder]

quote:Originally posted by brunoflipper

quote:Originally posted by TheTed

Memphis is far more walkable than Tulsa.

They have a better core and better transit.

Same thing with Kansas City and Indianapolis.

where the f are you walking in KC?
other than the Plaza/Westport area...

WestPort/Plaza is walkable.  Parts of downtown.  Otherwise, not so much.  

Same goes for Memphis.  Other than the downtown area the city is totally un-walkable.  I stand by my assessment that Memphis outside of the tourist areas is very sketchy and NOT walkable.  BUT, I can not attest to the public transit.

Not that I'm making an argument that Tulsa is more walkable, just that for examples of walkable cities Memphis and KC at large just don't cut it.

[OurTulsa]

That's a big BS!  Tulsa should be on that list...I might email them and petition to be reconsidered for inclusion...that's crap, we should be on that list.  Although, it's hard to argue that those on the list shouldn't be...

I Would argue that the few urban sections of Charlotte, Indy, KC, and Nashville that I've walked are far more pedestrian friendly and active than our downtown and urban neighborhoods.  As far as areas outside of the urban sections, there's no difference from Tulsa.  Their all hostile to pedestrians.

[TheTed]

quote:Originally posted by brunoflipper

quote:Originally posted by TheTed

Memphis is far more walkable than Tulsa.

They have a better core and better transit.

Same thing with Kansas City and Indianapolis.

where the f are you walking in KC?
other than the plaza/westport area...

kc's downtown is getting better all the time but it is still not walkable...
**** all the growth is crazy south and west... anymore, way past stanley is the new hot suburbs... and in another few years lawrence will be contiguous...

i spent nearly ten yrs there and visit three or four times a year...

I didn't say those places were very walkable. But they are a lot more walkable than Tulsa.

Far better downtowns and far better transit.

KC has the MAX, a bus made for people who don't have to take the bus. It has frequent departures so you don't have to plan your trip around the bus schedule. It can even extend green lights.

Lots of Tulsa's buses don't even run hourly. They take like 1:20 between stops at the same area.

Memphis has a much better downtown, one with actual pedestrians who aren't homeless. And they have three trolley lines. Their bus system cannot possibly be any worse than Tulsa's.

Neither is a model of walkability. But they're both significantly better than Tulsa.

[PonderInc]

I recently read a developer's application for a PUD.  It was hysterical b/c they talked about being "pedestrian friendly."  I guess this means that they intend to install required sidewalks.  

Unfortunately, the plan calls for a wide setback with rows of surface parking spaces separating the sidewalk/street from the stores.  There are also about 5 "curb cuts" along two blocks of sidewalks.  None of this supports walkability.  

I live about a mile from the Reasors at 41st and Yale.  You can walk there...and if you're lucky, you can safely cross the intersection on foot.  (Most cars turning right on red don't bother to stop, or glance to the right to look for pedestrians....)  Then, once you reach the "corner store" you have to walk in the auto-ramps and traverse huge parking lots to reach the store.  That's pleasant.  Not.  

I've decided that it's not pedestrian-friendly unless you would feel safe pushing a baby in a stroller from point A to point B...and you'd enjoy the walk.

I hope the Public Works engineers can put down their auto traffic studies long enough to think about that one.

[sauerkraut]

This is a real head scratcher~ I don't understand what they mean by "walkable"? Do they mean it's tuff to get around by foot, or that stores and homes are too far apart to be of walking distance, or do they mean a lack of sidewalks? I was very surprised to learn that Tulsa is called a "Runners City"- I never knew Tulsa was that much of a runner's town, sure there's the RiverSide jogging trail but lots of cities have jogging trails, Omaha has tons of them. www.tulsarunningclub.com and www.tulsarun.com []

[sauerkraut]

Some of the cities that are listed as being "walkable" such as Charlette, Nashville, Jacksonville and Kansas City are darn dangerous with the criminal element around. Nashville, jacksonville and Charlette have alot of muggings.[xx(][B)]

[USRufnex]

Dude.  Seriously.  "Charlette, Nashville, Jacksonville and Kansas City" are listed as LEAST walkable... Tulsa is actually ahead of these cities in "walkability."

To me, Indianapolis's "walkability" is almost interchangeable with OKC's, but Indy has a better bus system that runs much later into the night... Indy has Broadripple, which is a walkable, pedestrian-friendly area similar to Cherry Street/Brookside combined... but it's further away from downtown Indy, at least to my memory... downtown Indy really revitalized around ten to fifteen years ago, but the new ballpark built 10 years ago had little/nothing to do with it because Victory Field really didn't connect any areas to downtown... and the so-called neighborhoods that ring around downtown Indy were still awful 2 years ago when I was still deciding where to move between Indy, Rochester (NY) and Tulsa...  I didn't see a Mapleridge or Brady Heights (hey, at least they try) around Indy... it's almost as if you drive downtown, walk around--have a nice time... then drive home to your cul-de-sac...

Don't fret, fellow Tulsans.... I'm sure Tulsa would have been included if that list included  the bottom 20...

Problem with Tulsa isn't necessarily its "walkability," but rather the fact that there are a surprising number of areas in Tulsa that could be very walkable but for whatever reason are decidedly NOT pedestrian-friendly.... walkability based on proximity to shopping/parks/restaurants/sidewalks doesn't equal a neighborhood's friendliness to pedestrians... in all the cities I've been to in the bottom ten, it's as if you have to DRIVE to an area, then PARK in that walkable area... then, and only then, can you WALK.  []

So, why do I see sidewalks on major streets in Tulsa outside higher end residential areas that are clearly never used... and no sidewalks in some areas of the city that have the potential and urban density to have reasonably heavy foot traffic?  At some point in Tulsa's recent past, did "walkability" and "urban density" equate to allowing criminal elements if we had sidewalks there???