Summer is here and the time for early evening strolls through the neighborhood has arrived. Fortunately, a report from Walk Score released earlier this year finds that the city's walkability improved in 2016 and that LA is the nation’s 13th-most walkable city.
The city’s walk score of 66 in 2016 was a two point improvement over the year before. The score is based on a number of factors, including the accessibility of walking routes, how many shops and restaurants walkers are likely to pass by, and the amount of pedestrian-friendly infrastructure.
Many of LA’s individual neighborhoods received very high marks this year. Downtown, Central Hollywood, and Koreatown, for instance, all scored above 90—higher than the 89 scored this year by first place city New York.
On the flip side, upscale neighborhoods like Pacific Palisades, Porter Ranch, and Bel Air are extremely car dependent and drag down the city’s overall walkability (Bel Air-Beverly Crest registered a walk score of just 14 points in 2016).
Overall, six Southern California cities made the top 50 list this year. The most walkable, according to the report, is Long Beach, which beat out Baltimore in the latest rankings for a place in the top 10. The coastal city ended up with a score of 69 in 2016, up from 66 a year earlier.
Downtown Long Beach has become particularly appealing for pedestrians, with a walk score of 92.
In a statement, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia says the city’s improved score is due to recent pedestrian-friendly projects undertaken by the city. These include new street lights, signs, and the addition of colorful crosswalks that are difficult for drivers to overlook.
But Southern California continues to lag behind the Bay Area. San Francisco was again ranked the second-most walkable city in the nation, with a score of 86. Oakland wasn’t too far behind, scoring 72 and coming in ninth on the list.
- The Nation’s Most-Walkable Cities Got Even More Walkable in 2016 [Redfin]
- The 10 Most Walkable Neighborhoods in Los Angeles [Curbed LA]
- Walkable Cities Gaining Ground Against Suburbs, Says Report [Curbed LA]
Comments
I don’t trust these walking scores anymore, I think realtor groups have been paying them off for better rankings. Also, they never factor in crime and blight in these ranking which make LA much less "walkable"
By LeBasque on 06.19.17 6:16pm
I remember reading their methodology at one point. It’s a computer-generated score. The same algorithm is applied to every city. It measures distance from a point on the earth to stuff. More stuff and less distance gives a spot a higher score. They show you how much stuff contributed to a spot’s score so you can gauge it for yourself.
By Hollywood-F1 on 06.19.17 8:00pm
I know the methods, but not all data points are equal. Algorithms work great when the data is relatively stable, in the case of LA store fronts it’s not. For example, down the street in Cypress park is an Avria’s Pizza (shop name) but they haven’t served a damn slice of pie for the past 8 eights I’ve been on the Mountain of Washington. Apply that by the tens of thousands and we have an issue with this walking score. Also again, it doesn’t account for blight, closed shops, and friendliness of local patrons which make or break a neighborhoods Walk-ability.
By LeBasque on 06.19.17 9:32pm
Is there a halfway realistic method to account for all that besides extensive, in-person surveys that would be remarkably time intensive and pricey to do correctly? There might be flaws, but it’s still a semi-useful data point.
By disqusted on 06.20.17 8:30am
The survey is crap. Case in point anyone who has been to NYC know its a far more walkable city. What part is semi useful data? LA is too big and too spread out, it’s a car city. I agree with another poster…it is realtor groups paying for better rankings.
By Jimmy Wong on 06.20.17 11:47am
It’s an objective ranking with no human input.
By Hollywood-F1 on 06.20.17 8:57pm
It would be more helpful if humans could add input like a rating system based on experience in any given hood.
By LeBasque on 06.20.17 9:59pm
Thank you, whoever you are, for tirelessly defending the utility and objectivity of quantitative research methodology.
By Jcreel on 06.21.17 6:10pm
Both Hollywood and Los Feliz have become much more walkable in the past couple of years.
By Mildred Fillmore on 06.20.17 9:08am
A bit baffled by Long Beach…aside from Belmont Shore and downtown, it’s a pretty big city and not terribly walkable in most neighborhoods.
By MMVic on 06.20.17 10:26am
It’s all about proximity to stuff. If typical residential is laid out in a grid so it’s within striking distance of retail, it’s walkable. If your area has a crapload of cul-de-sacs, scores will drop. https://www.walkscore.com/walkable-neighborhoods.shtml
By Hollywood-F1 on 06.20.17 9:02pm
What a joke. You have to drive to where you want to start walking. No one walks anywhere.
By Rudolfop on 06.20.17 1:00pm
Wow… what a bunch of haters on here. If you think LA is so auto-centric then please leave, because 30 percent of us that live here don’t own a car and we don’t need your politics making our streets less safe. LA is becoming much more walkable and always has been a walkable city. Hollywood Blvd, the Venice Boardwalk, etc are (and always have been) some of the most robust pedestrian environments in the world.
As for the fella that is mad that a pizza place that is closed (or is he just mad they don’t sell slices, lol???) is on his walk score. In statistics we call that breakage, and that same lurking variable will be present in all of the data in all locations…. what, you think that every business that shows up on walkscore in NY or SF is open…. or that businesses that show up on LAs are more likely to be closed… lol, cmon…
By bigcityofdreams on 06.20.17 1:53pm
Agreed. The naysayers are people who don’t bother to walk anywhere so they assume everyone is just like them. It’s pretty easy to get around LA without a car if you are not a bigot.
By MarvinG on 06.20.17 7:46pm
You both obviously still don’t understand. It’s NOT about the pizza dummies; it’s the blighted, phony, suspicious store fronts that sit in squalor for many years, that don’t actually serve the purpose of the data collection. You must not live or walk around any East or North East LA or South LA districts to understand the real world and how things seems to be a functional but actually skew data points.
By LeBasque on 06.20.17 9:43pm