What makes a city walkable?
Being able to walk from your home to the grocery store followed by lunch with a friend, evening entertainment and then back home utilizing only your feet, public transit or self-propelled travel modes like bicycle or skateboard are all various aspects of what researchers say contribute to a walk-friendly metropolis.
For many, it’s the ability to go entire days, weeks even, without the need for a vehicle.
In a city like Los Angeles, a city of commuters known for its traffic jams, weaving freeway interchanges and “American Gladiator”-esque competition for parking spots, the term “walkable” probably isn’t the first, second or third phrase that comes to mind.
But according to Condé Nast Traveler, Los Angeles isn’t only a decent place for pedestrians, it’s one of the best in America.
In an article published earlier this month entitled, “The Most Walkable Cities in the US, Ranked,” Los Angeles not only lands in the Top 20 most-walkable cities in America… it comes in at No. 8.
Notable cities it beats out are Philadelphia, Miami, Charlotte and Denver. New York City, Boston and Washington D.C. came out on top.
The ranking, understandably, brought forth some spirited discussion about whether or not Los Angeles deserves to be that high on the list — or even listed at all.
“Los Angeles is walkable as long as you don’t mind maybe getting hit by a car,” said writer Kristin Wong in a post on Threads.
“Wanna hear a joke? Los Angeles is a walkable city,” wrote Vijay Pemmaraju, a software engineer and game developer.
Much of the discourse about the article was contained solely to discussing Los Angeles’ ranking.
Some called the list “absurd.” Others pondered if an intern mistakenly put L.A. on the most-walkable list when they meant to put it on the non-existent “least walkable” cities list.
But Condé Nast Traveler is only the messenger, not the arbiter on the topic.
The list wasn’t made on a whim by people who have never visited Southern California. It was compiled by scientists as part of a study with real methodology.
The ranking comes from a 2023 study conducted by Smart Growth America.
Researchers took the 35 biggest metropolises in America and looked at two databases that rank walkability: the EPA’s National Walkability Index and the American Enterprise Institute’s Walkable Oriented Development database. The combined datasets look at various factors like the closeness of amenities, the abundance of transit, street design and neighborhood density.
Los Angeles landed in Level 1 of the study’s rankings, receiving among the highest marks of all cities.
And researchers were prepared for questions.
“This may come as a surprise because [Los Angeles] is often associated with freeways and car culture. However, it is the most densely populated metro in the U.S. and there is an understanding that they have reached the limit of freeway expansion as a part of their transportation system,” researchers wrote. “The region has recently built, and continuing expansions to, a new regional transit system, investing $180 billion of locally-raised funds.”
It’s the city’s density, adequate public transit options and the diversity of its neighborhoods that buoy its overall rankings.
“Many walkable urban places like downtown Los Angeles, downtown Pasadena, Santa Monica, Burbank, Long Beach, and Riverside, were originally laid out as walkable urban places which are now the core of their new walkable urban development,” the study reads.
Researchers highlighted the interconnectivity of these walkable neighborhoods and praised the “plethora” of transit options — bus, rail, scooter and bike-share — that connects many of them.
That explanation tracks for those who weren’t surprised by L.A.’s underdog performance.
“Depending on where you live (near a metro stop for example) Los Angeles can be very walkable,” one Threads user wrote. “I could walk to a grocery store from every place I ever lived in LA … This isn’t the case for all parts of the city of course, but lots of people don’t have cars and rely on public transit & walking.”
“As an 8 year resident of Los Angeles who does not own a car, I’m once again confirming that LA is perfectly walkable,” another user wrote. “If you disagree, try walking more? The transit system here is above average, and the weather is usually great! Just TRY!”
And researchers say L.A. could’ve ranked even higher if it were a more “equitable” city. Exorbitant home prices and high rents that outpace the household incomes of many Angelenos prevented L.A. from leapfrogging other cities.
Walkability, like most things in Southern California, once again appears to prove that age-old adage. It’s all about location, location, location.