Don"t Drive in San Francisco

You could live in almost any San Francisco neighborhood and ditch your car, according to a 2011 Walk Score survey that finds that residents don’t really have to drive in San Francisco. Of the nation’s 50 largest cities, in fact, San Francisco is the second most walkable, just after New York, reports Walk Score, which measures the walkable-ness of addresses and neighborhoods.
San Francisco Neighborhoods and Districts: Walkers’ Paradise

Of the 91 San Francisco neighborhoods total that Walk Score examined, 30 neighborhoods are what it calls a “walkers’ paradise”.


They include Chinatown (with a whopping 99 points out of a possible 100), the Financial District, Tenderloin, Duboce Triangle, Telegraph Hill, the Mission, Nob Hill, Haight-Ashbury, North Beach, Western Addition, SoMa, Pacific Heights, West Portal, Cow Hollow and NoPa.

The Seattle-based Walk Score firm rates addresses based on how close they are to amenities such as grocery stores, restaurants, schools, parks and public transit, using a scale of 0 to 100 points. A “walkers’ paradise” has a score of at least 90 points.

Walk Scores have become a criterion in buying real estate; an independent analysis found that one Walk Score point is worth $3,000 in home value. Some 88 percent of San Francisco residents live in places with a Walk Score of 70 or higher, and 99 percent enjoy a Walk Score of at least 50.

The remaining, lonely 1 percent? They’re on car-dependent Treasure Island (which got a lowly 13 points) and Yerba Buena Island (12 points).
Walkable U.S. Cities

Walk Score also compares cities.

New York’s score of 85.3 points makes it the most walkable of the U.S.’ 50 biggest cities, while San Francisco ranks a close second, with 84.9 points. Oakland is the 10th most walkable metropolis, with a score of 68.2. Its walkers’ paradises include Downtown, Civic Center, Chinatown, Lakewide, San Pablo Gateway, Piedmont Avenue and Fairview Park.

Besides San Francisco and Oakland, the only West Coast rep among the nation’s top 10 walkable cities is Seattle, which placed 6th.

Here are the 10 most walkable big cities in the U.S., with their Walk Score points. The scores are so close--New York has a mere .4 lead over San Francisco, which earned first-place in Walk Score’s 2008 US city rankings--that Walk Score has opened it up to a public vote: Which city do you think is the most walkable?
America’s Ten Most Walkable Big Cities
1. New York: 85.3 points
2. San Francisco: 84.9
3. Boston: 79.2
4. Chicago: 74.3
5. Philadelphia: 74.1
6. Seattle: 73.7
7. Washington, D.C.: 73.2
8. Miami: 72.5
9. Minneapolis: 69.3
10. Oakland: 68.2