Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Walkability Ranking of Arkansas Cities and Neighborhoods

This blog focuses on getting people outside and active.  My books and blog articles have an emphasis on trails located in and near heavily populated areas of the state.  I also frequently write about the future of trails as part of an alternative/active transportation system that allows people to break their dependence on cars to accomplish everyday tasks like getting to work or buying groceries.  "Walkability" is a popular newish term that attempts to quantify how easy it is to do things without using a car.  If your neighborhood has lots of mixed-use developments with housing, shopping, restaurants, and office buildings nearby then it will have a high walkability score.  If you live in stereotypical suburbia with just homes and subdivisions as far as the eye can see (or the feet can walk) then your area will have a low walkability score since you need a car to get anywhere.

Here is a list of cities and neighborhoods ranked by walkability score.  Scores and maps are from http://www.walkscore.com/    The site also has similar scoring systems for transit and biking which I will cover in the future.  Let me know in the comments any cities you want me to add!

Little Rock Walkability Map
Little Rock Walkability Map - From Walkscore.com
Examples: 
New York City - 88
Berkeley, CA - 79
Houston - 44
Memphis - 33
Tulsa - 36
Austin - 35

Arkansas Cities:
Fayetteville Walkability Map - From Walkscore.com
Eureka Springs - 70's (I could only get scores for specific addresses in town, so this may be skewed high, still no wonder why everyone loves visiting!)
Conway Walkability Map - From Walkscore.com
Fort Smith - 33
North Little Rock - 32
Little Rock - 31
Hot Springs - 29
Fayetteville - 27
Texarkana - 27
Conway - 25
Bentonville - 24
Pine Bluff - 23
Springdale - 23
Jonesboro - 21
Rogers - 18
Maumelle - 16
Bryant - 15

Note: While cities like Fort Smith and Little Rock have scores twice as high as places like Maumelle and Bryant, scores in the 30's are still considered very low and earn cities the label of "Car-Dependent".  This label shouldn't surprise anyone living in any of these cities.

Best Arkansas Neighborhoods:

Little Rock:
Downtown ranks the highest reaching the 90's (but I think it could stand more housing options)
Fort Smith Walkability Map - From Walkscore.com
Honorable Mentions: Argenta, Heights, Hillcrest, and some surprising (to me) spots in WLR around W. Markham/Bowman/Chenal and Rodney Parham/Treasure Hills

Fayetteville: 
Downtown/Dickson St./MLK  Area scores in the 80's
One I didn't think of: the area along Township between College and Gregg ranked highly as well.

Eureka Springs:
Main St. scores in the high 70's

Springdale:
Highest around Emma/Holcomb/Thompson/Maple area (Low 60's)


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