Santa Monica Tied for #4 on List of Most 'Walkable' CA Cities
The city is only bested by West Hollywood, Albany and San Francisco in the Walk Score study.
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There's yet another reason to live car-free in Santa Monica—or get more exercise, at least: It's tied for #4 on a list of most "walkable" cities in California.
Santa Monica achieved a score of 82 in the Walk Score study, which was released Tuesday. Berkeley earned the same score.
The city was only bested by West Hollywood (which has a score of 89), Albany (86) and San Francisco (85).
In comparison, the 372 biggest cities in California earned an average Walk Score of 50.
Cities are ranked on a scale of 0 to 100. The 2011 survey is Walk Score's first since 2008.
For the survey, Walk Score took into account the distance of individual addresses to public transit and nearby amenities. It relied upon 2010 U.S. Census figures to establish the city borders and population densities, which are weighted into the scores.
Among the 2,500 large nationwide cities that were featured in the evaluation, Los Angeles ranks #66 in terms of walkability. New York is first.
Walk Score, a company that is based in Seattle, says its quantitative walkability-ranking study is the only one of its kind in the U.S.
At WalkScore.com, users can find the Walk Score for their neighborhood and vote for their city.
Do you walk regularly in Santa Monica? Tell us in the comments box.
Gary Kavanagh
3:07 pm on Friday, July 22, 2011
I talk a lot about biking in the city, but I walk a lot to get around Santa Monica as well. Now that I live 2 blocks from the Co-Opportunity market, my wife and I do most of our grocery shopping on foot. She especially likes to walk almost everywhere in Santa Monica.
While I think the city layout and distances are great for walking, I do however think we have some work to do in making walking safer, and getting drivers to respect crossing pedestrians. In Boulder Colorado, pedestrian rights are strictly defended by law enforcement and it shows. If you stand at a curb in Boulder, drivers not only stop for you, but stop with a safe and comfortable distance. In Santa Monica one driver might stop and let you start to cross, but then a second driver in the next lane may wait until they are about to knock you over before coming to complete stop. Or on road with one lane each direction, I have encountered drivers behind the stopping driver start honking and swerving around from behind and nearly taking me out.
I've had numerous close calls just trying to walk across the street in Santa Monica, and I always keep my head up, wait for space, and make eye contact. It's worst in the Mid City area from my experience, near the freeway and away from more pedestrian oriented businesses. Sometimes it is a battle just to walk, and you have to be ready to jump away from left turning drivers chatting away on their phone.
Alison Kendall
8:51 am on Saturday, July 23, 2011
I walk and bike all over Santa Monica, and particularly enjoy walking with friends for exercise. Unfortunately, as Gary mentions, distracted and careless drivers make walking dangerous. Pedestrians can be lulled into thinking they are safe in crosswalks. I recently facilitated a Pedestrian Safety Workshop for seniors, where we discussed pedestrian safety hazards and how to reduce them, including Pico Boulevard, site of the most recent pedestrian fatality where an 82 year old was hit by an 80 year old driver. There is more we can do, including continuing to host workshops and improve conditions for seniors and school age children.
M. Gendron
10:17 am on Saturday, July 23, 2011
That's why I created the daily, year-around, "Santa Monica Downtown Walking Tours" (www.santamonicawalkingtours.com). The Walking Tours & interrelated Santa Monica Walking Projects (listed on the site) were created to honor/highlight the greatness of our terrific city by the beach "&" the amazing benefits of walking Santa Monica! Love it!!!