The 15 US cities where it's easiest to live without a car

Leanna GarfieldMay 22, 2018, 23:21 IST

A street in Boston, Massachusetts.Creative Commons

To get around in most American cities, you need a car.

But some metros are making their streets more walkable and creating easier ways for residents to bike or take public transit instead of driving. For example, the Miami neighborhood of Wynwood recently transformed itself into a walkable district - complete with cafes, art galleries, and restaurants - by adding car-free zones. Last year, Boston announced a plan to become the most walkable city in the US by 2030 by making sure every home is within a 10-minute walk of a subway station or bus stop.

Walk Score, a company that analyzes car-free efforts in urban areas, recently released its annual ranking of walkable US cities. The list compares metros with populations that range from 200,000 to 10 million, and measures how easily residents can accomplish errands on foot, by bike, or using public transit.

While it's still difficult to live in most American cities without a vehicle, Walk Score's metric clarifies which places may be the least car-dependent.

The top 15 cities are below:

See The 15 US cities where it's easiest to live without a car >>

15. Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis' most walkable neighborhoods, according to the Walk Score analysis, are Lyn Lake, Uptown, and Lowry Hill East

14. Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore's most walkable neighborhoods: Mount Vernon, Downtown, and University of MD at Baltimore

13. Hialeah, Florida

Hialeah's most walkable neighborhoods: Trojan Park, Seminola City, and Palmetto I-75 Industrial Center

12. Long Beach, California

Long Beach's most walkable neighborhoods: Downtown, Saint Mary, and Franklin School

11. Oakland, California

Oakland's most walkable neighborhoods: Downtown, Koreatown-Northgate, and Temescal

10. Seattle, Washington

Seattle's most walkable neighborhoods: Downtown, Pioneer Square, and First Hill

6. Miami, Florida

Miami's most walkable neighborhoods: Downtown, Wynwood-Edgewater, and Little Havana

5. Newark, New Jersey

Newark's most walkable neighborhoods: Newark Central Business District, North Ironbound, and University Heights

4. Boston, Massachusetts

Boston's most walkable neighborhoods: Chinatown - Leather District, North End, and Bay Village

3. San Francisco, California

San Francisco's most walkable neighborhoods: Chinatown, Downtown-Union Square, and Lower Nob Hill

2. Jersey City, New Jersey

Jersey City's most walkable neighborhoods: Historic Downtown, Journal Square, and McGinley Square

1. New York, New York

Unsurprisingly, New York is the most walkable and public-transit-friendly city in the US.

The New York metro area has miles of bike lanes and a robust mass transportation system, including subways, buses, bike shares, and rail lines like Metro-North and the Long Island Railroad.

Many residents of Manhattan and Brooklyn are less than a 15-minute walk from a bus or subway stop. The most walkable neighborhoods are Union Square, Bowery, and NoLita, according to Walk Score.

For that reason, many New Yorkers go their entire lives without buying a car.

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