Long Beach ranked among most walkable cities in nation
After squeaking into the Top 10 for the 2016 rankings, Long Beach has kept its No. 10 spot among the largest cities according to a report from WalkScore—and that’s largely due to Downtown maintaining its high WalkScore (92), while other key neighborhoods like the Alamitos/North Alamitos Beach help anchor the walkability of the city as a whole.
If we take into account all the cities measured, including medium-sized and Canadian cities, Long Beach sits at #12.
This also makes Long Beach the most walkable city in Southern California and scoring a spot in the Top 10 for the second year running among large cities, sitting behind New York at No. 1 followed by San Francisco (best in state), Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago, Washington D.C., Seattle, and Oakland.
WalkScore is an organization whose sole mission is to supply housing information while increasing walkability across the nation. With a “walker’s paradise” score, the sole neighborhood of Downtown Long Beach easily ousts popular nearby cities like Santa Monica (82) while coming in close to huge downtowns like Downtown (which has seen a drop in walkability over the past few years after reaching a peak of 95 in 2017 to find itself currently at 93).
“A renaissance has been happening in Downtown Long Beach, which now has a Walk Score of 92,” said Michelle Zabukovec of Redfin, the organization which owns WalkScore. “In addition to some brand new buildings, developers are rehabilitating structures that were already in place. The city has even created an incentive program for rehabilitation projects, and has also focused on improving walkability by adding more pedestrian lighting to create safer sidewalks.”
Brian Addison is a columnist and editor for the Long Beach Post. Reach him at [email protected] or on social media at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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