11 Most Walk-Friendly U.S. Cities

Silver Walkable Communities

Charlottesville, Virginia (One of my former home towns! And, yes, I walked to work there :D)

• The desire to reduce single-occupant vehicle travel is represented in the 2010 adoption of a model Complete Streets policy. This policy states that “all street projects…shall be designed and executed in a balanced, responsible, and equitable way to accommodate and encourage travel by bicyclists, public transportation vehicles and their passengers, and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.” It also states that the City “recognizes bicycle, pedestrian, and transit modes as integral elements of the transportation system.”
• Charlottesville has excellent transit services, provided by Charlottesville Area Transit and University Transit Services. Transit is available within a ¼ mile of 95% of the population seven days a week and operates at 95% on time performance. This ensures that residents of Charlottesville have ample opportunity to access high quality transit that serves a variety of destinations.
• With little remaining vacant land, the City has established excellentzoning policies that have resulted in infill accounting for 100% of development over the last five years. These policies include providing density bonuses for the inclusion of affordable housing, requiring ground floor commercial uses in mixed use districts, and allowing accessory dwelling units in almost all residential districts.
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• In 1975, Charlottesville closed eight blocks of the downtown permanently and created the highly successful Downtown Pedestrian Mall. The mixed use mall on the historic Main Street is home to over 150 businesses situated in rehabilitated historic buildings. A recent construction and redevelopment project ensures that the mall will remain an active pedestrian destination in the heart of the City for years to come.

Decatur, Georgia

• Decatur is designating walkability as a top priority for the community and this is clear in the parking management. With no minimum parking requirements for the downtown, Decatur is actively pursuing a “park once” strategy, using priced public parking in garages and on-street meters, requiring parking to be under or behind uses, developing shared parking ordinances, and prohibiting drive-throughs.
• Decatur’s commitment to walking is evident in the training opportunities provided for staff. In addition to the quarterly trainings and webinars on pedestrian and bicycle issues hosted by the Georgia DOT, the city also hosts workshops regularly sends staff to present at and attend conferences such as Pro Walk / Pro Bike, which has resulted in updated ordinances, increased interest in Safe Routes to School, and using a Health Impact Assessment on the City’s transportation plan.
• The City actively promotes walking through a number of outreach efforts and public events. Decatur has entered “Team Decatur” with up to 134 community members in fitness events, resulting in the “Most Fit City” award and active walking programs for citizens. The City also partnered with Kaiser Permanente to hold a large kick-off event in Old Courthouse Square, the City’s preeminent public space. In 2011, Decatur is holding a Walk for Lunch event, which provides participants with walking maps and lunch on event days. In November and December, the City partners with local businesses to hold Terrific Thursdays, which provides free Pedicabs, later store hours, and discounts at businesses. This highlights the relationship between pedestrian-friendly environments and improved business performance. Decatur also holds events like Car Free Day, art walks, farmers markets, and free concerts on the square.
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• In crafting the Community Transportation Plan, the City made outstanding use of a number of evaluation tools to project demands and prioritize needs. Latent demand scores estimated the potential future demand for pedestrian facilities while pedestrian level of service indexed the current facilities’ condition. These were combined with a policy and regulatory audit and public feedback from previous plans to develop priorities and goals for the most recent plan.

Page 4: Gold Walkable Communities –>>

Photo of Charlottesville Pedestrian Mall via MadAboutCows