Walk Score’s rankings for America’s most walkable cities and neighborhoods shows Uptown is a great place to leave your car behind and hit the pavement.
Neighborhoods with a Walk Score between 90 and 100 are considered “Walker’s Paradise” — most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car –while those with scores of 80 or more are “Very Walkable.” See www.walkscore.com.
Hillcrest: 97
Downtown (Core): 96
Cortez Hill: 95
Gaslamp Quarter: 94
Marina: 90
Little Italy: 89
Park West/Bankers Hill: 88
Kensington: 82
Normal Heights: 81
UPTOWN SCORES HIGH ON ITS WALKABILITY: Residents Healthier, Gentler on Environment
By Priscilla Lister
Lucky residents of Hillcrest, Kensington and Park West likely have better health, breathe cleaner air, interact more often with their neighbors and are even gentler on the environment.
That’s because they live in “very walkable” neighborhoods, according to the latest Walk Score ratings. Walk Score bases walkability not on how pretty a neighborhood is, but on how easy it is to live a “car-lite lifestyle.” Under its criteria, walkable neighborhoods have a discernible center, a population density compact enough for local businesses to flourish and for public transportation to run frequently, a mix of businesses and residences both rich and poor, parks and public spaces for recreation, pedestrian-friendly design, and nearby schools and workplaces.
Walk Score is a project of Front Seat, a Seattle-based civic software company that aims to “connect people to the places we live, the resources we consume and our communities,” according to its Web site (www.frontseat.org). Walk Score was launched in 2007 to promote walkable neighborhoods, because Front Seat creators Mike Mathieu, Jesse Kocher and Matt Lerner “believe walkable neighborhoods are one of the simplest and most effective solutions to halt climate change, improve our health and strengthen our communities.”
A local movement to enhance walkability began in San Diego even earlier. In 1998, Walk San Diego was created, “dedicated to enhancing the livability of communities through promotion, education and advocacy and to making walking a safe and viable choice for all people.” The organization tries to help San Diego communities make walking a preferred choice for transportation. Its projects focus on improving streetscape designs, accessible walking paths and traffic calming measures.
One of its major projects, called “Feet First,” aims to enhance the walkability of the Uptown Parking District. According to Walk San Diego’s Web site (www.walksandiego.org), the Uptown Parking District includes some of San Diego’s most pedestrian-friendly urban spaces: Park West, Bankers Hill, Mission Hills, Hillcrest and University Heights. Its recommendations focus on making walking in these neighborhoods safer and therefore more popular.
“People select to live there because of their walkability,” said Andy Hamilton, president of the board of Walk San Diego and a North Park resident.
He recalled a recent survey his organization did during a street fair in Hillcrest, asking people how often they walk and for what purposes. ‘It was unbelievable,” he said. “There wasn’t a single person who didn’t walk the recommended amount of time for health reasons (a half-hour each day) and they do it for every possible reason. You just can’t do that in a lot of neighborhoods. It’s a walker’s paradise as far as we’re concerned.”
The latest Walk Score ranks over 2,500 neighborhoods in the 40 largest cities in the U.S. from 0 to 100 on walkability. While San Diego ranks 16th with a measly score of 56 among those 40 cities — San Francisco (scoring 86), New York (83) and Boston (79) are the top three in order — several individual San Diego neighborhoods have much higher walkability ratings.
Neighborhoods — or cities — with a Walk Score between 90 and 100 are considered “Walker’s Paradise — most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.” Those scoring 70-89 are “very walkable: It’s possible to get by without owning a car.” Those with a 50-69 rating are “somewhat walkable,” 25-49 are “car-dependent,” and 0-24 are “car-dependent — driving only.” The lowest-ranking cities are Charlotte (39), Nashville (39) and Jacksonville (36). Los Angeles, interestingly enough, ranks No. 9 on the list with a score of 67.
According to the latest Walk Score, San Diego’s highest-ranking neighborhoods are all downtown. Downtown’s Core ranks No. 1 with 96, Cortez Hill is No. 2 with 95, Gaslamp Quarter is No. 3 with 94 and Marina is No. 4 with 90. Little Italy is No. 5, scoring 89.
Park West ranks No. 6 among San Diego neighborhoods — with a score of 88 — the highest in Uptown, while Kensington ranks No. 8 with a score of 82, placing both of them in the “Very Walkable” category.
Other neighborhoods in the Uptown area that got good walkability scores are Midtown and Normal Heights, both with scores of 81.
But oddly, Hillcrest was not on the list of 57 San Diego neighborhoods, though it would seem to embody most of the Walk Score’s criteria for “Walker’s Paradise.” It must have been a mistaken omission.
Anyone can go to the Web site (www.walkscore.com) and enter an address, pulling up a Google map that locates all manner of amenities within walking distance. When we entered “Hillcrest, San Diego,” the map showed dozens of stores, restaurants, theaters, transit locations and other amenities and earned a Walk Score of 97 out of 100 — “Walker’s Paradise.” Its score is higher than most neighborhoods in the U.S.
Imagine the benefits of living without having to drive everywhere. “You lose weight each time you walk to the grocery store,” says the Walk Score Web site. “You stumble home from last call without waiting for a cab. You spend less money on your car — or you don’t own a car. When you shop, you support your local economy. You talk to your neighbors.”
Many of these advantages of a pedestrian-oriented lifestyle are well-documented. One study determined that the average resident of a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood weighs 7 pounds less than someone who lives in a sprawling neighborhood.
If you drive less, you suffer fewer car accidents, the leading cause of death between those aged 15-45. Compact neighborhoods with higher population densities tend to offer more public transportation options, and riding a bus is 10 times safer than driving a car, according to the Cascadia Scorecard, a project of the Sightline Institute that examines connections between urban design and health risks such as car crashes and obesity.
When you interact more with your neighbors and local businesses, you not only strengthen the economy of your area but you feel more connected, which may help buoy both health and spirit.
And if you spend less time in your car, you expose yourself less to the poorer air quality on the freeways. Cars are considered a leading cause of global warming and your own feet produce absolutely no pollution whatsoever.
Park West/Bankers Hill
Park West, also known as Bankers Hill, is bordered to the north by Upas Street, to the south by Interstate 5 near Date Street, to the east by Balboa Park and to the west by I-5 near Laurel. Fifth Avenue is its main business center, where some of the city’s favorite restaurants are located, including Bertrand at Mister A’s with its incomparable views and Hob Nob Hill, a locals’ favorite since the 1940s.
Many homes in this neighborhood date from the late 19th century, including some Victorian mansions restored as offices or B&Bs, such as the Britt Scripps Inn at Fourth and Maple and the Keating House at Second and Juniper.
Historic local architects Irving Gill, Richard Requa and Frank Mead all designed houses in this Bankers Hill neighborhood, which got its name for its reputation as an affluent neighborhood in those early 20th century years.
Lots of new condominium projects have sprouted up along Sixth Avenue in recent years. With more residents favoring this walkable neighborhood, that social capital just increases.
Walk San Diego examines the safety of Uptown’s walkability and proposes improvements to the city. Collaborating with the Uptown Partnership, Walk San Diego studied “traffic calming” opportunities in the neighborhood, especially for Fourth, Fifth and Sixth avenues, said Hamilton. “They probably have more capacity than they need for cars, so you could easily dedicate a lane to transit or just take a lane out and you probably wouldn’t notice congestion,” Hamilton said. “That study was aimed at looking at traffic calming devices like traffic circles, medians — particularly on Sixth Avenue, where walkers cross willy-nilly to go to Balboa Park.”
He said the city will fund some of these changes over the years, making the streets much easier to cross by slowing traffic. “Our city is absolutely broke, but the half-cent sales tax for transportation was reauthorized in 2004 and Sandag started working on that — we started working with them — and because this area has so many pedestrians, (projects) here will be very high on the list. I think you’ll see it do quite well in competition for these funds.”
Kensington
Kensington is bordered by Interstate 15 to the west, Interstate 8 to the north, Fairmount Avenue to the east and Monroe Avenue to the south.
Kensington, beloved for the many Spanish Revival style homes that were built here by the late 1920s, was named in the early 1900s after one of London’s metropolitan boroughs, according to The Kensington Pages, a community Web site (www.kensingtonpages.com). Street names in the area also originate from England.
The community began around Kensington Park, located at the corner of Adam Avenue and Kensington Drive. The Kensington Park subdivision was the first of its kind in the U.S. and many others would adopt its use restrictions.
Kensington’s main drag is Adams Avenue where the fate of its beloved neon sign, no longer over the street, remains in limbo. The historic Ken Cinema is one of the city’s favorite movie theaters and Kensington Video draws locals from all over for its wide selection of films. There are many restaurants, coffee houses and nightclubs here, giving these neighbors more reasons for staying close to home.
“One of the things we used to determine where we wanted to live was walkability,” said Cynthia Offenhauer, administrator for Walk San Diego and a Kensington resident. “It was critical to where we purchased a home when we moved here from Boston 10 years ago.”
She and her husband have only one car, she said, and they both walk to El Cajon Boulevard to take the buses to their workplaces. “I grew up knowing you could do that in Boston, so that’s why we chose Kensington.”
Martin Correia, a realtor with Keller Williams and a resident of Cortez Hill, pointed out that people who grew up in Chicago, New York or Boston, where they are accustomed to walking, are far more likely to seek homes with that convenience. “If they’re from Los Angeles, Orange County or San Diego, they have a tougher time grasping it,” he said.
Colleen Cotter, a broker/associate also with Keller Williams, thinks walkability is a growing attraction. “People want to see if they can work close by and use transit. Many moving to the metro area from North County are doing so because they’re losing their mind in traffic.”
Offenhauer and Cotter also both noted that as people age, they want to drive less — and may be even unable to drive — so walkability becomes even more important.
The Uptown neighborhoods have offered this ability for a long time. “Our neighborhoods were built back in the early 1900s with some kind of transportation in mind, before cars were so dominant,” said Hamilton. “They were developed to provide easy access to street cars — down Adams, University and Fourth. The pedestrian bridges there — which are big favorites of people who live near them — were built by trolley companies to get people to their trolleys. Someday I hope we’ll see more high-quality transit services. If we had better transit service, we’d see a lot more people walking than we do now.
“I think we’ll see a return to that kind of lifestyle because of climate change. New laws will make it imperative that we try to figure out ways to get people to drive less. That’s really what Sandag is looking at, and the core of the city is where you can capture most transit trips.”
