Jacksonville: America's Least Walkable Big City

[thelakelander]

I'm also surprised that Miami is as high on the list as it is.  I don't generally think of that city as being especially walkable.

Miami is only 36 square miles of land area with a full network of gridded streets, reliable mass transit options and dense mixed use neighborhoods.  The actual City of Miami is basically the inner city of Miami-Dade County.

[blandman]

Dashing Dan, agree that the methodology is not perfect, but I don't think it much matters for Jax. Regardless of the methodology, Jax will be at or near the bottom.

Personally I like this result.  Like someone earlier said, nowhere to go but up.  I live in Philly and even with increased density, bike lane improvements, etc, we won't go anywhere in the rankings.  TONS of room for (semi) measurable improvement for Jacksonville!

[Dashing Dan]

My problem with this report is that it can be used to undermine more legitimate conclusions from other reports. 

For example, because this report is based on cities and our city includes lots of undeveloped land, that provides cover for people who want to write off the findings from Dangerous by Design, which is based on comparisons of metropolitan areas rather than cities.

[tayana42]

I see two major failures of our consolidated government:  sprawl resulting in near-complete dependency on automobiles, and dilution of neighborhood control over government since each council district is quite large and far too many council members represent suburban areas.

[gedo3]

Sorry...I have to disagree.  Much of the Town Ceter isn't walkable--it's "run-able".  Try walking across some of those intersections when it gets busy!  Feel free to name me the beneficiary in your life insurance policy!!!  Even walking in the parking lots is more like a "duck and run" exercise.  And this is better than the enclosed weather-controlled malls? 

[Ocklawaha]

Sorry...I have to disagree.  Much of the Town Ceter isn't walkable--it's "run-able".  Try walking across some of those intersections when it gets busy!  Feel free to name me the beneficiary in your life insurance policy!!!  Even walking in the parking lots is more like a "duck and run" exercise.  And this is better than the enclosed weather-controlled malls?

What I find amazing at the Town Center is the large number of sidewalks that lead you to a corner, then there is no corresponding sidewalk on the other side - even though there are businesses in both places. Try walking from Barnes and Noble to Wells Fargo, or from Lens Crafters to Arby's and you'll quickly understand that whoever the genius was that designed the sidewalk layout was, they had a great sense of humor.

[birddog]

I saw this.  Shocker.

I'm surprised that San Jose, CA is so walkable, anyone can vouch for that?

Yes, almost all the residential streets have sidewalks. In my neighborhood, there aren't any.