Interesting urban area walk-ability study that puts Denver No. 2 on the list after NYC.
https://smartgrowthamerica.org/resou...ic-ahead-2019/
Before everyone groans that that's nuts, i'd note the study is focused much more narrowly than typical walk-ability ratings/studies.
K
ey economic findings
Based on the share of office, retail, and rental multi-family occupied square footage in WalkUPs relative to the metro region as a whole, the top regions are 1) New York City, 2) Denver, 3) Boston, 4) Washington, DC, 5) San Francisco Bay Area, and 6) Chicago.
Drivable sub-urban real estate products have been losing market share to walkable urban real estate products in all 30 metros. In some metros, walkable urban places have accounted for almost 100 percent of net new office and rental multi-family space while drivable sub-urban places have added no new space or lost occupancy since 2010.
This report indicates that the highest-ranked walkable urban metros are models for the future development patterns of many U.S. metros. Conversely, metros such as Tampa, Orlando, and Phoenix have an uphill climb to create walkable places. However, these low-ranking metros have also demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to change by continuing to promote drivable sub-urban sprawl through public policy and infrastructure investments.
It should be noted that this analysis specifically examines office, retail, and multi-family income-producing properties, and does not include single-family for-sale homes, which are a primary driver of sprawling development. Drivable sub-urbanism, i.e. sprawl, is and has been systematically subsidized by federal, state, and local governments for more than half a century. This leads to the question of whether drivable sub-urban development patterns should continue to be subsidized, especially when the commercial real estate market is increasingly demanding walkable urbanism.
From what I can tell, Denver comes in so high because of the concentration of office space downtown and the huge amounts of multi-family housing that has been built within walking distance of downtown - i.e., "urban walk-ability."
Obviously, many of the older cities listed below Denver have much larger areas with walk-able neighborhoods, but the study is focused on the walk-ability of the core urban area, not on neighborhoods per se.
Makes for an interesting read.