What is your city's #1 (and only 1) most walkable urban neighborhood? - Page 4

pj3000 · #61 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 4:11 PM**

Pittsburgh

Southside Flats (Birmingham)

Sun Belt · #62 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 4:40 PM**

In the city limits and in addition to other areas already posted, I'd nominate Venice. It's about 3 square miles in size with a population density of at least 13,000/square mile with the world famous Venice boardwalk and canals and tons of tourists further increasing the local population street presence. It also blends into Santa Monica well and we all know how successful S.M. has been with their pedestrian friendly street scene.

Everybody knows about the Venice boardwalk and the extremely high population counts, but there's also the Venice pier, Main Street, Abbot Kinney, Washington Blvd and all the other pedestrian friendly residential streets.

http://venicebeachcotel.com/the-cotel/

A.K. street scape:

http://www.experiencingla.com/2012/03/experiencing-la-on-abbot-kinney-blvd_31.html

destroycreate · #63 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 4:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

In the city limits and in addition to other areas already posted, I'd nominate Venice. It's about 3 square miles in size with a population density of at least 13,000/square mile with the world famous Venice boardwalk and canals and tons of tourists further increasing the local population street presence. It also blends into Santa Monica well and we all know how successful S.M. has been with their pedestrian friendly street scene.

Everybody knows about the Venice boardwalk and the extremely high population counts, but there's also the Venice pier, Main Street, Abbot Kinney, Washington Blvd and all the other pedestrian friendly residential streets.

http://venicebeachcotel.com/the-cotel/

A.K. street scape:

http://www.experiencingla.com/2012/03/experiencing-la-on-abbot-kinney-blvd_31.html

LOVE Venice but really do wish they'd encoruage more multi-story infill. It's still very much SFHs and lowrise, even on that main AK strip (one of the best shopping streets on all of the west coast IMO).

LA21st · #64 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 5:10 PM**

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9797...7i16384!8i8192

LA21st · #65 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 5:12 PM**

I've always liked Washinton Blvd near the boardwalk-

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9797...7i16384!8i8192

Rose Ave is adding new infill.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9984...7i16384!8i8192

There's a good amount of people walking around Venice beyond the boardwalk due to narrower streets/density.

Sun Belt · #66 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 5:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LA21st

I've always liked Washinton Blvd near the boardwalk-

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9797...7i16384!8i8192

Rose Ave is adding new infill.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9984...7i16384!8i8192

There's a good amount of people walking around Venice beyond the boardwalk due to narrower streets/density.

Yeah I like those couple of blocks of Washington Bl. Fun bars and restaurants.

Venice Ale House at the terminus of Rose was a great spot.

Pedestrian · #67 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 5:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quixote

It's possible to live car-free in virtually any urban area that has bus lines and ridesharing services.

My question was more rhetorical than anything else. There are very few urban neighborhoods in our country that unequivocally provide for car-free living. There's a difference between a place that's walkable/car-free by default (e.g. car ownership is too much of a hassle) and one that's genuinely friendly and enjoyable for pedestrians. I think the bulk of those cities belong to the former distinction. Who wants to live in SF's Sunset District, Chicago's South Side, or Boston's Dorchester because the pedestrian experience is so great?

I own 2 cars. I keep niether of them in San Francisco. I have lived car-free in SF since I stopped working in Concord and Oakland and commuting there 25 years ago and the fact that I own cars shows it isn't because I can't afford one. It's just easier, in fact, NOT to have one here I've discovered. Aside from 4 bus lines (2 north-south, 2 east-west) within a block, I have Zipcars in my building garage and dozens of Uber and Lyft vehicles cruising within blocks.

I don't really want to live in the Sunset for lots of reasons and transit is hardly one of them. If I lived out there, having a car would probably be much more convenient and useful and I'd have one without guilt or feeling there was any reason not to. But I don't and "east of Twin Peaks" a lot of people really don't need one.

This is such a tired issue. In every city in the world there are probably neighborhoods where owning a car makes life easier and those where it doesn't; some more, some less. In SF, it's at least half the city where it is really not much of a convenience to have one. In New York it may be more than that although I'd say most middle class people in the outer fringes of the city--outer Brooklyn/Queens/Bronx, Staten Island--who can afford it have one.

Steely Dan · #68 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 5:47 PM**

^ stage of life also matters.

if i was still a care-free bachelor right now living where i do in chicago, there's no way i'd bother with car ownership, just as i didn't own a car for my bachelor years living in the city.

but now as the parent of a 3 year old and a 2 year old, owning a car just makes the logistics of our lives immensely simpler at times. sure, zip car and uber are great for most situations, but they're not so great for tiny people who are legally required to be in child safety seats for car travel.

and since our condo came with a deeded parking space in back off the alley, beyond the expense of having the car in the first place, having one in our city neighborhood doesn't place an undue burden upon us as far as parking it.

LA21st · #69 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 5:51 PM**

I would LA's numberr 1 is West Hollywood or downdown Santa Monica/Main St now. I think Hollywood and Koreatown will overtake both in next decade however.

Westlake is La's most urban area though. I don't see that changing.

The Beverly Grove/Fairfax District could move up too. There's alot going on in that area.

LA21st · #70 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 6:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroycreate

I'm actually surprised you selected that. And the reason is being, as much as I like K-town, and yes it is dense, it's still not very a pedestrian friendly environment. The blocks are extremely long, the boulevards are very wide, and it's not particularly intimate. Any reason why you didn't count Santa Monica, Hollywood or West Hollywood instead? I feel like WeHo is much more walkable.

Not all the commerical streets are wide.

JManc · #71 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 6:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LA21st

I would LA's numberr 1 is West Hollywood or downdown Santa Monica/Main St now. I think Hollywood and Koreatown will overtake both in next decade however.

Westlake is La's most urban area though. I don't see that changing.

The Beverly Grove/Fairfax District could move up too. There's alot going on in that area.

Those little beach towns around LA (Manhattan/ Hermosa/ Redondo/ etc) are hella walk-able.

Sun Belt · #72 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 6:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JManc

Those little beach towns around LA (Manhattan/ Hermosa/ Redondo/ etc) are hella walk-able.

They are, just don't use the word 'hella' in those communities, otherwise you'll be accused of being from NorCal.

E] The entire beachfront is walkable from Santa Monica to Redondo. Imagine LAX wasn't there!

A relatively 'under the radar' beach front urban area is Long Beach. There are blocks of under utilized lots in it's downtown core with rail access to downtown. This area is going to see a dramatic transformation in the coming years. One more thing I will add is that because the waterfront is south facing and the prevailing wind is generally from the west, it is a slightly warmer California waterfront city.

LA21st · #73 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 6:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JManc

Those little beach towns around LA (Manhattan/ Hermosa/ Redondo/ etc) are hella walk-able.

Yea, they're great too.

Pedestrian · #74 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 6:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

They are, just don't use the word 'hella' in those communities, otherwise you'll be accused of being from NorCal.

They might even think you're from way NorCal:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Mend...bKAp61cO4P6yM:

Sun Belt · #75 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 7:05 PM**

^ Yikes, looks awful. Jk

Pedestrian · #76 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 7:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

^ Yikes, looks awful. Jk

Heart of the Emerald Triangle. You wouldn't care how it looks (though it looked good enough to be the location for shooting TV's "Murder She Wrote").

http://thegreatamericandisconnect.bl...ngle-crop.html

sopas ej · #77 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 8:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Heart of the Emerald Triangle. You wouldn't care how it looks (though it looked good enough to be the location for shooting TV's "Murder She Wrote").

http://thegreatamericandisconnect.bl...ngle-crop.html

Oh mah gah yes. When my partner and I visited Mendocino (and so far we've only been there once), we were surprised how many potheads we encountered. And the locals are a little more "earthy" than we thought they'd be. We were expecting nice little Victorians and B&B's, something like Pacific Grove near Monterey, but it was uh... surprising.

And Eureka, oh man. I didn't know a place like that existed in California. Someone told me that "Oregon" begins north of Santa Rosa... I know what they mean now.

Trinity County, I'm a little surprised that it's pothead country. It's actually quite beautiful; Weaverville in the fall is really stunning.

benp · #78 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 10:09 PM**

#1 walkable neighborhood in Buffalo is Allentown.

IMG_0782 by bpawlik, on Flickr

IMG_2285 by bpawlik, on Flickr

https://goo.gl/maps/F691daWUxc92
https://goo.gl/maps/uEGaXAqnpXA2
https://goo.gl/maps/9Ww24d4cPH42
https://goo.gl/maps/pqBwAy5MVGx
https://goo.gl/maps/XABVeyqgXuG2

LA21st · #79 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 10:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LA21st

I would LA's numberr 1 is West Hollywood or downdown Santa Monica/Main St now. I think Hollywood and Koreatown will overtake both in next decade however.

Westlake is La's most urban area though. I don't see that changing.

The Beverly Grove/Fairfax District could move up too. There's alot going on in that area.

Edit:
I think Beverly Grove could be 1 for LA, or close o it. I didn't realize it had so many commercial streets. Bigger than I thought.

Quixote · #80 Posted **Jul 13, 2018, 10:41 PM**

^ Yeah, the greater area bounded by La Brea, La Cienega, Wilshire, and Sunset is a good candidate. Even though it's mostly detached single-family homes, most of the streets have a nice scale and are lined with trees. More importantly, they're located off major commercial arteries that could be lined with mixed-use, mid-rise density. I think if the property owners simply added either a fence or hedge to visually eliminate/mitigate the setbacks, it'd feel much more walkable.