Amlaham Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 (edited) Idk where else to put this topic, or if there is already a topic 🤷♂️ Thought this 2023 walkability ranking was interesting. I know every source has a different mythology of how it ranks walkability, just thought it was interesting and wanted to share. This study uses foot traffic, office share, multifamily share, and retail share for its rankings Austin Metro 14/35 Houston Metro 18/35 DFW Metro 27/35 San Antonio Metro 34/35 https://smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Foot-Traffic-Ahead-2023.pdf Also, if there isn't already a topic on Houston walkability, maybe this can be it? Add any urban/walkability topics below? Edited February 21, 2023 by Amlaham 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookey23 Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 18th isn't too bad! I'm sure Houston ranks significantly higher than it would have been 10 years ago. Hopefully the next decade lowers that number even more, but Houston still has significant fundamental hurdles to overcome from a Walkability standpoint. My hope is that some of these big developers continue buying up huge swathes of land to make cohesive walkable areas, like the plans for East River, Second Ward/Plant, and to a lesser extent Buffalo Heights and the Autry Park area. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trymahjong Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 I'm thinking Houston has ranked # 1 in walkability sometime in last 10 years...? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amlaham Posted February 22, 2023 Author Share Posted February 22, 2023 1 hour ago, bookey23 said: 18th isn't too bad! I'm sure Houston ranks significantly higher than it would have been 10 years ago. Hopefully the next decade lowers that number even more, but Houston still has significant fundamental hurdles to overcome from a Walkability standpoint. My hope is that some of these big developers continue buying up huge swathes of land to make cohesive walkable areas, like the plans for East River, Second Ward/Plant, and to a lesser extent Buffalo Heights and the Autry Park area. Completely agree, 18th is pretty impressive considering how unwalkable Houston to be! We've come soooooo far. We've built denser communities, rebuild streets to be more pedestrian friendly, built more bike lanes. I can't imagine how different the environment is going to be in the next 10-20 years! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayush Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Back in 2016, Houston was ranked #20/30. Even back then, the group (https://smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/foot-traffic-ahead-2016.pdf) suggested that Houston -along with Miami and Los Angeles- was showing clear signs of growth in walkability. Sure enough, all of these metros have jumped ahead in this ranking (Los Angeles to #8, Miami to #13, Houston to #18). Can't be too upset with that! 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NB_Brendan Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 19 hours ago, Ayush said: Back in 2016, Houston was ranked #20/30. Even back then, the group (https://smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/foot-traffic-ahead-2016.pdf) suggested that Houston -along with Miami and Los Angeles- was showing clear signs of growth in walkability. Sure enough, all of these metros have jumped ahead in this ranking (Los Angeles to #8, Miami to #13, Houston to #18). Can't be too upset with that! I hope we will see an uptick in pace of urban, walkable development with whoever is our next Mayor. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
004n063 Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 On 2/22/2023 at 9:44 AM, bookey23 said: 18th isn't too bad! I'm sure Houston ranks significantly higher than it would have been 10 years ago. Hopefully the next decade lowers that number even more, but Houston still has significant fundamental hurdles to overcome from a Walkability standpoint. My hope is that some of these big developers continue buying up huge swathes of land to make cohesive walkable areas, like the plans for East River, Second Ward/Plant, and to a lesser extent Buffalo Heights and the Autry Park area. I am not sure I share that hope. Certainly, a well-thought out, committedly mixed-use development can enhance walkability (especially if it's transit-oriented!), and large-swathe developments are probably going to be a big part of Houston for the foreseeable future. To that end, I certainly hope such developers follow in the footsteps of the first two you mentioned (should probably throw in Ion distric as well, assuming the future phases proceed as currently planned), with an emphasis on mixed-use, pedestrian realm, and connectivity to trails and transit (or at least one of those). But I have spent entirely too much time trying to get through the Galleria and Greenway areas on a bike to be anything but wary of large-parcel developments. I haven't yet seen compelling evidence that Buffalo Heights will be any different. In other words, sure, but barring radical changes to our arterials, (filtered) permeability is a critical element. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 I bet we are crazy high on the drivability study though. not to mention we have a very bright future momentum for drivability. /s it's great to compare US cities only against other US cities, but comparing cities of the world, that's far more valuable, just to see how far we all need to come in the entire country before we start patting ourselves on the back for being above average in the USA. https://pedestriansfirst.itdp.org/ it's interesting to see what is found to be important for the US for calculating the walkability score vs the global initiatives. https://pedestriansfirst.itdp.org/methods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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