If you want to ditch the car and take a stroll, D.C. is one of the easiest places to do so, according to a new report.
The study titled “Foot Traffic Ahead,” led by the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis, looked at the nation’s 30 largest metro areas, ranking D.C. as the fourth most walkable city in 2018, behind New York, Boston and Denver.
Findings in the report were based on access to office, retail and rental multifamily occupied squared footage relative to the metro region as a whole.
According to the study, metro areas like Bethesda, Arlington, Reston and Silver Spring are urbanizing their suburbs, which contributed to the ranking.
When looking at social equity, D.C. came in second place, just behind New York City, according to the report. The study’s authors called this finding, “counterintuitive” considering the high costs of rent, but credited more diverse and less expensive transportation options for the ranking.
In the 2016 report, D.C. ranked second place and in the 2014 report, D.C. ranked first among most walkable cities.
The metro regions with the most walkable urban real estate in the office, retail, and rental multifamily product types, as measured by occupied square footage in 2018, are:
- New York City
- Denver
- Boston
- Washington, DC
- San Francisco Bay Area
- Chicago
- Pittsburgh
- Seattle
- Atlanta
- Charlotte
- Philadelphia
- Cincinnati
- Portland
- Minneapolis-St. Paul
- Cleveland
- St. Louis
- Baltimore
- Kansas City
- Sacramento
- Los Angeles
- Dallas-Ft. Worth
- Houston
- Detroit
- Miami
- San Diego
- Tampa
- Orlando
- San Antonio
- Phoenix
- Las Vegas
See the report in its entirety here.
