OKC scores low in walkability

[Pete]

http://www.walkscore.com/cities-and-neighborhoods/

Walk Score measures the walkability of any address using a patent-pending system. For each address, Walk Score analyzes hundreds of walking routes to nearby amenities. Points are awarded based on the distance to amenities in each category. Amenities within a 5 minute walk (.25 miles) are given maximum points. A decay function is used to give points to more distant amenities, with no points given after a 30 minute walk.
Walk Score also measures pedestrian friendliness by analyzing population density and road metrics such as block length and intersection density. Data sources include Google, Education.com, Open Street Map, the U.S. Census, Localeze, and places added by the Walk Score user community.

City Walk Score
1 New York 87.6
2 San Francisco 83.9
3 Boston 79.5
4 Newark 77.8
5 Philadelphia 76.5
6 Miami 75.6
7 Chicago 74.8
8 Washington D.C. 74.1
9 Seattle 70.8
10 Oakland 68.5
11 Baltimore 66.2
12 Long Beach 65.8
13 Minneapolis 65.4
14 Buffalo 64.9
15 Los Angeles 63.9
16 Portland 62.8
17 Honolulu 62.6
18 Santa Ana 61.3
19 St. Louis 59.8
20 Pittsburgh 59.8
21 Milwaukee 59.4
22 Cleveland 56.8
23 New Orleans 56.3
24 St. Paul 56.0
25 Denver 55.7
26 Detroit 52.2
27 Anaheim 50.6
28 Cincinnati 50.1
29 San Diego 48.5
30 San Jose 48.1
31 Tampa 46.3
32 Atlanta 45.9
33 Houston 44.2
34 Dallas 43.6
35 Sacramento 43.4
36 Toledo 43.0
37 Fresno 42.1
38 Omaha 41.1
39 Lincoln 40.3
40 Columbus 40.0
41 Stockton 40.0
42 Albuquerque 39.6
43 Tucson 38.9
44 Riverside 38.9
45 El Paso 38.7
46 Las Vegas 38.6
47 Aurora 38.4
48 Phoenix 38.3
49 Plano 36.4
50 Tulsa 36.0
51 Corpus Christi 35.7
52 Austin 35.4
53 Arlington 34.6
54 Mesa 34.4
55 Bakersfield 34.3
56 Lexington-Fayette 33.9
57 San Antonio 33.7
58 Colorado Springs 33.0
59 Memphis 33.0
60 Anchorage 32.2
61 Kansas City 32.1
62 Wichita 31.9
63 Fort Worth 31.6
64 Oklahoma City 31.6
65 Louisville-Jefferson 31.2
66 Virginia Beach 31.1
67 Raleigh 28.8
68 Indianapolis 28.7
69 Fort Wayne 28.3
70 Greensboro 28.0
71 Henderson 27.6
72 Nashville-Davidson 26.5
73 Jacksonville 25.5
74 Charlotte 24.4

[catch22]

I'm surprised we did that well...

Outside of downtown and a few outlying neighborhoods, OKC is severely unwalkable.

[Pete]

Little better on Bike Score:

For a given location, a Bike Score is calculated by measuring bike infrastructure (lanes, trails, etc.), hills, destinations and road connectivity, and the number of bike commuters. These component scores are based on data from city governments, the USGS, OpenStreetMap, and the U.S. Census.

1 Minneapolis 78.5
2 Portland 70.3
3 San Francisco 70
4 Denver 69.5
5 Philadelphia 68.4
6 Sacramento 68.3
7 Boston 67.8
8 Washington D.C. 65.3
9 Seattle 64.1
10 Tucson 64.1
11 St. Paul 62.9
12 New York 62.3
13 Lincoln 62
14 Long Beach 61.9
15 Chicago 61.5
16 Albuquerque 61
17 New Orleans 59.7
18 Aurora 58.3
19 Oakland 57.1
20 Santa Ana 56.9
21 Miami 56.5
22 San Jose 56.1
23 Mesa 55
24 St. Louis 54.6
25 Plano 54.2
26 Los Angeles 54
27 Buffalo 52.5
28 Phoenix 51.9
29 Las Vegas 51.8
30 Tampa 51
31 Cleveland 50.5
32 Anaheim 49.9
33 Riverside 49.4
34 Henderson 49.3
35 Houston 48.8
36 San Diego 47.8
37 Colorado Springs 46
38 Virginia Beach 45.8
39 Columbus 45.7
40 Fresno 45.3
41 Austin 45.1
42 Honolulu 44.8
43 Tulsa 43.3
44 Wichita 43.2
45 Atlanta 42.7
46 Lexington-Fayette 42.4
47 Fort Wayne 42
48 Louisville-Jefferson 41.8
49 Dallas 41.4
50 Omaha 41.1
51 Arlington 40.7
52 Indianapolis 40.6
53 Kansas City 40.3
54 San Antonio 40.1
55 Greensboro 39.8
56 Memphis 39.4
57 Oklahoma City 39.3
58 Raleigh 38.8
59 Pittsburgh 38.5
60 Fort Worth 38.5
61 Cincinnati 36.6
62 Charlotte 35.2
63 Nashville-Davidson 31.5
64 Newark --
65 Baltimore --
66 Milwaukee --
26 Detroit --
36 Toledo --
41 Stockton --
45 El Paso --
51 Corpus Christi --
55 Bakersfield --
60 Anchorage --
73 Jacksonville --

[Just the facts]

I'm surprised we did that well...

Outside of downtown and a few outlying neighborhoods, OKC is severely unwalkable.

If they measured how unwalkable the unwalkable areas are, OKC would come in with a negative number.

[bchris02]

OKC will likely always score low on this survey due to the nature of development here and the criteria they use. Cities such as Nashville, Louisville, Indianapolis, and Charlotte all have vibrant downtowns that are a cut above OKC yet they score lower. I don't put much stock in walkscore and it is not a good measure for desirability and vibrancy of walkable neighborhoods in otherwise unwalkable cities.

[Just the facts]

OKC will likely always score low on this survey due to the nature of development here and the criteria they use. Cities such as Nashville, Louisville, Indianapolis, and Charlotte all have vibrant downtowns that are a cut above OKC yet they score lower. I don't put much stock in walkscore and it is not a good measure for desirability and vibrancy of walkable neighborhoods in otherwise unwalkable cities.

If you live in a walkable area it doesn't matter what the city's walk score is because for you it is 100%. What this list does show is how many walkable areas a city has and how well mass transit connects them.

[Plutonic Panda]

We scored worse than Anchorage and Plano???? That's bad man lol

[bombermwc]

Can I just say, "WELL DERRRR".

[CuatrodeMayo]

In other news...the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

[lasomeday]

I think the city should define goals more clearly and set about ways to accomplish them with public/private partnerships. They may have blown it with the last MAPS projects by not having them defined clearly on the ballot with funding and scope.

The city should say "We plan on moving ahead of Denver on the biking list and Dallas on the walkability list".

There is no reason why the city could not have zoning laws in place to accomodate bikes. Our city is so far behind in trails and bike paths. Denver, Tulsa, and Portland would be great places for our city leaders to visit to see what small things can be done to improve paths (Oklahoma River and Lake Overholser bike paths) and utilize existing infrustructure to create paths and connectivity. They need to hop on a bike and bike down Riverside Park in Tulsa, Springwater Corridor Trail in Portland, and Cherry Creek in Denver. They need to see how many people use them and how much public/private investment has gone into creating destinations along these bike trails. The Oklahoma River bike trails need to be improved and other trails need to be integrated to connect the city and suburbs by bike. They can see how these trails provide alternate routes to connect different sectors of the city. These connections create development opportunities and help create a unique sense with less parking lots.

I think the walkability part will develop as the inner core of the city continues to develop as we are seeing more development in Midtown and north to Uptown. I think connecting the two with developments along Classen and Broadway will be integral in creating a continuous urban environment that like Denver will spark more development. They need to define areas of the city that are close to being walkable. Then have meetings with local businesses and citizens to discuss walkability and see what ideas they may have or be able to fund. This would create a sense of ownership for the businesses that don't fund any projects if they feel like they contributed to the process. They should also study areas like Northwest Expressway and see what they can do to improve the bikability?/walkability of it. There is a lot of ride of way that could be utilized for bike lanes/paths to connect businesses.

[lasomeday]

Here is the link to Oklahoma City.

http://www.walkscore.com/OK/Oklahoma_City

[Architect2010]

We scored worse than Anchorage and Plano???? That's bad man lol

I noticed we're the exact same score as Fort Worth. Charlotte, Nashville, Jacksonville, Louisville, Raleigh, and Indianapolis all scored lower than us. So while it is indeed a suck-a** score, it seems that quite a few of our peer cities are in the same boat. Other peer cities don't do much better than us. For example, there are 20+ cities on the list whose range of scores all happened to be in the 30s with us: Las Vegas, Austin, Omaha, Kansas City, Tulsa, Memphis, San Antonio, Phoenix, etc.

This list is a testament to how America's cities aren't very walkable at all. Out of the 74 cities listed, only 18 were able to attain a percentage higher than 60; even that is a low bar. WOW.

[lasomeday]

I wonder what European and Japanese cities would score? It links Canadian and Australian cities. They fared better than most of the US cities....

[Just the facts]

I wonder what European and Japanese cities would score?

They would probably be close to 100 since many people in those cities don't even own a car.

[traxx]

I don't know how much if any this would help our score but some of or problem is how we develop retail areas.

Look at Wal-Mart and Sam's in Edmond. Built right next to each other but hardly walkable. Those two stores plus the others in that same development all face the street. If they'd been made to face each other, had a walkable area in between and had parking on the outside, then you could park and visit each store. But as it stands you would have to get in your car and drive from Sam's to WM and do it again to go from WM to Braum's.

Look at the Quail Springs area. You wouldn't think of walking from the mall to TGIFriday's and then over to Barnes and Noble. Same goes for the shopping area on the south side of Memorial. Walking from Lowe's to Old Navy would be a hassle.

The Outlet Shoppes is a step in the right direction. They still have their signage that you can see from the interstate, but the stores are layed out in a walkable style. If we had more developments layed out with a plaza in between or made it walkable in between the stores with parking being outlying it would be great. Then you wouldn't have to get in your car to go to three or four stores that are a few hundred yards apart.

[shawnw]

Look at the Quail Springs area. You wouldn't think of walking from the mall to TGIFriday's and then over to Barnes and Noble. Same goes for the shopping area on the south side of Memorial. Walking from Lowe's to Old Navy would be a hassle.

Trying to not be silly by parking at a restaurant on the site and then driving to the mall, I recently parked near a mall entrance, walked to BJ's for dinner, and then walked back to the mall for a movie. It was not a pleasant experience. I did not catch before hand that there were zero crosswalks of other pedestrian aides.

[Midtowner]

[bchris02]

I noticed we're the exact same score as Fort Worth. Charlotte, Nashville, Jacksonville, Louisville, Raleigh, and Indianapolis all scored lower than us. So while it is indeed a suck-a** score, it seems that quite a few of our peer cities are in the same boat. Other peer cities don't do much better than us. For example, there are 20+ cities on the list whose range of scores all happened to be in the 30s with us: Las Vegas, Austin, Omaha, Kansas City, Tulsa, Memphis, San Antonio, Phoenix, etc.

This list is a testament to how America's cities aren't very walkable at all. Out of the 74 cities listed, only 18 were able to attain a percentage higher than 60; even that is a low bar. WOW.

This is true. I don't put a whole lot of stock in this list because of that. Louisville, Indianapolis, and Charlotte have very vibrant and walkable cores, and are a good deal ahead of OKC yet they score lower. What OKC needs to focus on is not making the burbs more walkable by adding sidewalks nobody will use, but more gentrification and placemaking in the areas that already are walkable so that more people will WANT to visit/live in them and will WANT to walk rather than use their cars.

[Just the facts]

As with most things, the devil is in the details. OKC has 2 zip codes that score pretty high (above 70) and both are downtown. Then for some reason the area between Penn Sq and Hefener Pkwy scores high. Of course, we know this area isn't walkable at all. They need a new rule that says if a 6 lane divided road and no sidewalks is present - it is an automatic 0.

[Rover]

I live near Wilshire and May. I can easily walk/bike to any number of restaurants, shops, etc. Walking/biking to Sprouts or Homeland is not bad.

[PWitty]

I wonder what European and Japanese cities would score? It links Canadian and Australian cities. They fared better than most of the US cities....

I've never been to Europe, but from what my friends say who have been I would assume they would score much higher than most all the cities in the US. Like JTF said, there's a ton of people in Europe who don't even own cars. That's to be expected though, because those cities had just a bit of a head start on developing their cities compared to the US.

I am a little surprised by some of the cities who scored lower than OKC. From how some people talk about Nashville and Charlotte on this board I figured they would score much higher on walkability. I'm a little surprised Austin and Raleigh did so poorly as well, especially Raleigh. I'm not surprised KC scored about the same as OKC though. I see people place it above OKC all the time, but it is just as un-walkable as OKC once you get outside of the Downtown/Plaza/Westport area.

Other than that, most of the cities on those lists are about where I would expect them to be.

[Just the facts]

Walkability scores, downtown population rankings, downtown employee rankings... the biggest problem is they are all using data that isn't consistent with the way they are trying to use it. Walkability by Zip Code is not a good way to do it; census track maybe, but not zip code. I would like to see a national Urban to Rural Transaction Mapping effort. Do the whole country all in one weekend. That would give us a much better view of the country, but it would take a lot of trained volunteers.

[bchris02]

I've never been to Europe, but from what my friends say who have been I would assume they would score much higher than most all the cities in the US. Like JTF said, there's a ton of people in Europe who don't even own cars. That's to be expected though, because those cities had just a bit of a head start on developing their cities compared to the US.

I am a little surprised by some of the cities who scored lower than OKC. From how some people talk about Nashville and Charlotte on this board I figured they would score much higher on walkability. I'm a little surprised Austin and Raleigh did so poorly as well, especially Raleigh. I'm not surprised KC scored about the same as OKC though. I see people place it above OKC all the time, but it is just as un-walkable as OKC once you get outside of the Downtown/Plaza/Westport area.

Other than that, most of the cities on those lists are about where I would expect them to be.

Charlotte as a whole is no more walkable than OKC. The walkable neighborhoods they do have though are amazing. Places like Southend, Dilworth, NoDA, etc are like Midtown, Uptown, and the Plaza in 15 years when everything is fully gentrified and polished. A lot of the core of OKC is very walkable, it's just either boarded up, distressed, or urban prairie.

[traxx]

Trying to not be silly by parking at a restaurant on the site and then driving to the mall, I recently parked near a mall entrance, walked to BJ's for dinner, and then walked back to the mall for a movie. It was not a pleasant experience. I did not catch before hand that there were zero crosswalks of other pedestrian aides.

Did people look at you funny? I've noticed that people look at you kinda sideways when you think "I'm not gonna start my car up to travel 100 yards" and you try to walk it in an area that is completely not walkable.

[shawnw]

Did people look at you funny? I've noticed that people look at you kinda sideways when you think "I'm not gonna start my car up to travel 100 yards" and you try to walk it in an area that is completely not walkable.

There were definitely awkward human/car interaction moments where there should have been crosswalks...