Businesses keen on attracting these young professionals understand that and are moving from sprawling suburbs to condensed cities, bringing along improved productivity and economic development.Īccording to the AAA, it costs the average American over $9,500 a year, or 13% of average household expenditures, to own a car. At the same time, a majority of millennials, who are expected to make up half of the American workforce by 2025, have expressed a desire to live in a place where they don’t have to own a car. Walkable cities are attractive, and it shows.Ī study found that each additional Walk Score point was associated with an increase of between $500 and $3,000 in home values (but that doesn’t mean it can’t be affordable, more on that later). Investing in walkable cities shouldn’t be a hard sell, considering the value it adds to local economies. Unsurprisingly related, average gasoline consumption per capita is about 200 gallons higher in Houston compared to Chicago.īuilding amenities within walking or biking distance of residential areas can decrease the amount and length of car trips that are needed, therefore decreasing the amount of carbon emissions and other pollutants that come out of a car’s tailpipe. Image source: Environmental Protection Agencyįifty-eight percent of those emissions come from light-duty vehicles, like the passenger cars millions of Americans depend on to shop for groceries and commute to work.ĭespite having about the same number of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops, a Chicagoan can walk to an average of five of those places within five minutes, while a Houston resident will find 0.5 dining options on the same walk. With nearly 290 million cars on the road in the US, it’s no surprise that the transportation sector is now the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. But experts agree: highly walkable neighborhoods are better for the environment, the economy, and our health. This disparity is mainly because many American metro areas were built with car travel in mind. On the other side of the world, 95% of Chinese cities achieved a Walk Score of 60 points or above. Walk Score, a website that rates and ranks the walkability of cities, reports that 141 cities in the United States have an average score of 48 out of 100. The term “walkability” means exactly what it sounds like: how easy it is to travel around a neighborhood on your own two feet. However, for city dwellers residing in Europe or Asia, strolling from place to place is a way of life. Imagine this: working, eating, learning, shopping, and relaxing all without ever having to sit behind a wheel of a car.įor those living in many American cities, a walkable neighborhood like this seems out of reach.

Unwalkable cities