Phoenix found to be among least-walkable cities, but is improving
Nov 4, 2017, 2:50 PM
PHOENIX — For those in the Phoenix area who like to walk their way to work, home or recreation, there’s some good news and bad news.
A study from George Washington University’s Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis (CREUA) found that Phoenix was 29th in the nation among the 30 biggest metro areas for how “walkable” the city is.
“The 30 metros are ranked on the current percentage of occupied walkable urban office, retail and multi-family rental square feet in their WalkUPs,” the report said, using WalkUPs as a shorthand for “walkable urban places.”
By CREUA’s definition, there are 619 “regionally significant” WalkUPs in America’s 30 biggest metropolitan areas. Only three percent of Phoenix’s occupied office, retail and multi-family rental space was found to be in WalkUPs.
The good news for Phoenix? Its “Fair Share Index,” an indicator of the growth of urban walkability, was the second-highest in the country behind Detroit.
Like the Fair Share Index, the “composite directional index” also “indicates how walkable or sprawling [a city’s] future development is likely to be.” Phoenix’s composite directional index ranked fifth in the nation behind only Seattle, Detroit, Boston and New York City.
In other words, Phoenix may not be the ideal place for pedestrians just yet, but it could be getting there.
