Portland among top 10 most walkable cities

From the Portland Business Journal:

"Portland is among the top 10 walkable cities in the nation, according to a Web site that measures walkability.

Walkscore.com ranked the largest 40 cities in the nation on a scale of zero to 100 based on how easy it is to live a “car-lite” lifestyle. Portland is number 10, with a walk score of 66.

Seven neighborhoods in Portland are Walkers’ Paradises, with walks scores of 90-100. Forty-five percent of Portland residents have a walk score of 70 or above. Eighty-three percent have a walk score of at least 50 — and 17 percent live in car-dependent neighborhoods."

This doesn't surprise me, as we specifically relocated to Portland because we like the walkability. But it's nice to see it acknowledged, and I've been a fan of walkscore.com since stumbling across them last year.

How to Pick a Great Neighborhood

I've been getting mail from folks looking to move to Portland and trying to pick a neighborhood, and with so many great neighborhoods to pick from, it's tough to recommend just one.

But I recently found a tool that makes it a whole lot easier. www.walkscore.com allows you to see what stores, schools, bars, restaurants and parks are within walking distance of any location.

Here's an example in the Alberta Arts district: http://www.walkscore.com/get-score.php?street=ne+going+and+29th%2C+portland+or&go=Go

Check it out, it's a great tool. And if anyone has any suggestions for Mark, please feel free to add a comment. They're coming to visit tomorrow to take another look around.

"Maybe you could help us with a new route. We are a 30ish couple that enjoy both the outdoors and urban environs. We would like to have a good grocery store and a good pub(I'm a homebrewer). Big bonus if they were in walking distance. Proximity to bike trails and public trans is vital to us at first since we're selling one vehicle to cut costs. We really enjoy eating out although we don't mind driving a little to do so. We love Farmer's Markets. We love the Portland vibe. Any suggestions for two days of exploration? Thanks in advance."