Columbus is not walkable according to a study just published by the Brookings Institution. As one of the Top 30 US Metropolitan areas Columbus was ranked 19th according to an article in Columbus Business First. "Columbus near bottom of walkability survey" which says the Short North is the only walkable neighborhood in Columbus.
Columbus did better than Cincinnati and Cleveland which are 28th and 29th on the list of US cities.
Here's a link to the info on the Brookings Institution site:
"Americans are voting with their feet to abandon strip malls and suburban sprawl, embracing instead a new type of community where they can live, work, shop, and play within easy walking distance. In The Option of Urbanism visionary developer and strategist Christopher B. Leinberger explains why government policies have tilted the playing field toward one form of development over the last sixty years: the drivable suburb. Rooted in the driving forces of the economy-car manufacturing and the oil industry-this type of growth has fostered the decline of community, contributed to urban decay, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and contributed to the rise in obesity and asthma."
Copyright 2007 Discover Columbus and Maureen McCabe
This puzzles me a bit. Cleveland has a lot of issues and yes lack of rail transit is an issue. However, we have great neighborhoods and Cleveland is a city built on a grid and sidewalks exist everywhere. You can say the sense of community is missing at times, but I would challenge them to come to any neighborhood here and not see walkers...every day...even in snow!
I find it puzzling too why other Columbus neighborhoods would not be considered walkable, German Village and Clintonville are two that come to mind for me. I'm assuming that the Victorian Village, Italian Village and Harrison West are lumped into the Short North.
Business First says "The survey, which excluded inherently walkable areas such as medical and college campuses and large corporate headquarters"
In our suburbs I think Worthington, Grandview and Upper Arlington are very walkable. Bexley too. Maybe more so than the city neighborhoods.
I am lucky to live in a very walkable neighbourhood in Vancouver, BC. Have you tried out walkscore? I put Columbus in there and it scored very well. They have a handy widget you can put on your website too.
Matt maybe you can explain WHY your site says a neighborhood north of 270 in the 43085 ZIP code is more walkable than an address on Oxford Street in Old Worthington,also ZIP 43085. One of the local newspapers had an article that Worthington is a very walkable community, more so than Clintonville (in Columbus, traditionally considered a very walkable community.) About the same time as that was in the paper I found your site and blogged about it here or on my other blog. It's kind of a cute toy but there sure are a lots of flaws.
The old Worthington address gets a score of 35 out of 100. It says the nearest coffee is a Tim Horton's in Linworth (no sidewalks, crossing a a highway... Anyone local would know to walk a block up to the Old Scottie McBeans... new name now or there's a Starbucks down High Street a couple of blocks too, bettter than hiking to Linworth with no sidewalks on the west side of 315.
The neighborhood outside 270 with a 43085 ZIP code it gives a 45 out of 100 but to get to the strip mall you have to walk on a busy road with no sidewalks. It's a novelty with Google adds tacked on but it certainly is not reliable community information at this point.
Discover Columbus is a site about Columbus Ohio.
Originally named "Columbus Best Blog," it was never the best blog in Columbus Ohio. It was a blog about the best in Columbus and Central Ohio! Best restaurants, best real estate company, best schools, best neighborhoods..... written by Maureen McCabe a licensed real estate agent with Columbus Ohio's best real estate company, Real Living HER.
Discover Columbus is just a site about Central Ohio.
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