Best cities for walking
Prevention Magazine recently published a ranking of America’s best walking cities. Kansas City ranks #71 nationally, and #1 in Missouri. These kinds of rankings are highly suggestive, so take it with a grain of salt.
The magazine’s web site is really difficult to navigate, so here are some highlights…
| National Rankings 1. Cambridge, MA 2. New York, NY 3. Ann Arbor, MI 4. Chicago, IL 5. Washington, DC —– 38. Lawrence, KS 71. Kansas City, MO 74. St. Louis, MO |
Top 10 in Missouri 1. Kansas City 2. St. Louis 3. Springfield 4. St. Charles 5. Lee’s Summit 6. St. Peters 7. Columbia 8. St. Joseph 9. O’Fallon 10. Independence |
Top 10 in Kansas 1. Lawrence 2. Manhattan 3. Overland Park 4. Shawnee 5. Lenexa 6. Olathe 7. Topeka 8. Kansas City 9. Wichita 10. Salina |
From some of the explanations it sounds like the ranking methodology includes transit usage, people who walk to work, people who walk for exercise, business within walking distance, amount of parkland, and automobile ownership rates. For example, Columbia has the state’s highest rate of walking to work, yet a smaller park system seems to rank below suburban sprawl cities like St. Peters.