Walkable Miami
July 30, 2007
The “Walk Score,” a website which calculates how walkable a particular area is, is getting a lot of blog attention, for example, at this site which suggests Miami has a long way to go.
Personally, I think walkability depends a lot on exactly where you happen to be in Miami, and I find Edgewater (where I live) and the Downtown Jewelry District (where I work) to be highly walkable. And there is one big factor which the Walk Score admits to omitting from its algorithm: weather! For example, I entered an address in Cambridge, Massachusetts where I once lived into Walk Score, and it spat out a reading of 98/100. Now, Cambridge — typical college town as it is – may have an abundance of shops, restaurants, cafes, etc. in close proximity to one another, but there is absolutely no way it is more walkable than any part of Miami for at least 7 months out of the year, owing to its miserable New England climate.
That’s a good point. Weather-wise, Miami is amazing, which really puts all the blame of its poor walkability on its nonexistent city planning.
I live near you, and while our neighborhood may be walkable compared to other parts of the city–and it’s improving–it still doesn’t compare with any northeastern city. A shame, given the great weather in Miami.