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I looked at that top ten list for walkability and im surprised to not see Pittsburgh on there which is a very walkable city and would say more so then most of the cities that made the list. Didi i miss it?...otherwise can anyone tell me if the metro rail in miami is any good cause im going down in march and i want to do some city exploring
There's a big difference in terms of pedestrian comfort. If a person is not comfortable walking in an area, it doesn't matter how many businesses there are, they most likely won't walk there. Compare this street scene in Hollywood to this street scene a few miles away in Pasadena. See the difference? Which looks more inviting to the pedestrian? Those streets in Hollywood probably have a much larger concentration of businesses than those streets in Pasadena. However, since those businesses in Hollywood are all located within strip malls, people aren't going to be as inclined to walk there as they would in Pasadena. Strip malls are designed with the automobile, not the pedestrian in mind, and that design affects how comfortable pedestrians are in that environment.
Good graphics Part of the equation is shade. Streets without trees can be mighty uncomfortable & why the city won't plant palms anymore. Big shade trees invite people to walk. I think Old Pasadena & even the Paseo made a mistake by planting palms & Colorado blvd can get so crowded that people have to walk off the curb. I hate stripe malls too, but they do provide shade & are pedestrian-friendly in my experience.
LA's complicated when it comes to declaring it walkable or not. There are many of individual neighborhoods that are very pedestrian-friendly, it's just that going from one neighborhood to the other will usually require the use of an automobile or a long bus ride. Also, LA has a TON of densely packed strip malls along its major boulevards. Take a look at this one for example, right in the heart of Hollywood. Websites like walkscore see that an LA neighborhood has a dentist, a pizza place, a grocery store, a hardware store, etc. all within the same block and declares it a "walker's paradise". However, it does not take into account whether those businesses are in strip malls or are located along more pedestrian-oriented streets. Yes, you can walk to a lot of things if your neighborhood is full of strip malls, but it won't be very pleasant. The comfort-level of walking is a very important part of pedestrian-friendliness.
It's funny, because I was google mapping Los Angeles the other day, and I was in Hollywood on Google Maps, and I was staring at that very exact strip mall you just posted, and I thought it was very Miami-esque. I just remember thinking, I can so imagine that strip mall in North Miami Beach. But I see your point. LA is a very HIGH density city, but it's dense sprawl, just like South Florida.
Pedestrians have the right of way in California. A driver can get a ticket by entering the crosswalk even if the pedestrian is way on the other side of the street. Drivers get enough tickets and learn to yield of pedestrians.
Miami is the same way but cops don't really have the time to deal with that kind of petty crime. No joke I remember how smoking weed in Miami wasn't anything to turn a cops head in my old neighborhood but maybe things have changed since i was there.
Miami is the same way but cops don't really have the time to deal with that kind of petty crime. No joke I remember how smoking weed in Miami wasn't anything to turn a cops head in my old neighborhood but maybe things have changed since i was there.
Smoking marijuana in public is common in LA [i.e. downtown]. Not everyone can have a doctor's prescription!
I don't think LA lacks cohesion at all. All of the east-west main streets like Hollywood, Sunset, Wilshire, SM, Olympic, Pico etc, along with the north-south main streets like La Cienega, LaBrea, Fairfax, Western etc have thousands of businesses, stores, coffee shops, restaurants, public transportation and so on. I live off of SM Blvd in west LA and I walk to a grocery store, the post office, the library, two movie houses, tons of restaurants (japanese, chinese, persian, mom & pop, italian), public transportation heading east to dt LA, west to the beach is at my feet. LA is very walkable for me. And everything isn't in a strip mall.
LA's complicated when it comes to declaring it walkable or not. There are many of individual neighborhoods that are very pedestrian-friendly, it's just that going from one neighborhood to the other will usually require the use of an automobile or a long bus ride. Also, LA has a TON of densely packed strip malls along its major boulevards. Take a look at this one for example, right in the heart of Hollywood. Websites like walkscore see that an LA neighborhood has a dentist, a pizza place, a grocery store, a hardware store, etc. all within the same block and declares it a "walker's paradise". However, it does not take into account whether those businesses are in strip malls or are located along more pedestrian-oriented streets. Yes, you can walk to a lot of things if your neighborhood is full of strip malls, but it won't be very pleasant. The comfort-level of walking is a very important part of pedestrian-friendliness.
Good points.
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Part of the equation is shade. Streets without trees can be mighty uncomfortable & why the city won't plant palms anymore. Big shade trees invite people to walk. I think Old Pasadena & even the Paseo made a mistake by planting palms & Colorado blvd can get so crowded that people have to walk off the curb. I hate stripe malls too, but they do provide shade & are pedestrian-friendly in my experience.
