Houston is known for many things but one of them is not walkability. While there are a handful of walkable areas in the city, and ongoing developments to make the city more pedestrian-friendly, no Houstonian would ever describe the city as a good place to walk around. Which makes it all the more surprising that Houston not only featured on a list of walkable cities, but was ranked at #2.
Kuru Footwear is a shoe company that specializes in pain-relief footwear. Earlier this December, Kuru Footwear published a ranking of the most walkable winter cities in the U.S. The ranking conveys an analysis of the country’s 30 largest cities – ranking them on four key metrics reflecting comfort, safety, and accessibility. The four key metrics are as follows:
- Walk Score: 40%
- Pedestrian Safety: 20%
- Average Winter Snowfall: 20%
- Average Winter Temperature: 20%
The study then used a weighted 0 – 100 scale to rank cities, with scored adjusted so that lower numbers in negative categories like snowfall or accidents resulted in a better ranking. The final scores reflect cities with the best balance of comfort and safety for winter walking.
The Kuru Footwear study ranked Houston as the second most walkable winter city in the U.S. Its scores were as follows:
- Walk Score: 76
- Number of Pedestrian Deaths per 100,000 People: 2.45
- Average Snowfall (in inches): .1
- Average Temperature: 64
Interestingly enough, the study ranked Houston’s Walk Score higher than the following cities: Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, Philadelphia, Portland, and San Jose.
The top 10 most walkable winter cities in the USA according to the ranking are as such:
- San Francisco, CA
- Houston, TX
- Los Angeles, CA
- Washington, D.C.
- Seattle, WA
- San Diego, CA
- New York, NY
- Philadelphia, PA
- Portland, OR
- San Jose, CA