Seattle might be a hilly city, but that didn’t seem to matter to the folks at The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center.
It ranked Seattle as the nation’s most walkable city, earning a “platinum level” ranking.
Seattle was the only city in that category. The “gold level” included Ann Arbor, Mich.; Arlington, Va.; Hoboken, N.J.; and Santa Barbara, Calif.
Be proud, Seattle. Some nice things were said about you in the ranking, including this:
Seattle is a leading example of positive evaluation practices and has developed an outstanding reputation as a walkable city due, in large part, to the understanding of trends in pedestrian travel. This understanding comes from significant pedestrian counts that have been occurring biannually since 2006. Data is collected during the peak summer and winter periods and analyzed for seasonal and time of day impacts on walking volumes.
Other things highlighted in the report: Seattle’s management of street parking, the city’s tree-planting program and even red light cameras.
I guess those hills don’t matter so much after all.