[iheartthed]

Per Smart Growth America, ranked from most to least accessible

1. Cleveland
2. New York
3. Kansas City
4. Detroit
5. Philadelphia
6. Pittsburgh
7. Baltimore
8. Washington, DC
9. Cincinnati
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul
11. St. Louis
12. Boston
13. Indianapolis
14. Chicago
15. San Antonio
16. Las Vegas
17. Seattle
18. Denver
19. Phoenix
20. Sacramento
21. Houston
22. San Francisco
23. Charlotte
24. Virginia Beach
25. Columbus
26. Portland
27. Atlanta
28. Austin
29. Dallas-Fort Worth
30. Orlando
31. Nashville
32. San Diego
33. Miami
34. Tampa
35. Los Angeles

we developed a Social Equity Index (SEI) based on three main concerns: 1) the rising cost of housing; 2) the rising cost of transportation and the need for quality transit access; and 3) proximity—who lives closest to walkable urbanism.

The SEI ranks metropolitan areas by the affordability of and access to well-located housing and services, including housing both within and close to walkable urban development. We believe affordability is essential for a thriving community and that the elements of walkable urbanism— which improve quality of life, reduce commuting time, and reduce emissions—should not be limited to those able to afford high-cost housing.

As discussed below, we find that many medium-sized regions, often with relatively affordable housing, rank closer to the top. Furthermore, some larger regions rank lower when considering proximity to walkability across socioeconomic groups, suggesting that while walkability in a place like Portland (for example) may be high, the people closest to it tend to be whiter, higher-educated, and have higher incomes.

Our results did not indicate a strong overlap between the most walkable regions and equitable development patterns as measured by the SEI. The general correlation is slightly positive, but not so obvious as to suggest that walkability automatically is associated with increased social equity or vice versa.

Some of the cities which rank highly on the SEI have more affordable housing stock and greater access to walkable urbanism for communities of color and disadvantaged socioeconomic groups. Others have high-quality transit that bolsters their rankings. Those that rank lower on the SEI Index have particularly high housing costs, ranking them significantly lower than their Foot Traffic Ahead walkability rank, even with high-quality transit or good proximity to walkability.

TLDR: Metros at the top have walkable areas accessible to people of all incomes, while in metros at the bottom walkable areas tend to be expensive.

Social Equity section starts on page 16: https://smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-co...Ahead-2023.pdf