Walkability is big in today's world. And Milwaukee ranks very high -- No. 13 -- on walkscore.com, a new Web site that ranks walkable neighborhoods using a walk score algorithm.
The walkable listings are calculated by applying the Walk Score algorithm block by block throughout a city. They also weigh scores by population density.
Not surprising, densely populated cities San Francisco, New York, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia ranked 1-5, while more spread out cities like Charlotte, Nashville and Jacksonville fell to the bottom three (38-40).
Milwaukee ranked just below Denver (11) and Baltimore (12) and above Cleveland (14) and Louisville (15).
Great cities focus on the pedestrian and accessibility while using creative mixed-use developments to make streets work better for cars and people. Thus, Milwaukee's East Side and Downtown fare well in the scores. Notes the site, "The top 8 neighborhoods in Milwaukee are Walkers' Paradises. 29% of Milwaukee residents have a Walk Score of 70 or above."
WalkScore.com searched 2,508 neighborhoods in the 40 largest U.S. cities for amenities that allow residents to drive less, including the location of stores, restaurants and services, transit options, housing choices and green spaces.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
