Walkable neighborhoods of L.A. and Long Beach

So many promising-sounding websites fail to deliver useful information, but you can take the recommendation of Inman News that this is a "cool tool" to the bank.

Walk Score can help buyers gauge if there are stores or restaurants within walking distance of a potential home, yet the site also is educational for the homeowner not going any place, except perhaps on foot.

The results for specific address searches include accompanying maps littered with appropriate icons and make it even harder to justify popping in the car for a short jaunt in the neighborhood.

The site says it ranks 2,508 neighborhoods in 40 U.S. cities. It also scores and lists the most walkable neighborhoods.

For L.A. the top 5 were:
1. Mid-City West
2  Downtown
3  Hollywood
4  New Downtown
5  Mid Wilshire

For Long Beach:
1. Downtown
2  Belmont Shore
3  Belmont Heights
4  Bixby Knolls
5  East Side

Who says nobody walks in L.A.?

-- Lauren Beale

Your thoughts? Comments?

Photo: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Jason M]

Missing Persons say nobody walks in LA.

[the_dragon]

Walkscore doesn't know Los Angeles. They didn't include Westwood Village and instead labels the entire area between Sunset and Wilshire as Westwood. If you look at Westwood Village, which is between Le Conte and Wilshire, you will find that Westwood Village is one of the most walkable neighborhoods of all Los Angeles.

[LAKLO44]

They didn't take into account cities within LA County like Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Culver City -- all very walkable.

[kosher krab]

Downtown made it twice on the list? This must be a walk during the day list, anyway, it is promising. I bailed on downtown but maybe progress is still occuring.

[Julia]

Wasn't Bixby Knolls in Long Beach where those girls got their heads beaten in by a mob of gang members on Halloween a few years ago? If it's not safe, then what's the point of walking?

[Shari]

Julia,
Do you live in Southern California?? It doesn't sound like it. If you do, then you must not walk anywhere. Yes, the two girls got shot in Bixby Knolls--it was huge news because it's such a safe area. Did you know that crimes against persons occurr in just about every community in the metropolitan area.

Also, I would add Alamitos Beach as a VERY walkable neighborhood.

[Julia]

Shari -

I live in Thousand Oaks. I remember the story about the girls being beaten in Bixby Knolls very well. Safety is a huge concern for me, hence I live in one of the safest cities in the country.

[The original RZ]

I've used this site before, and while it is helpful in letting you know whether there are restaurants, grocery stores, etc., within walking distance of an address, it misses out some other key "walkability" factors. It doesn't consider the quality of the walking routes - for example, whether there are traffic lights or pedestrian crosswalks on major streets, whether there is shade on the route (this is key for summer days in the valley), safety/crime statistics, etc.