Worcester is the Least Walkable Big City in Massachusetts

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocalWorcester Contributor and GoLocalWorcester Lifestyle Team

Walkability has a direct correlation with the performance of the community's economy.

Data from across the country shows a consistent outcome - cities which are highly walkable perform better than their peer cities.

SEE SLIDES BELOW: #72 to #1: Most and Least Walkable Cities and Towns in MA

For Massachusetts cities, the numbers are mixed. Boston, known for its walkability was in the top three of the state's ranking, but did not make the top 10 nationally. The greater the walkability, the higher the real estate for commercial space, commercial rents and residential values.

In contrast, the city of Worcester did not make the top 20 walkable cities and town in Massachusetts. In fact, among cities with populations over 100,000, Worcester is the least-walkable.

GoLocal reviewed the data provided by the research group at Walk Score, who "believes that walkable neighborhoods with access to public transit, shorter commutes, and proximity to the people and places you love are the key to a happier, healthier and more sustainable lifestyle."

"It is definetly appealing to renters to be within walking distance of local restaurants and shops. Renters new to the area like the idea of being walking distance to 'Restaurant Row' on Shrewsbury Street," said Steve Minor, a real estate agent at RE/MAX Advantage 1 in Worcester.

According to Minor, property values in the city don't increase because of its proximity to shops and local restaurants. However, they do increase if properties are close to colleges.

"The property value of a house or multi-family closer to local colleges will see an increase. Students are very attracted to walking distance to WPI, Clark, Worcester State, and other local colleges," Minor said.

More walkable places perform better economically. For neighborhoods around Boston, as the number of environmental features that facilitate walkability and attract pedestrians increase, so do office, residential, and retail rents, retail revenues, and for-sale residential values.

Research conducted at Brookings Institute divided walkability into a five-tiered ladder, “They discovered that every time an area moves along the ladder toward more walkable, it “adds $9 per square foot to annual office rents, $7 per square foot to retail rents, more than $300 per month to apartment rents and nearly $82 per square foot to home values.”

To calculate the rankings, Walk Score analyzed over 10 million locations and computed more than 2 billion walking routes for 2,500 U.S. cities. The Walk Score ranking uses the Street Smart Walk Score algorithm that incorporates walking routes, depth of choice, pedestrian-friendliness, population and neighborhood data. For this ranking of mid-sized cities, we looked at cities with populations between 200,000 and 300,000.

Worcester is the Least Walkable Big City in Massachusetts

SEE SLIDES BELOW: #72 to #1: Most and Least Walkable Cities and Towns in MA

Related Slideshow: #72 to #1: Most and Least Walkable Cities and Towns in MA

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