America's Most Walkable Cities

7. Chicago
Spreading for 228 square miles around the Loop, Chicago is in one sense the epitome of Midwestern sprawl. But somehow the metropolis on Lake Michigan has exploited its middling density to create a broad network of walkable neighborhoods, each comfortable (more or less) in its own identity, and almost all linked to the region by effective transit. Chicago’s walkable places extend from the Magnificent Mile on the shore of Lake Michigan to neighborhoods like Hyde Park on the South Side and Evanston in the ’burbs.

8. Miami
With almost as much of a car culture as Los Angeles, Miami is an unlikely candidate for a city with a high ratio of walkable places to people. But think about all the districts of the metro area that are a pleasure to perambulate: Downtown, accessible by Metrorail and circumnavigable by Metromover. Workaday Little Havana, with Calle Ocho’s domino players and the up-and-coming Latin Quarter. Coconut Grove, with its art galleries, bars, clubs and glittering denizens. Yes, if you can stand the heat, Miami offers great places for an urban walkabout.

9. Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh has just three walkable places, according to Leinberger. But downtown Pittsburgh, Oakland and the South Side are shared by just 2.37 million people in the metro area; compare that to St. Louis, where nearly 2.8 million folks share just two walkable sections.  Downtown Pittsburgh is served by a subway, boasts a number of performing arts venues and includes the Strip District, with its produce markets, cafes, restaurants and nightclubs, and a boardwalk along the river.