The 5 Cities Where It’s Easiest — and Hardest — to Walk to the Grocery Store
Walk Score has put together a new ranking of the best and worst American cities for walkable access to food. The above visualization contrasts New York, city with the best access, and Indianapolis, which brought up the rear in Walk Score’s ratings.
Walk Score used its algorithm to cross-reference millions of walking routes with its database of grocery store locations. Then it ranked cities with populations over 500,000 according to the share of residents who can walk to a grocery store in five minutes. Here are the top five:
| 1 | New York | 72% |
| 2 | San Francisco | 59% |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 57% |
| 4 | Boston | 45% |
| 5 | Washington D.C. | 41% |
Walk Score also ranked the places where the lowest share of residents can walk to a grocery store in five minutes:
| 1 | Indianapolis | 5% |
| 2 | Oklahoma City | 5% |
| 3 | Charlotte | 6% |
| 4 | Tucson | 6% |
| 5 | Albuquerque | 7% |
Cities including San Jose, California, are using tools from Walk Score to examine and address local food access issues. Walk Score says it welcomes inquiries from planners who would like to see the results of their city.