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How walkable is Washington?

Using census data for cities with a population of more than 100,000, Governing Magazine has released a new study on the walkability of cities that shows an increasing number of people are choosing to walk to work – rather than drive, bicycle, or even take public transit – in some urban areas across the country.

No city in Washington made the top ten most walkable cities nationally, but both Seattle and Tacoma were among those with the largest growth in pedestrian commuters over the past five years. In good news for the Washington-Oregon rivalry, Seattle won out over Portland in pedestrian commuters 9.1 percent to 5.7 percent.

While Seattle led the way in terms of walkability, several other Washington cities made Governing’s list as well. Bellevue was the runner up with 4.0 percent, followed by Everett with 3.9 percent, Spokane with 3.8 percent, Tacoma with 3.6 percent, Vancouver with 2.1 percent, and Kent with 1.7 percent.

The national average was 2.8 percent of the population, a number that was roughly the same as the last time annual estimates were conducted. The most walkable city in the country was Cambridge, Massachusetts, with nearly a quarter (24.5 percent) of commuters choosing to walk to work.walkable Washington