Updated statistics by the alternate-transportation analysts at Walk Score suggest that the Buckhead Village is no longer Atlanta's premiere pedestrian district — and that bicycling in the city is quickly becoming more viable. According to Walk Score's 2015 City & Neighborhood Ranking, Georgia State University has supplanted Buckhead Village as the ATL's king of walkability, notching an enviable score of 96. Also worth noting: Since a similar Walk Score analysis in 2013, the city's overall bikeability rating has jumped from 43 to 50, earning it bona fide "Bikeable" status now. In that timespan, two "neighborhoods" — GSU and Peachtree Center — have finally climbed into the rarified air of 90 Walk Scores and above, which could speak to residential, retail and streetcar activity in the area. It's harder to explain how the Walk Score of Midtown, for instance, could fall two points to 84, unless some sort of redistricting is to blame.
Walk Score ranked the largest 3,000 cities in the country and more than 10,000 neighborhoods, including 160 in Atlanta. Overall, Atlanta's lackluster Walk Score of 46 hasn't changed in the last couple of years. But hey, analysts did discover that, on average, Atlantans can walk to four restaurants, bars and coffee shops in five minutes. Which should be enough to stay awake, nourished and tipsy. It's no surprise that New York is gauged as the country's most walkable city with an overall score of 81.
As for the Bike Score, Atlanta still lags the country's leader, Minneapolis, which notched an 81 score despite, you know, ice.
On the Transit Score front, Atlanta remains in the "car-dependent/most errands require a car" cellar at 43 overall.
Here's a quick before/after glimpse of the top 20 Atlanta neighborhoods for walkability, as Walk Score sees them ...
Walk Score's Top 20 Walkable Atlanta Neighborhoods in Late 2013:
...
And now:
· Living in Atlanta [Walk Score]
· ATL Fails On New Walk Score Charts, But Some 'Hoods Shine [Curbed]
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