Best Walking Cities in the USA

Now that you have your best Step Alive Walking Shoes on, check out this listing of America's best Walking Cities (from American Podiatric Medical Association).

TAKE NOTE! Columbus, Ohio is on the list!

For the seventh year in a row, the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) has joined with Prevention magazine to develop a comprehensive list of the Best Walking Cities in America. This year’s number one Best Walking City? San Francisco, California.

To calculate this year’s list, metro areas were evaluated based on 19 criteria, including population density per square mile, use of mass transit, crime rates, and square miles of local and state parks. Prevention, APMA, and Sperling’s Best Places also consulted with a panel of nationally recognized experts in the field of walking communities, to give each city a 1-5 rating on a walkability scale. New categorical breakdowns for 2009 included listing the Best Walking Cities for Families, Nature Walks, and more.

This year’s top 25 walking cities in the United States, according to the 2009 study, are as follows:

1San Francisco, CA
2Boston, MA
3New York, NY
4Philadelphia, PA
5Chicago, IL
6Washington, DC
7Seattle, WA
8Honolulu, HI
9Portland, OR
10Pittsburgh, PA
11Oakland, CA
12Minneapolis, MN
13San Diego, CA
14Los Angeles, CA
15Milwaukee, WI
16Baltimore, MD
17Rochester, NY
18Santa Ana, CA
19San Jose, CA
20Denver, CO
21Columbus, OH
22New Orleans, LA
23Austin, TX
24Sacramento, CA
25Tucson, AZ