Newport quite walkable

For the last three weeks, I have been publishing Walk Score results for the purposes of determining which local communities are the most pedestrian friendly.

Further explanation is available in my previous posts. The links to those can be found at the bottom of this post.

This week, I tackle Campbell County.

The numbers show that Newport has a really solid foundation for dense, pedestrian-friendly infill development. Also, the numbers for the city's western neighborhoods would likely be higher if the vacant Thriftway were still in operation.

As a refresher, here is what the numbers mean:

* 90-100: Can live fairly easily without a car
* 70-90: It's possible to get by without a car
* 50-70: Some businesses within walking distance, some require the use of a bike, public transportation or a car
* 25-50: Few destinations are within walking range, most require the use of a bike, public transportation or a car
* 0-25: Forget about walking

Areas marked with an "*" are Newport neighborhoods.

Thank you to Emily Jarzen, historic preservation specialist with the City of Newport, for assistance on the neighborhood boundaries.

(NEXT WEEK: Butler County)

Car-free living
Taylors Landing* (7th and Saratoga): 91

Borrow a car every now and then
Two Rivers II* (8th and Isabella): 83
Gateway* (8th and Park): 82
Mansion Hill* (4th and Monroe): 82
Newport on the Levee: 80
Two Rivers I* (4th and Central): 75
Buena Vista* (11th and Central): 74
Bellevue (Fairfield and Taylor): 72
Cote Brilliante* (Park and Grand): 71

You should own a car, but you won't always need it
Cliffview* (21st and Monmouth): 69
Dayton (6th and Berry): 68
Clifton* (Main and Home): 63
Alexandria (Main and Riley): 60
Southgate (Alexandria and Willow): 60
Fort Thomas (N Fort Thomas and Highland): 52
Woodlawn (Water Works and Crescent): 51

Buy a gas discount card
Cold Spring (Alexandria and Old Alexandria): 46
Highland Heights (Alexandria and Johns Hill): 40
Northern Kentucky University: 26

Help...I'm trapped!
Melbourne (Melbourne and Latonia): 14
Silver Grove (KY-8 and KY-547): 9
Crestview (100 Pine Hill Dr): 3
Wilder (Licking and Johns Hill): 3

Previous reading on BC:
Outside of Covington, Kenton largely unwalkable (8/27/07)
Hamilton County suburbs moderately walkable (8/20/07)
Most City neighborhoods require a car (8/13/07)

Outside of Covington, Kenton largely unwalkable

For the last two Mondays, I have been publishing Walk Score results for the purposes of determining which local communities are the most pedestrian friendly.

Further explanation is available in my two previous posts, which featured Cincinnati's neighborhoods and Hamilton County's suburbs.

This week, I tackle Kenton County.

Three discoveries jump out:

* Many Northern Kentucky communities are amorphous blobs with no center at all, or multiple smaller centers. This trend grows the farther out you go.
* The "mall" influence allows Crestview Hills to appear somewhat walkable, which it is not.
* The east side of Covington (Austinburg, East Side and Helentown) is vastly under-retailed.

As a refresher, here is what the numbers mean:

* 90-100: Can live fairly easily without a car
* 70-90: It's possible to get by without a car
* 50-70: Some businesses within walking distance, some require the use of a bike, public transportation or a car
* 25-50: Few destinations are within walking range, most require the use of a bike, public transportation or a car
* 0-25: Forget about walking

Areas marked with an "*" are Covington neighborhoods.

(NEXT WEEK: Campbell County)

Car-free living
Mutter Gottes/Old Town* (6th and Washington): 94
Ohio Riverside* (Garrard and 2nd): 94
Covington DT* (4th and Scott): 92
Covington Arts District (Pike and Banklick): 91

Borrow a car every now and then
Licking Riverside* (Garrard and 6th): 88
MainStrasse* (6th and Main): 83
Seminary Square* (11th and Scott): 83
East Side* (12th and Greenup): 78

You should own a car, but you won't always need it
Crescent Springs (Crescent Springs City Building): 66
Latonia* (Decoursey and Winston): 66
Linden Grove* (15th and Holman): 65
Crestview Hills (Crestview Hills Town Center): 63
Lakeside Park (Dixie and Turkeyfoot): 63
Fort Mitchell (Dixie and Highland): 62
Lewisburg* (Pike and Western): 60
Thomas More College (Turkeyfoot and Thomas More Pkwy): 57

Buy a gas discount card
Erlanger (Erlanger City Building): 48
Kenton Hills* (Edgehill and Sunset): 46
Taylor Mill (Taylor Mill and I-275): 46
Botany Hills* (Highway and Parkway): 45
Austinburg* (19th and Maryland): 43
Elsmere (Elsmere City Building): 43
Peaselburg* (19th and Howell): 43
Helentown* (18th and Maryland): 42
Kenton Vale (3100 Madison): 42
Villa Hills (Buttermilk and Collins): 42
Fort Wright (Dixie and Kyles): 40
Wallace Woods* (Greenup and Wallace): 37
Levassor Park* (Madison and 26th): 35
Park Hills (Amsterdam and Park): 35
Monte Casino* (Benton and Janes): 31
Bromley (Pike and Main): 28

Help...I'm trapped!
Edgewood (Edgewood City Building): 25
Latonia Lakes (Cedar and Clubhouse): 23
Independence (Madison and Independence): 18
South Covington* (Madison and Hands Pike): 15
Ryland Heights (Decoursey and Stewart): 6

Hamilton County suburbs moderately walkable

Last Monday, I posted about Walk Score, an online tool that tries to approximate the walkability of any given neighborhood. I won't rehash the entire explanation here, so please click on the link to catch up.

As part of the experiment I tried to compute numbers for all of Cincinnati's neighborhoods.

This week, I will attempt to do the same with Hamilton County.

A couple of caveats:

* Some of these suburbs are large in size. So places like Blue Ash score high near the center but lower as you go farther out.
* Shopping malls skew the numbers because they feature a lot of shops in a small space. But have you ever tried to walk down Colerain Avenue?
* Economically depressed areas bereft of shopping options tend to sink to the bottom of the list.

As a refresher, here is what the numbers mean:

* 90-100: Can live fairly easily without a car
* 70-90: It's possible to get by without a car
* 50-70: Some businesses within walking distance, some require the use of a bike, public transportation or a car
* 25-50: Few destinations are within walking range, most require the use of a bike, public transportation or a car
* 0-25: Forget about walking

(NEXT WEEK: Kenton County)

Car-free living
None

Borrow a car every now and then
Blue Ash (Cooper and Kenwood): 88
Kenwood (Kenwood Towne Centre): 86
Madeira (Euclid and Miami): 83
Deer Park (Plainfield and Matson): 82
Finneytown (Brentwood Plaza): 80
Montgomery (Montgomery and Cooper): 80
Northgate (Colerain and Springdale): 80
Norwood (Montgomery and Smith): 80
Reading (Benson and Jefferson): 72
Mariemont (Village Square): 71

You should own a car, but you won't always need it
Cheviot (Harrison and Glenmore): 69
Anderson Township (Anderson Towne Center): 68
Columbia Township (Ridge and Highland): 68
Covedale (Glenway and Cleves Warsaw): 68
Silverton (Montgomery and Plainfield): 68
Dent (I-74 and Rybolt): 66
Mount Healthy (Hamilton and Compton): 66
Harrison (Harrison and Vine): 65
Madison Place (Bramble and Plainville): 65
Monfort Heights (North Bend and I-74): 63
Forest Park (Winton and Kemper): 62
Groesbeck (Colerain and Cross County): 62
Wyoming (Wyoming and Burns): 62
Evendale (Reading and Glendale Milford): 60
Plainville (Wooster and Walton Creek): 60
Sharonville (Reading and Creek): 58
Cleves (Miami and State): 55
Elmwood Place (Vine and 61st): 55
Lockland (Wyoming and Mill): 55
Glendale (Depot Square): 54
Delhi (Delhi and Anderson Ferry): 52
Springdale (Princeton and Kemper): 52

Buy a gas discount card
Fairfax (Wooster and Watterson): 49
Golf Manor (Bremont and Hammel): 49
Bridgetown (Harrison and Race): 48
White Oak (Cheviot and Jessup): 48
Saint Bernard (Vine and Washington): 45
North College Hill (Galbraith and Savannah): 43
Woodlawn (Springfield Pike and Glendale Milford): 42
Greenhills (Greenhills Shopping Center): 40
Lincoln Heights (Leggett and Medosh): 38
Arlington Heights (Elliott and Erkenbrecher): 34
Hooven (Hooven and Madison): 34
Newtown (OH-32 and Church): 34
Terrace Park (Elm and Marietta): 32
West College Hill (Simpson and Lincoln): 29
Amberley Village (Ridge and Section): 28
Northbrook (Pippin and Adams): 28
Miamitown (Harrison and OH-128): 25
North Bend (Miami and Taylor): 25

Help...I'm trapped!
Highpoint (4th and Cincinnati): 23
Pleasant Run Farms (Mill and Hazelgrove): 18
Addyston (200 Main): 17
New Baltimore (Main and Locust): 15
Camp Dennison (Glendale Milford and Lincoln): 14
Indian Hill (Village Administration Office): 14
New Haven (New Haven and Oxford): 8

Most City neighborhoods require a car

Walk Score is a web-based tool for researching real estate to find out the walkability of a property's neighborhood.

The interface allows you to enter any address into its search engine. It then calculates the distances from that address to shopping, restaurants, bars, schools, etc. and combines them all into a formula to calculate a "walk score".

The site breaks down the scores it computes as follows (paraphrased):

* 90-100: Can live fairly easily without a car
* 70-90: It's possible to get by without a car
* 50-70: Some businesses within walking distance, some require the use of a bike, public transportation or a car
* 25-50: Few destinations are within walking range, most require the use of a bike, public transportation or a car
* 0-25: Forget about walking

The site does admit its faults. It doesn't include factors such as street width, block length, crime, traffic, the availability of sidewalks, topography, the availability of public transit, freeways, bodies of water, or weather in its calculations.

It's fun anyway.

One thing that I noticed right away is the influence an adjacent neighborhood can have on the score. For example, Hopple and Colerain in Camp Washington is home to few walkable amenities, but the software draws into the formula destinations from both Clifton and Clifton Heights. Queensgate scores as moderately walkable, but I wouldn't try it.

Also, the score seems to have a socioeconomic aspect. Some neighborhoods near the bottom of the list are completely walkable, but the lack of economic investment lowers the number of available destinations.

And it's pretty clear that the public housing projects are little isolated islands, built without taking into account the residents' needs to actually go and buy things--or work--in a nearby commercial district.

I have tried my best to approximate the "center" of each neighborhood*, which is listed after the neighborhood name. These are subject to debate of course, and please feel free to post your findings.

The purpose of this project is to find out how walkable an area would be for someone living near one of these centers.

(NEXT WEEK: The rest of Hamilton County)

Car-free living
Downtown (Fountain Square): 97
Over-the-Rhine (Vine and Liberty): 91

Borrow a car every now and then
Oakley (Oakley Square): 88
Pleasant Ridge (Montgomery and Ridge): 86
Northside (Hamilton and Blue Rock): 85
Prospect Hill (Sycamore and Milton): 83
Clifton Heights (Clifton and McMillan): 82
Hyde Park (Hyde Park Square): 82
Clifton (Clifton and Ludlow): 80
East Price Hill (Warsaw and St. Lawrence): 80
Corryville (Corry and Short Vine): 78
Walnut Hills (Peebles Corner): 78
Mount Adams (St. Gregory and Pavilion): 77
Mount Auburn (Auburn and Dorchester): 77
Fairview (Ravine and Warner): 71
East Hyde Park (Erie and Marburg): 71
O'Bryonville (Madison and Cinnamon): 71
West End (Linn and Liberty): 71

You should own a car, but you won't always need it
Mount Lookout (Mount Lookout Square): 66
Roselawn (Reading and Summit): 65**
East Walnut Hills: (DeSales Corner): 63
College Hill (Hamilton and Cedar): 62
Mount Washington (Beechmont, Corbly and Sutton): 58
West Price Hill (Glenway and Cleves Warsaw): 58
Bond Hill (Paddock and California): 57**
Carthage (Vine and 70th): 57
Westwood (Harrison and Montana): 57
Avondale (Avondale Towne Center): 55
Hartwell (Vine and Galbraith): 55
Lower Price Hill (Eighth and State): 54
University Heights (McMicken and Marshall): 54
Madisonville (Madison and Whetsel): 52
Queensgate (Union Terminal): 52

Buy a gas discount card
South Cumminsville/Millvale (Beekman and Dreman): 48
Columbia Tusculum (Columbia Pkwy and Delta): 46
Camp Washington (Hopple and Colerain): 45
Kennedy Heights (Montgomery and Kennedy): 43
East End (Eastern and Setchell): 42
Paddock Hills (Paddock and Tennessee): 40
Sayler Park (Gracely and Monitor): 40
Evanston (Five Points): 38
North Fairmount (Beekman and Hopple): 37
Mount Airy (Colerain and North Bend): 35
Winton Terrace (Dutch Colony and Winneste): 32
Linwood (Eastern and Linwood): 32
Spring Grove Village (N Edgewood and Epworth): 31
Sedamsville (River and Delhi): 29
South Fairmount (Queen City and Grand): 29
North Avondale (Reading and Paddock): 28
East Westwood (Baltimore and McHenry): 26
English Woods (Community Center): 26

Help...I'm trapped!
Fay Apartments (3800 President): 23
Riverside (River and Anderson Ferry): 18
California (Kellogg and Eldorado): 15

* Winton Hills doesn't really have a center. I have included Winton Terrace instead. Also, I've included the subneighborhoods of East Hyde Park, O'Bryonville and Prospect Hill. Generally, I will put the "center" in the middle of a business district or at the busiest intersection.
** Jordan Crossing (Swifton Commons): 72