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Tampa Rated Least Walkable

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By RICH SHOPES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 5, 2007

TAMPA - A new study of "walkable" U.S. cities ranks the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area dead last.

The study by the Washington-based think tank the Brookings Institution identified "regional-serving walkable urban places" on a per capita basis in 30 metropolitan areas.

Washington, D.C., with 20 walkable places, ranked first; Boston, second; San Francisco, third.

The institution described walkable places as not just bedroom communities but places with jobs and retail or cultural institutions that bring in people who don't live there.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio said the city has strived in recent years to create a livable and walkable downtown by encouraging residential development and changing one-way streets to pedestrian-friendly two-way.

She and others also are pushing to create a light-rail system. "The two go hand in hand," Iorio said. "Once you have a transit system that's workable and sensible ... then you will find you have more walkable community."

The suburban strip-mall formula slowed the growth of walkable cities, the study says. However, rail systems can help transform places into walkable areas.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Palm Beach area ranked eighth, and Orlando-Kissimmee 24th. Second to last was Cleveland, which ranked behind Cincinnati.

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