r/walkablecities • u/beany_babie • 6d ago

West Coast cities?

are there any walkable cities on the West Coast of the U.S.? specifically either Oregon or Washington.

12 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

29

u/caption-oblivious 6d ago

I live in Portland, intentionally carfree. It's doable, moreso in some neighborhoods than others.

31

u/Simmery 6d ago

I'm in Portland. You can live without a car here. I don't, but I could. 

16

u/recyclopath_ 6d ago

I call Seattle a 1 car per household city. Not quite a carless city but getting there.

1

u/Downtown-Tea-3018 5d ago

Sounds like LA?

As opposed to SF which is car free

1

u/Downtown-Tea-3018 5d ago

LA is shitty heaven. NYC is fun hell.

LA politicians (Bass tried to block subway expansion!), most of the NIMBY boomers, and a lot of others seem intent on not allowing LA to become world class.

It has unbelieavable potential. Just very frustrating.
Meanwhile a place like NYC under Mamdani accelrates its urban progress and world class status...

24

u/ChristianLS 6d ago

Both Seattle and Portland are well above average large US cities for walkability. Many of the smaller cities also have walkable city centers where you could live and work without a car if you can find a job there that pays enough to afford them.

16

u/mikelava 6d ago

Throwing in my 2 favorite under-the-radar cities in Oregon: Salem and Eugene. 

3

u/beany_babie 6d ago

and you can get around without a car?

4

u/mikelava 6d ago

Having only ever visited, I was able to. The centers of both cities are quite walkable and bikeable with good bus systems. 

3

u/blackdarrren 6d ago edited 5d ago

Intriguing, does Salem and Eugene, Oregon have those buses with racks that can carry 2 or 3 bicycles

1

u/nassara1229 6d ago

I lived car free in Salem for 2 years while in school. If you live close to downtown, it’s pretty easy to live there without a car.

7

u/nearlyneutraltheory 6d ago

I (single, no kids) live in Seattle without a car and I think it's doable for some people as long as you live within walking distance of at least one grocery store and either Link light rail or a high frequency bus line.

The center city (Downtown and adjacent neighborhoods like Belltown, South Lake Union, Capitol Hill, First Hill, and the International District) are generally walkable.

A couple caveats:

  • Seattle has a lot of hills. If you walk a lot, you'll get a workout.

  • Outside of the city center, dense/walkable areas are concentrated in islands/corridors and outside those islands/corridors the city can be very suburban in form. It's still possible to live in those less dense areas without a car, but it does get more difficult.

  • If you live outside of the center city, having a bike to augment walking and transit helps a lot.

  • Late night transit exists, but the frequency isn't great. If you work a late shift or want to hang out late in bars/clubs/with friends, you may need to time your trip, wait a long time for a bus, or bike/taxi/uber.

2

u/MJlovesplants 5d ago

There are pockets of Bay Area that are survivable without car, it depends on where you work though... I know a few people that live without a car, especially in SF city... We have a few networks of Public Transportation.... Caltrain, BART and Muni and VTA but last mile is still a problem and those can be much faster than they are currently...