The everyday new automotive at this time prices nearly $49,000 – close to a report excessive. Used automobiles are additionally flirting with all-time highs. That’s as a result of automotive costs skyrocketed throughout the pandemic and have hardly fallen since, making automotive possession one of many greatest monetary burdens Individuals face.
A latest survey discovered that just about half of Individuals say automotive prices are standing in the way in which of monetary stability. However in most U.S. cities, proudly owning a automotive is virtually a requirement. This creates a divide between those that personal a automotive and those that don’t (typically a racial one), impacting socioeconomic alternative, well being outcomes, and extra.
That’s why it issues to have the ability to get round with no automotive – and in some cities, it’s potential. On this article, Redfin actual property highlights the highest 10 U.S. cities the place you don’t want a automotive, ranked by their “Car-Free Score.”
These cities provide sturdy public transportation, walkable neighborhood cores, and stable bike infrastructure. Be taught extra about how scores have been calculated within the methodology.
>> Be taught extra about essentially the most walkable, bikeable, and transit-friendly cities
1. Cambridge, MA
Automotive-Free Rating: 84.6 | Stroll Rating: 90 | Bike Rating: 96 | Transit Rating: 70
Dwelling to Harvard College, MIT, and a dense mixture of historic neighborhoods, Cambridge is the perfect metropolis within the U.S. for car-free dwelling. It excels in all three classes: Walkability, bikeability, and transit-friendliness.
Strolling: Most of Cambridge is constructed on a human scale. Neighborhoods like Harvard Sq. and Central Sq. pack groceries, cafes, parks, and pharmacies inside a number of blocks – excellent for day by day errands on foot.
Biking: Cambridge is a nationwide chief in bike infrastructure. The town has protected lanes on main corridors like Massachusetts Ave and Broadway, dozens of Bluebikes stations, and seamless hyperlinks to regional trails just like the Minuteman Bikeway and the Charles River path.
Public transportation: Because it’s simply throughout the Charles River from Downtown Boston, Cambridge is deeply related to Better Boston by the MBTA. The Crimson Line subway anchors the transit community, with stops in Harvard, Porter, Central, and Kendall. Bus routes fill within the gaps.
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2. New York, NY
Automotive-Free Rating: 81.5 | Stroll Rating: 88 | Bike Rating: 69 | Transit Rating: 89
New York Metropolis is likely one of the best locations within the U.S. to dwell with no automotive. In truth, lower than half of residents even personal one, due to dense neighborhoods, dependable transit, and a avenue community constructed for strolling.
Strolling: NYC is likely one of the most walkable cities on the planet. Manhattan neighborhoods just like the West Village, SoHo, and the Higher West Aspect are filled with outlets, providers, and parks inside a 5-10 minute stroll. The outer parts of town are a bit tougher to navigate on foot.
Biking: Biking has surged in reputation due to Citi Bike, protected bike lanes, and greenways just like the Hudson River Greenway and the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. The town is quickly increasing its bike community with a deal with security and connectivity.
Public transportation: New York is America’s chief in public transportation. The subway community alone has 672 stations – practically as many because the mixed complete of all different subway methods within the nation. Buses, ferries, and trains fill within the gaps.
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3. San Francisco, CA
Automotive-Free Rating: 79.1 | Stroll Rating: 89 | Bike Rating: 72 | Transit Rating: 77
San Francisco isn’t nearly tech corporations and bay views – it’s additionally the most effective cities within the nation to dwell with no automotive. Its small structure, sturdy public transit system, and rising community of motorbike lanes make it easy to go vehicle-free.
Strolling: Regardless of its famously steep streets, San Francisco is amazingly walkable. Neighborhoods like North Seashore, the Mission, and Hayes Valley are particularly pedestrian-friendly, with outlets, eating places, homes, and transit stops in accessible clusters.
Biking: San Francisco’s bike community has grown quickly lately. Protected lanes on corridors like Valencia Road and JFK Promenade, together with the flat “Wiggle” route, make biking an more and more viable possibility. Bay Wheels bike-share provides comfort for fast journeys.
Public transportation: An in depth mixture of Muni buses, streetcars, and lightweight rail serve 158 million journeys yearly, whereas BART connects San Francisco to the broader Bay Space.
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4. Berkeley, CA
Automotive-Free Rating: 75.1 | Stroll Rating: 85 | Bike Rating: 83 | Transit Rating: 60
Berkeley is a pacesetter in pedestrian-first city planning. Pair that with a small footprint, delicate climate, and facilities like UC Berkeley, and Berkeley turns into the most effective cities for car-free dwelling.
Strolling: Downtown Berkeley, Elmwood, and North Berkeley are designed round pedestrians. Eating places, markets, bookshops, and pharmacies are normally only a few blocks from houses and employment. Elsewhere, flat terrain and traffic-calmed streets make strolling typically secure and nice.
Biking: Berkeley pioneered bike boulevards – low-traffic streets prioritized for cyclists – and continues to broaden its protected bike lanes alongside key corridors like Bancroft Means and Milvia Road. The Ohlone Greenway and Bay Path join Berkeley to neighboring cities for longer commutes.
Public transportation: Three BART stations (Downtown, North Berkeley, and Ashby) present quick, frequent entry to Oakland, San Francisco, and the remainder of the Bay Space. AC Transit buses fill in native routes, together with direct traces to Emeryville, Richmond, and UC Berkeley’s campus.
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5. Boston, MA
Automotive-Free Rating: 74.7 | Stroll Rating: 83 | Bike Rating: 69 | Transit Rating: 72
Boston’s dense neighborhoods, cobblestone streets, and legacy infrastructure make it excellent for getting round sans-vehicles. As one of the crucial compact main cities within the U.S., many Boston residents can dwell their entire lives with out ever needing a automotive. The bigger metropolitan space is way extra car-dependent, although.
Strolling: Neighborhoods just like the North Finish, Again Bay, and South Finish are stuffed with facilities stitched collectively by a tightly packed avenue grid. Most locals can full day by day errands totally on foot – actually, each resident lives inside a ten minute stroll from a park.
Biking: Boston’s bike community is booming, with protected lanes on routes like Massachusetts Ave and Washington Road. The town’s Bluebikes bike-share program has over 4,000 bikes throughout a whole bunch of stations.
Public transportation: The MBTA (the “T”) serves your complete area with 4 rail traces and a strong community of buses and commuter trains. The T is the fourth-most fashionable subway system within the nation.
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6. Jersey Metropolis, NJ
Automotive-Free Rating: 73.1 | Stroll Rating: 87 | Bike Rating: 64 | Transit Rating: 71
Jersey Metropolis gives comfort with out Manhattan crowds. It’s walkable, dense, and extremely well-connected by rail, ferry, and bus.
Strolling: Downtown, the Waterfront, and Journal Sq. are essentially the most walkable neighborhoods within the metropolis. Nevertheless, most areas are stuffed with eating places, pharmacies, and grocery shops inside strolling distance of housing and transit.
Biking: Jersey Metropolis’s Bike infrastructure continues to develop, with fashionable routes alongside Grand Road and Montgomery Road. The Citi Bike program, shared with NYC, makes it simple to experience between Jersey Metropolis and Hoboken.
Public transportation: PATH trains are the go-to possibility for commuters, with service to Manhattan and Newark 24 hours a day. NJ Transit serves the remainder of town and state, boasting the longest commuter rail community within the nation.
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7. Washington, D.C.
Automotive-Free Rating: 71.5 | Stroll Rating: 77 | Bike Rating: 70 | Transit Rating: 69
The nation’s capital can also be among the many most people-friendly cities within the nation. Together with top-tier landmarks and loads of transit, Washington, D.C. demonstrates a dedication to enhance by public enter and motion.
Strolling: With dense neighborhoods, brief blocks, and a mixture of housing and retail, D.C. makes it simple to get round on foot. One report acknowledged it as essentially the most walkable metropolis within the nation. Areas like Dupont Circle and Capitol Hill are the perfect for pedestrians.
Biking: D.C. continues to construct out its protected bike lanes, connecting extra neighborhoods annually. The town is presently working to create a long-term infrastructure plan. framework. There are additionally hundreds of Capital Bikeshare bikes out there throughout the higher DMV.
Public transportation: D.C.’s Metro system connects most main neighborhoods and extends into Maryland and Virginia. Frequent trains and a dense bus community make it simple to get round with out counting on a automotive.
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8. Chicago, IL
Automotive-Free Rating: 71.3 | Stroll Rating: 77 | Bike Rating: 72 | Transit Rating: 65
Chicago blends a grid-based structure with sturdy transit and bike infrastructure, making it one of the crucial pedestrian-friendly cities within the nation.
Strolling: Chicago’s downtown core is essentially the most walkable by far, in neighborhoods just like the Loop, Logan Sq., and Hyde Park. Within the often-cold winter, the underground and aboveground Pedway is one of the best ways to get round downtown. Summertime brings common avenue festivals that encourage strolling.
Biking: Biking is a significant a part of metropolis life in Chicago. The town has over 300 miles of motorbike lanes – many protected – together with high-traffic commuter routes like Milwaukee Avenue and the 18-mile Lakefront Path.
Public transportation: The CTA’s “L” system reaches practically each neighborhood on the town, with 24-hour prepare service on choose traces and an intensive net of buses and commuter trains that attain suburbs like Naperville and Wheaton.
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9. Philadelphia, PA
Automotive-Free Rating: 69.4 | Stroll Rating: 75 | Bike Rating: 67 | Transit Rating: 67
Philadelphia is changing into more and more recognized for its top-tier walkability. Strolling from the Schuylkill River to Penn’s touchdown is an pleasing breeze that brings you thru a few of the area’s most well-known landmarks. The town isn’t executed stretching its car-free legs but, both, with a long time of enhancements lined up.
Strolling: Middle Metropolis is Philly’s bread and butter, the place you’ll discover most necessities inside a brief stroll. Slim streets, brief blocks, and easy accessibility to transit and bike lanes make strolling a seamless a part of day by day life. Queen Village and Fishtown are different high spots.
Biking: Philadelphia has plans to create a Excessive-High quality Bike Community by 2040, and presently creates miles of recent paths yearly. For individuals who don’t personal a bicycle, Indego gives bike-sharing.
Public transportation: SEPTA’s mixture of subways, trolleys, buses, and commuter rail provides residents entry to nearly each nook of town. The Broad Road and Market-Frankford traces run continuously and kind the spine of Philly’s transit community.
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10. Minneapolis, MN
Automotive-Free Rating: 69.0 | Stroll Rating: 71.4 | Bike Rating: 84 | Transit Rating: 55
Thanks partially to Transfer Minneapolis, Minneapolis has change into a pacesetter in lively transportation. It has the best Bike Rating of any main U.S. metropolis and is dedicated to walkability and climate-friendly infrastructure.
Strolling: The crown jewel of Minneapolis’ walkability is its skyway system. These climate-controlled, interconnected walkways give pedestrians entry to 80+ blocks of car-free indoor walkways – excellent for chilly winters.
Biking: Minneapolis is essentially the most bikeable main metropolis within the U.S., due to its flat terrain and distinctive path community. The Midtown Greenway and Cedar Lake Path kind a biking spine by town, supported by a powerful native bike tradition and statewide assist. The Good Experience app gives ridesharing.
Public transportation: Whereas a smaller transit system, the METRO gentle rail traces hyperlink downtown to the airport and suburbs. Bus routes just like the A and D traces present sooner service on key corridors and out to the Twin Metropolis’s suburbs.
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The advantages of going car-free
Ditching the automotive can present quite a few advantages to your self and your group. Listed below are a number of highlights.
Monetary financial savings and financial progress: Eliminating automotive possession can save the common American over $15,000 yearly on gasoline, insurance coverage, parking, and taxes. Strolling, biking, or taking transit additionally encourages spending and boosts economies.
Improved well being and happiness: Common motion from strolling or biking improves bodily health, reduces stress, and may result in an extended life. Cities that put money into pedestrian infrastructure and public transportation report more healthy and happier residents, fewer visitors fatalities, and higher air high quality.
Environmental advantages and comfort: Private transportation is the most important supply of greenhouse gases within the U.S., so lowering dependence on it will possibly considerably cut back carbon emissions. Public transit, particularly, can cut back your carbon footprint by two-thirds per kilometer – all whereas saving time throughout peak durations.
The place will we go from right here?
Cities have traditionally grown round individuals. That’s why pre-industrial cities like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia comprise dozens of bite-sized metropolis facilities, typically with a grocery retailer and different facilities simply accessible on foot.
As we speak, following a century of car-centric city planning, this concept is resurfacing because the “15-minute city.” The time period was popularized in Paris as a mannequin for constructing neighborhoods the place the whole lot you want is only a 15-minute stroll, bike, or transit experience away. Consultants consider this technique advantages everybody in the long run and can assist cut back humanity’s carbon footprint. Cities from Portland, OR, to Cedar Rapids, IA have plans to implement this idea.
The overwhelming majority of Individuals have by no means skilled this way of life. In Atlanta, for instance, simply 10% of journeys happen in a 15-minute radius. However when introduced the choice, individuals naturally gravitate towards handy, car-free journeys.
There’ll at all times be conditions the place driving is simpler or sooner, and in most U.S. cities, automotive possession is important. However as extra cities prioritize human-sized design, these tradeoffs may finally fade.
Methodology
We ranked the cities the place individuals are least prone to want a automotive by calculating a “Car-Free Score” for all U.S. cities with a inhabitants of 100,000 or higher. We calculated this rating by taking the geometric imply of every metropolis’s Stroll Rating, Bike Rating, and Transit Rating by way of Walkscore.com, a Redfin firm. Every rating is on a scale from 0-100. We opted for the geometric imply to be able to higher account for outliers within the information.
