31 — that’s Indy’s walk score out of 100, making it the 47th most walkable large city in the US with over 800,000 residents. This makes Indianapolis a “car-dependent” city.
A walk score is a ranking that represents the walkability of an address based on pedestrian-friendliness + access to businesses. The score is found by calculating the average walkability of many residential addresses in a city.
Points are given based on the distance between residential areas and places like restaurants, retail shops + entertainment venues. Businesses within five minutes (about a quarter-mile) are given maximum points, with fewer points given to amenities located further away. Anything more than a 30-minute walk is given zero points.
If hopping on a bicycle is your transportation method of choice, Indy has a slightly higher bike score — rolling in at 43. It’s dubbed “somewhat bikeable” based on the number of bike lanes, hills + bike commuters.
Though the numbers may seem bleak, with the expansion of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, the Monon 30 Project, and a rise in usage rates for Pacer Bike Share + Lime scooters, we could be looking at an improvement in scores in the coming years.
In the meantime, here are Indy’s five most walkable + bikeable neighborhoods:
- Downtown | Walk score: 81 | Bike score: 91
- Fountain Square | Walk score: 73 | Bike score: 89
- Broad Ripple | Walk score: 70 | Bike score: 68
- Near Northside | Walk score: 66 | Bike score: 75
- Meridian Kessler | Walk score: 60 | Bike score: 65
