Best walking city in the US? San Francisco is our choice.

There are a lot of sights you can see by walking in Boston. Downtown Charleston is also enjoyable to walk around.

Look out for the human feces and needles. One of my students stepped in a pile of ... and needed a tetanus shot.

I foresee this will be a controversial topic lol!

I'd say Santa Barbara has my vote as one of the most walkable cities in the US, at least from the places I visited. The city's nucleus has largely maintained its Spanish colonial layout, much to the benefit of pedestrians.

The “City By The Bay,” has sadly declined over the years. Breaks my heart.

Grew up an hour South.

US East Coast family were always taken to see SF.

Cocktails at the Redwood Room in the Clift was a favorite spot. In college, a beer at Specs was a North Beach destination.

We also shopped and used medical facilities at The Presidio as Dad was retired Army.

Now, the Presidio is a National Park. Great place to walk.

Must say walking across the Golden Gate Bridge is memorable.

We visited SF over 10 years ago and won’t return. it is a beautiful city, but walkable? What about the very steep hills both up and down. We tried to walk into the park and were assaulted by homeless and addicts asking for money. We turned around and left. I always said the writer of the walking dead series got his idea for the show trying to walk down a side street in the financial district. Too many other cities I would visit to walk around before SF.

I walk my favorite cities. San Francisco has always been my second favorite city after Boston. BUT there are so many nice ones. Another favorite is Savannah, GA. Does Newport, RI count or is it too small? And then there is Chicago, too. Although we hopped the trolley once to head out to Oak Park, but the Lake area is great as well…so didn’t walk it all.

Washington, DC, so many great museums and sites.
Boston, the Freedom Trail
Charleston, SC is special as is Savannah, GA
San Francisco, we know some people that were there recently and the out of control homeless campout was awful.

Lola, my feet traveled all over SF some years ago and had a great time. No one in that city needs a Stairmaster, eh? 😉

Filbert St. Steps? You bet! I took those up to Coit, and Greenwich St. Stairs down. An interesting history, that neighborhood, as it once was the haven of dockworkers, and their more humble cottages largely survived the 1906 earthquake and fire that destroyed the posh abodes of the wealthy far below.

The murals in the Mission were wonderful; I did a self-guided walkabout of the many on 24th St. and Balmy Alley. There are guided tours, if anyone is interested, Oh, and get thee to Dynamo Donut; I can personally recommend their Maple Bacon Apple flavor. Misión San Francisco de Asís/Mission Dolores church and its sad cemetery is a must for anyone interested in SF history.

https://www.precitaeyes.org
https://dynamodonut.com

Took a ferry over to Sausalito and hiked out to explore the 'floating homes" community. Fun stuff!
https://www.oursausalito.com/houseboats.html

One more: a 16-miler from our hotel near Yerba Buena Gardens west past the Painted Ladies on Alamo Square; over to the Haight for a huge breakfast; through GG Park (with a stop at the Japanese Tea Garden) to the Beach Chalet for rehydration with an adult beverage. Then up the coast along the Great Highway, passing by Cliff House, down to Sutro Baths, and catching Lands End Trail. Wound our way through Sea Cliff and into Golden Gate National Recreation area, following the trail past GG Bridge, Baker Beach and WWII bunkers. Jumped onto Golden Gate Promenade through Crissy Field in the Presidio,. the Marina and Fort Mason and the Wave Organ all the way to the Wharf. The Husband was along on that one and we were definitely pooped (!!!) but it was an interesting combo of residential, natural and historic scenery.

There were other fun walks but those were a few favorites.
Yes, there has been a homeless issue in SF for a long time but I don't recall any we'd encountered being particularly aggressive, either on that trip or when I was in town on business. Then again, we haven't been back post COVID shutdown. Thanks for a trip report that brought back some fun memories!

Lola, my roots in San Francisco run very deep so I absolutely agree with your choice for best city walkability. My grandma was a young child when she experienced the earthquake of 1906 and my grandpa, and mom, uncle, cousins, etc. were all born there as well. I spent lots of time in the City as a child visiting my grandparents and because my dad was career Air Force, their home was our “homebase”. My husband was also career AF and we spent a lot of time at both the Presido and Ft. Mason. I still go back every December and stay at the Marine Memorial, a few blocks from Union Square. Thanks for your list. I will use it for planning purposes for next December!

Washington DC, is surely one of the better walking cities. There are trails, no skyscrapers and metro or bus access. DC monuments by night are pretty beautiful as well.

San Francisco, we know some people that were there recently and the out of control homeless campout was awful.

So you know "some people" who were in San Francisco recently and they have reported that the out of control homeless campout was awful? Our latest trip to San Francisco was in October. We took BART from SFO to the Civic Center station, and walked from there to our friend's condo on Van Ness. I have to admit that I was horrified by the hordes of street people (I don't really know if they were in fact homeless) on our walk from the BART station and my friend's condo. Not scared or worried about my physical safety - those people were too effed up to pose a threat. Someone had pitched a tent next to the Jaguar dealership on Van Ness. That pretty much sums up the Homeless problem in San Francisco.

But the next day, as we walked away toward the Marina, I was struck by the absence of homeless people as we walked toward Bay Street, where I used to live. How does San Francisco keep the Homeless away from the Marina District, Crissy Field, and the brand-new Tunnel Top? Maybe by keeping them confined to the Market street area - I don't know. I do know that I didn't want to walk back to the Civic Center BART station. We took lyft back to SFO.

S.F. Is indeed special. I’ve also enjoyed walking in San Antonio, although is been more walking than hiking. They’ve extended the Riverwalk and there is also a trail/walk that connects the missions. I took a bus to the farthest mission and walked back into town from there. I cheated and took a bus around some of the commercial areas and then got off and walked the rest of the way into town. Their historical society has done a job of creating a walking map of the old historical mansions.

A previous poster mentioned Chicago, which has great city walking and I’m also a fan of New Orleans. Audubon Park is huge and I love walking through the Garden District and seeing all the mansions. You can keep on walking down to Jackson Square and the French Quarter.

My parents moved to the Bay Area I the late 80's as a job transfer. I used to love to visit as we would go "into the city" on every visit and usually had lunch with my dad who worked in the financial district. I have been there hundreds of times over the years and have seen the decline, although I still love the city.

My nephew now lives right in SF, in the heart of the Haight. My brother and I went to my nephews place for dinner one evening this past fall. We stopped at the corner and my brother suggested I get out and walk to my nephews (on that same block) while he parked. I told him in no uncertain terms that I was not getting out of the car by myself right there. Thankfully my nephew came running out and he did rush me into his gate and insisted on going with my brother to go park. My nephew loves his neighborhood, but is also fully aware of what goes on there. We still joke about my brother thinking I would get out of the car there. Nope, no way no how, lol.

I do think SF is a great walking city. As for my favorite one though, I would have to say Portland, but about 8 years or so ago. You can literally walk everywhere and no need for transportation. Again, like many cities, Portland has its share of issues right now so it isn't my favorite city by any stretch of the imagination now.

Mikliz, I honestly do not think you needed to worry about the Haight. We walked through there by choice several times on our visit, as we were part of the 60’s generation, in college there in the mid to late 60’s. The Haight now is all about selling hippie 60’s nostalgia to tourists. Pretty benign. It is a trendy neighborhood, not a high- crime on
I will not deny that there are places in San Francisco that one should not go, because the scene is very unpleasant. These are pretty much limited to the Civic Center area and the Tenderloin. No way would I walk through either of those.

I really do not want to get into a dispute here; I just wantedto recommend San Francisco as a great place to enjoy Walks from urban tramps to hill climbs. I just know that (a) the San Francisco I knew 50 years has changed, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse (b) two of our adult children choose to live there and when we visit we find lots of nice walking with or without them (c). All three west coast cities ( Seattle,,San Francisco, and Portland) suffered horribly during the pandemic, and the social problems persist (d) you do not want to park a car on the SF city streets, as it may well be broken into.

Lola--I can handle most anything, but that night there were numerous men hanging out on the corners at the intersection where my nephew lives with their protection dogs on ropes. We had just come from meeting with the attorney and financial planner, so I was dressed like a church lady and stood out like a sore thumb. My nephew did not want me there by myself, and I trust him. I know that neighborhood and normally would be fine, but not that particular corner and not that night. I remember my first time in the city in the late 80's. I visited my parents and mom and I dressed up to go in the city to see dad. We accidentally got off at the wrong BART stop. That was a real eye opener for me! I thought the. people on the sidewalk were all dead. My mom and I walked very fast to get to dads office and never made the wrong BART stop again;)

Wow. I am sorry that happened to you, and I can see how a couple of experiences like those would have a lasting effect. I have been fortunate in that I have not experienced anything like that; just some uncomfortable encounters with disturbed people on the city buses and trams. (That is one reason we walk as much as we can).

I am from Boston by birth and that is a great walking city. So is Seattle. I now live in Austin, on the greenbelt, and Austin is also a great walking city. Of course, a lot depends on weather wherever you are.

I have not been to San Francisco since the 1980's but it was a wonderful city to walk around back then.

I loved walking when younger and often walked 10 miles a day. Now, not so much. given age and health issues but still walking.

Also, Santa Fe. Another great walking city.

Looking forward to walking around London and Lisbon next October.

Onward, through the fog as some of us say in Austin.

Lola--Yes, overall that is our usual take as well, just some disturbed people but generally they don't get in your face. My nephew also warned us about having my purse/my brothers wallet stolen. Not just pickpocketed, but rather being mugged. So we were alert on that front, but I always am anyway. My brother not so much, but he was fine.

We visited SF over 10 years ago and won’t return. it is a beautiful
city, but walkable? What about the very steep hills both up and down.

For me, that's part of the charm of San Francisco. Maybe in 10 years I won't find walking those hills quite as charming, but for now I'm still fascinated looking at homes built on those extreme angles and watching drivers back out of garages onto those streets. The last couple of times, we even rented bikes. We'd rent from the marina area and have ridden to Sausalito and also up to Haight-Ashbury. Let me tell you, the challenge wasn't riding up to Haight-Ashbury, it was the fear in riding back down to return the bikes.

What about Manhattan? Zigzagging various streets from Central Park to The Battery on foot, is full of sights and sounds like nowhere else.

I agree, San Francisco has a great network of trails, as well as steep streets to work out your hamstrings. It's a wonderful, dense city walkable city to explore on foot or by bike. I don't think it's like any other city, so comparisons seem to fall flat. SF is special due to it's spectacular setting, varied geography, and density.

Here are good links for the Crosstown Trail:
https://crosstowntrail.org/plan-your-trip/
https://crosstowntrail.org/about-the-trail/

I can't believe no one has mentioned New York City. Especially if you get out of the central business/tourist areas.

For a great breakfast that'll stick with you all day (if not SEVERAL days), scamper off to The Pork Store in the Haight. Yum.
It's a diet destroyer, though. Oof.
Agreed, Frank: NYC is another fun city to walk.

NYC. As native New Yorkers, we walk everywhere because we don’t drive, it’s great exercise, so much of the city is a grid, and we love being outside! Boston, DC, & Savannah are perfect walking cities.

New Orleans historical districts are definitely walkable. Add the trolley and you can cover the OldTown and Garden district. We park our car at the start of the visit and never use it until leaving town.

Key West is another great walking town.

SF is still a very walkable city, no doubt about it, if you know where to go and where to avoid. True, it's much worse now than was the case 10 years ago let alone in the 1980s. Some streets are down right horrific.

Use a combination of walking and public transport, Muni and BART, plus the new Central Subway, one can get around quite a lot, the Marina, Chinatown, the Mission, Upper Market, the Castro, North Beach, Embarcadero, South of Market. You get immune to the grime, the urban blight, and the disgusting areas, which are no exaggerations.