Take a Walk!

While Jacksonville is huge land-wise (once the largest on the planet in terms of mass) and generally seen from the inside of an automobile, there are a few great places where walking is easy. The Times-Union article explores the recent ranking as "" by Walk Score. The city came in a dismal 459 out of 501 places in a survey of best walking cities by the American Podiatric Medical Association and Prevention magazine. Keep in mind that Walk Score doesn't examine crime statistics in its calculations. The program also doesn't consider weather, hills or bodies of water. It's no surprise, given their urban density, that San Francisco, New York and Boston topped the standings as the three best cities for walking.

I checked my address at the site and my house was rated a 62 or "Somewhat Walkable". They obviously haven't walked through my neighborhood! The study has Riverside and Avondale listed as "walking havens" – imagine that!