“Washington, DC is a model for walkable urban development, particularly due to its balanced development of center city and urbanizing suburbs,” argues a new report from the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis at George Washington University’s business school. Released Monday, the report ranks current and projected levels of walkable urbanism in the 30 largest U.S. metro areas based on land-use data and other development metrics, like rent premiums.

Walkable urban places feature high development density, lenient zoning rules, mixed uses, and multiple forms of transportation, according to the authors. A helpful rule of thumb for thinking about walkable areas is whether “destinations such as home, work, school, stores, and restaurants” are within a half-mile or so of a specific point. The report describes “761 regionally significant walkable urban places,” or “WalkUPs,” in the 30 metro areas studied.
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