We look at few major US cities' favourite walking spots
Have you ever wondered what our walking lives look like on a map? Do you ever consider which cities have more active residents or where they do their walking?
Jawbone has been keeping track of our steps for a collaborative project with the Design Museum in London. You can find most cities around the world on the map and explore yourself, and watch how the world wakes up and starts walking with the interactive globe.
But just for fun, we toke a look at the major cities in the US to find out where the most activity takes place. And Miami, you really need to get your backsides out of those cars. The data doesn’t lie.
Los Angeles, CA
Most of the high step counts in the greater Los Angeles area, according to Jawbone’s data, are centralised in some of the more touristy sections of the massive county. Hollywood Hills, and the Hollywood Bowl in particular, generate the most concentration of more than 3,000 steps while Griffith Park has a more widespread number of big steppers.
When not in use for concerts, local residents know that the Hollywood Bowl is an excellent place to run up and down the stairs for a superior work out. Spanning more than 4,200 acres, Griffith Park is the largest municipal park in the US, and thus makes a great location for a nature walk or run.
Check out how LA moves.
San Francisco, CA
Not surprisingly, San Francisco’s biggest areas of movement focus around the most touristy locations, following along The Embarcadero, as well as Fort Point, which is a National Historic site just under the Golden Gate bridge. Of course, the famed Muir Woods National Park is also a hotbed of high-stepping activity.
Check out San Fran’s interactive map.
New York City, NY
In what is probably the most obvious observation of step tracking, New York’s Manhattan district is filled with busy walkers. It is the most densely populated of the five boroughs, so it makes sense that there are more walkers there than any other US city. Interestingly, there are less 3,000 plus steppers in Manhattan than in one other heavily trafficked area.
The Botanical Garden in Brooklyn has a higher concentration of high-stepping walkers with its 52 acres of flowering beauty. While much of the activity within the garden’s landscape isn’t likely to be high-impact, it surely makes walking all day a pleasure.
Check where NYC gets moving.
Miami, FL
It is no surprise that Miami does not have much of a walking culture. Rarely does the hourly step rate rise to 2,000 steps and it doesn’t reach 3,000 anywhere in the city. It’s a sea of inactive blue and green. The highest concentration of walking takes place along the tourist areas of Bayshore Drive and into Hobie Beach and the Virginia Keys. There also appears to be a lot of exercising going on in a neighbourhood in South Miami, but this data could be based on just a few users’ daily activities.
See where Miami likes to walk.
Chicago, IL
In the heavily populated “Windy City” there is a lot less foot traffic than you might imagine. Maybe it’s all that wind. Most activity takes place along the shore, with high-steppers focused around North Avenue Beach, which is one of the city’s most popular beaches. Other heavily walked areas appear to closely relate to the city’s public transportation system.
See where Chicago gets active.
Washington, DC
In the US’s capital city, the areas of heavy foot traffic are as you would expect, with the Lincoln Memorial, the National WWII Memorial, and the Korean War Veterans Memorial all filled with walkers that average more than 3,000 steps per hour. All three monuments are within DC’s National Mall and Memorial Parks district, so it is no surprise that they have high numbers.
Based on the information that Jawbone and the London Design Museum have been gathering from Jawbone Up users, we can surmise that Americans like to visit local and National parks, followed by some fun in the sun at popular beaches along the coast.
Check out how Washington DC moves.
Keep track of your steps with our round up of the best fitness trackers.