Here's a GREAT article that breaks down US cities for the top large, medium, and small, and very small Metro cities for being car free. They're not taking into count safety or cost. But this it a great starting place.


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I moved to Buffalo, NY and it was okay. Buses sucked, and only one train. But I could easily transport from Point A to Point B.

I’ve since moved to Toronto, Canada. And the transit difference is night and day. I can either walk to what I need, or hop on a trolley/bus/subway. Even if i miss a bus, its never too long until the next one. I’m very happy with the transit system here, but every one complains about it, and how they should have just drove.

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There's two -- Vancouver, Canada and Singapore.

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For Vancouver, it's only good if you live right downtown West Van, which is also the most expensive area. However, all streets are perfectly squared and perpendicular, and literally everything you need is in walking distance. Shops, malls, bars, beach, hospital, church, casino, hotels, stadium, Skytrain, office buildings, whatever. Everything is always a few blocks away.

Great question. I’ve often wondered the same thing. I would love to live some place more accessible. Hope you get some answers!

NYC is accessable but it can be a little expensive. In the UK where I live almost all cities have excellent public transport.

I’m moving to Boston at the end of summer for graduate school. Have never been before, but everything I’ve read on it makes me think that’s its suitable for accessibility. There’s also a school for the blind outside of the city, and a fairly large disabled population. So, the city seems designed to accommodate people who can’t drive.

Again, this is all me assuming and hoping. I turned down several offers from schools, because I wanted to move to a city that I could get around in. I hope I made the right choice? Anyways, look into it. It’s also expensive. The Bay Area too, big disabled population and culture, also expensive. Seems all the cities that are designed to accommodate less driving are expensive.

Cambridge UK has loads of software companies in its city centre and dotted around the peripherary in various science parks. This means most jobs are within walking distance of housing. On top of that, Cambridge also has a bus service with its own network of tracks that other traffic cant get near, never mind use, which means living outside of the city is also a possibility

I live in the Denver metro area and can easily run errands on the public transit up here. No the cost of living is pretty expensive

London. You have options for bus, cab, uber, tube and train. Super expensive. I live a bit outside and go in on the train which is only half an hour and I'm there.

Highly recommend Chicago. I've live here most of the last 17 years. More affordable than major coast cities (which is why we've never relocated despite interest in doing so). Sidewalls everywhere, as well as buses and trains. Tech industry is pretty decent as well. Not as renowned as SF or anything, but definitely lots of tech jobs.

You are looking at cities like NYC or San Francisco but the cost of living there is pretty high. I live in south bay (Sunnyvale) and it is OK. Nothing beats West London where I had 3 bus stops within 2 minute walking distance and 2 train stations within 10 minutes. When I moved to the US, I had to make decisions on what is important to me. Here is what I came up with:

1. Grocery store within a very short walking distance. You can order groceries online and everything but you will always run out of milk or something at the most inconvenient time.
2. I need to be able to walk to restaurants / coffee shops. So like a small downtown.
3. Parks or walking paths nearby.
4. Streets with side walks (this you will only know if you visit the places).
5. Access to transportation (other than ridesharing) if I want to go into town (In my case it is Caltrain).
6. Finally, temperate climate because I had enough of London weather for 7 years :).
1. Most real-estate and house rental sites also display walking scores for which is a good indication for further research. Hope you find a place that you like.