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According to Walk Score, the nation’s capital is known as a “walker’s paradise” as well as a “biker’s paradise.” Not only is it a fairly flat city (if you don’t count Columbia Heights and, you know, every other hill), it’s also packed with plenty of parks and beautiful sites worth checking out.
A Walk Score and Bike Score are rated out of 100 with 100 meaning that daily errands don’t require a car and zero meaning that almost all errands require a car. The higher the score, the more amenities are nearby.
For a look at the D.C. neighborhoods with the highest Walk Score, Transit Score, and Bike Score, check out the following table with data compiled by Redfin.
D.C.’s 10 most walkable, bike-friendly neighborhoods
| Name | Walk Score | Transit Score | Bike Score | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Walk Score | Transit Score | Bike Score | Population |
| Dupont Circle | 98 | 92 | 92 | 17,057 |
| U-Street | 97 | 85 | 93 | 11,427 |
| Downtown-Penn Quarter-Chinatown | 97 | 100 | 88 | 7,570 |
| Mount Vernon Square | 97 | 100 | 89 | 6,494 |
| Logan Circle - Shaw | 96 | 91 | 93 | 21,218 |
| Foggy Bottom - GWU - West End | 95 | 90 | 90 | 16,281 |
| Adams Morgan | 95 | 82 | 90 | 15,639 |
| Columbia Heights | 94 | 82 | 88 | 35,322 |
| H Street-NoMa | 93 | 82 | 91 | 8,315 |
| Mount Pleasant | 90 | 80 | 79 | 10,443 |
Topping the list as the most walkable neighborhoods are the Northwest neighborhoods Dupont Circle, U Street, and the Downtown-Penn Quarter-Chinatown area. These areas are known for having a wide selection of restaurants and bars as well as Metro stations.
Dupont Circle in particular offers a few underrated, but particularly intriguing museums and galleries worth a visit, such as the Philips Collection.
U Street is also a neighborhood that continues to change over the years with a new apartment building opened in August 2017, a new mural at the famous Ben’s Chili Bowl, and the planned Grimke School redevelopment, which will bring a new space for the African American Civil War Museum, 50 residential units, and 4,000 square feet of retail.
Chinatown and its adjacent neighborhoods are also particularly ever-changing. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library is undergoing a $208 million rehabilitation that won’t complete until 2020. The Verizon Center also got a name change to the Capital One Arena.
When it comes to the most bike-friendly neighborhoods on the list, the top three are Logan Circle-Shaw, U Street, and Dupont Circle, in order from most bike-friendly to least.
Curbed DC readers, have any thoughts on this data? Surprised by the neighborhoods that were chosen? Or does it all look undeniably correct? Let Curbed DC know in the comments.