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Top U.S. Cities to Navigate Without a Car

spinner image historical building in the middle of modern city buildings with pedestrians crossing the street
Arterra/UIG via Getty Images

 | Do you love a great road trip but sometimes dream of vacationing in a city and not worrying about the hassles of a car? Fortunately, there are plenty of cities in America that aren’t defined by a car-oriented layout. Some have great public transportation systems while others are just better seen on foot.

USA Today recently teamed up with MobilityScore, a website that assesses transportation options in the top 100 metropolitan areas in North America, to determine the best places for travelers to get around without four wheels.

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Among other factors, the site looked at how easy it is to take a bus, taxi, train, or bike-share to see the sights.

Not surprisingly, New York City topped the list, thanks to its well-established public transit system. But a few of the other cities might catch you off guard. Los Angeles, for example, ranked high due to “the growth of LA Metro and significant changes in mobility brought by Uber and Lyft.”

Here are the other cities that rounded out the top 10.

  1. New York City
  2. Boston
  3. Washington, D.C.
  4. San Francisco
  5. Philadelphia
  6. Los Angeles
  7. Chicago
  8. Seattle
  9. Denver
  10. Baltimore

To see the rest of the list, go here.

In another assessment, this one published in 2017 by Forbes, Ann Arbor, Mich., topped the list of best places to retire without a car. Also making the top five were Arlington, Va.; Berkeley, Calif.; Boston; and Boulder, Colo.

AARP has long supported making cities more walkable, noting that a scarcity of sidewalks and multilane roadways that are difficult to cross discourage people — especially older pedestrians —  from walking.

An AARP Livable Communities National Conference hosted in Dallas in November 2017 provided a platform for local leaders, elected officials and planning professionals to share ideas and solutions for making cities more livable for people of all ages.

In addition, the AARP Walk Audit Tool Kit has been created to help individuals, groups and local leaders assess the walkability of the sidewalks and streets in their communities.

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