Ballard is one of the most walkable neighborhoods (cities?) in all of Seattle, with a near perfect score of 94 -- a "walker's paradise," according to walkscore.com. It's also fairly friendly to transit, with a score of 51, and to bicyclists, with a score of 74.

Our neighborhood falls behind four others, in order from first to fourth: Denny Triangle (98), South Lake Union (97), Belltown (97) and Cascade (95). But, it's still fifth out of 100 neighborhoods. Not too shabby.

What makes Ballard so walkable?

People here don't need a car to run daily errands. Between groceries (Safeway, Bartell's, Walgreen's, Ballard Market), mail (Sip and Ship, Ballard Mailbox, the Post Office), the Ballard Branch Library, several parks and more, people can usually go about their day with no greater engine than their own two feet.

Additionally, as if it's any news to anyone, there are lots of restaurants, bars and coffee shops. There are 130 of them, and people can walk to an average of 19 within five minutes.

This is all only taking into account the downtown core of Ballard, centered around Ballard Ave and Market St, with the borders contained by 65th to the north, 15th to the east, Salmon Bay to the south and 28th to the west.

Other Ballard-area neighborhoods don't fare quite as well. Greenwood is ranked 28th (walking score of 82), East Ballard 33rd (walking score of 78), Loyal Heights 44th (walking score of 75), Phinney Ridge 48th (walking score of 74), Crown Hill 50th (walking score of 73), Sunset Hill 58th (walking score of 70) and North Beach 99th (walking score of 40).

So, next time you complain about walking, just be thankful you don't live in North Beach.

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