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Links & Media

* Seattle Channel's City Stream: Seattle Stairways (2016) 

* KPLU 88.1 "Tourist in Your Own Town" - Mount Baker Stairway Walk (2013)

* KING 5 Evening Magazine - Discover the Secret Stairways of Seattle (2013)

* KUOW News - The Hidden Legacy of Seattle Stairways (2013)

* AAA Journey - Last Stop: Stair Attraction (2012)

* Seattle Times - Guidebook Authors Show Ups and Downs. . . (2012)

Feet First - Seattle Walkability Advocates

* Sound Steps - Great Walking Groups for Over-50s!

* WalkOn inBellWa! - Walking Routes in Bellevue's Parks and Neighborhoods

Inventory of Seattle Stairs of 100 Steps or More website by Doug Beyerlein

* All Stairs Seattle Guide website by Susan Ott & Dave Ralph

* Year of Walking Seattle's Parks blog by Linnea Westerlind

*KOMO News - Year of Mapping Seattle's Stairs (2011)

*Seattle Times -  Queen Anne Stairways Map (2009)

* Washington Trails Association Magazine -  Urban Hiking (2007)

* Seattle Times - Seattle Stairways: Taking Time to Learn More About the City (2003)

* Seattle Weekly - Stairway Weekend (1999)

The Mountaineers as well as our publisher, Mountaineers Books

Seattle Stairway Walks: An Up-and-Down Guide to City Neighborhoods 

by Jake & Cathy Jaramillo

* The only guidebook to stairway walks in Seattle
* Explore Seattle neighborhoods in a new way with these interesting walks in Seattle
* Written for people of all ages who want to get outside, exercise, and explore
*Learn more --> 


ORDER TODAY

Tuesday
Nov202012

The Most Walkable Neighborhoods in Seattle

Last night we snagged a couple of complimentary tickets to Town Hall (thanks, Feet First!) for a talk by Jeff Speck, who just published a book called "Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time." Speck is an urban planner who has dedicated his career to figuring out what makes cities thrive. His answer: walkability!

It was a fascinating talk about what makes cities walkable, and we ended up buying the book - maybe we'll mention it again as we get into it. Jeff Speck mentioned a very cool website called Walk Score, where you can fly over a Google map of Seattle neighborhoods to see a color visualization of their walkability. We highly recommend a visit to the site - it's a lot of fun.

Overall, Seattle is rated the 8th most walkable city in the U.S., with a Walk Score of 73. That score says the city is "very walkable: most errands can be accomplished on foot." Of course individual neighborhood scores vary widely, and that 73 score for Seattle is just an average of all of them. Out of curiosity, we checked which neighborhoods in "Seattle Stairway Walks" offer the highest walkability scores.

Most walkable Seattle neighborhood: Downtown, with a view down the Union Street steps (Walkability Score 93)

Back in the day, stairways often linked residences to public transit and neighborhood commercial nodes. So it's not surprising that Seattle neighborhoods with stairs tend to be well-connected and walkable. Here's a slideshow of characeristic scenes from stairway routes in some of these especially walkable neighborhoods. Some of these walkability scores may have since changed:

 

Saturday
Nov172012

Stairway Walks - On the Road

Seattle stairs are great, but the Bay Area down in California is another rich place for stairs. This week we found ourselves in the East Bay on family business, so we took some time to explore. If you ever find yourself down there, the Indian Rock Trail in Berkeley is one cool stairway walk to try.

For even more East Bay stairway options (and extensive walking directions), check out "Secret Stairs of the East Bay: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Berkeley and Oakland" by Charles Fleming. If you're going to be on the San Francisco side of the Bay, take a copy of Adah Bakalinsky's "Stairway Walks in San Francisco" with you. Now in its 7th edition, it's the best guide to San Francisco's stairway walks.

But back to Berkeley - here are a few more pictures of our stairway walk: