Circulate San Diego released its 2015 San Diego Regional Walk Scorecard Thursday, ranking 18 local cities on how they’re working to improve safe walking conditions.
Cities like Coronado or Del Mar might come to mind as the safest and most pristine, but both of those cities got lost in the middle. Coming in on top is National City for having the best walkability in the county.
The ranking of 18 cities is based on several factors that include safe crosswalks and sidewalks, as well as a willingness by city leaders to make policy changes.
In National City, there are bright crosswalks and stop lights with blinking red lights, which are both essential for pedestrians' and drivers' safety. The city also worked on improving multiple sidewalks and roads around schools, including implementing raised crosswalks in certain areas.
Following the South Bay city is Solana Beach, which lands in second place, and Encinitas in third place. To determine how cities were ranked, Circulate San Diego considered some unfortunate statistics. The group says on average, 900 people are hit by a car in San Diego County each year. This year alone, 18 pedestrians were killed.
So how do cities like Lemon Grove, San Marcos and El Cajon that made the bottom of the list improve sidewalk safety?
“They need to focus on the policies that will get the right infrastructure in place,” Jim Stone, executive director with Circulate San Diego, said. “They need to focus on education for kids, to make kids safer when they're out on the streets, and also for drivers. A lot of times it has to do with raising the awareness of drivers.”
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Stone says his intent is to create a friendly competition among cities because it’s not that tough to make cities walkable and safe.
To see the complete list and where your city ranks, visit CirculateSanDiego.org.
