Cleveland, OH
3 Ohio towns among Top 25 most walkable cities in US
Sure, driving your car or ordering a rideshare to travel around town can be convenient, but nothing quite beats the convenience of using your own two feet to walk from one destination to the next.
Some cities, however, are more walkable than others. Fortunately for those in Ohio, two of the most walkable cities in the U.S. are located right here in the Buckeye State, according to a report.
Ohio’s three most populated cities – Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati – are among the top 25 most walkable cities in the U.S., according to the 2023 Foot Traffic Ahead report, conducted by Smart Growth America, a national nonprofit urban planning advocacy organization. Cleveland ranked 17th on the list, Columbus placed 19th, and Cincinnati ranked 25th.
The report compared U.S. cities using data from two sources: The Environmental Protection Agency’s Smart Location Database and the American Enterprise Institute’s Walkable Oriented Development Database. Each database assigns city walkability scores based on a range of metrics, including how walkable a city is from residences to offices, gyms, grocery stores, and more, as well as an area’s development density, the distance between city blocks, and access to public transportation.
The report categorized cities across four levels: Highest walkable urbanism, upper-middle walkable urbanism, lower-middle walkable urbanism, and lowest walkable urbanism.
Cleveland was included in Level 2: Upper-middle walkable urbanism along with cities such as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Miami, Charlotte, Austin, Atlanta, Denver and Houston.
“Finally, metro Cleveland ranks at the end of this tier, as it has generally only seen walkable urban development in the center city, focusing on downtown, downtown-adjacent places (The Flats), urban commercial places (Ohio City) and urban education places like University Circle, anchored by Case-Western Reserve, world class hospitals, and numerous museums,” Smart Growth America writes in its report. “Cleveland has limited rail transit, which inhibits further walkable urban development, but its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) HealthLine is an example of expanding opportunity through greater transit investment.”
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Columbus and Cincinnati, meanwhile, were both grouped in to Level 3: Lower-middle walkable urbanism, along with cities such as Baltimore, Detroit, Kansas City, Nashville, St. Louis, Sacramento, and Dallas-Fort Worth.
The metro Columbus area was the highest-ranked city in Level 3 due to its “knowledge-based economy centered around the Ohio State University and the state capitol,” the report states.
As for Cincinnati, the southwestern Ohio city features “limited rail transit and most walkable urban places confined to downtown and exceptional downtown-adjacent walkable urban places (particularly Over-the-Rhine and downtown Covington, KY) and WalkUPs in University Heights,” the report states. “There are virtually no other walkable urban areas.”
The 25 most walkable cities in the U.S., according to Smart Growth America, are:
1. New York, NY
2. Boston, MA
3. Washington, D.C.
4. Seattle, WA
5. Portland, OR
6. San Francisco, CA
7. Chicago, IL
8. Los Angeles, CA
9. Pittsburgh, PA
10. Philadelphia, PA
11. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
12. Miami, FL
13. Charlotte, NC
14. Austin, TX
15. Atlanta, GA
16. Denver, CO
17. Cleveland, OH
18. Houston, TX
19. Columbus, OH
20. Baltimore, MD
21. Kansas City, MO
22. Nashville, TN
23. St. Louis, MO
24. Sacramento, CA
25. Cincinnati, OH
Smart Growth America’s full report on the 20 most walkable cities in the U.S. can be found online.
Cleveland, OH
Woman killed, several children injured in Ohio Turnpike crash in Lorain County
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A 28-year-old woman is dead, and three children are hospitalized following a one-car rollover accident in Elyria Township in the eastbound lanes of the Ohio Turnpike.
The crash happened around 11:54 a.m. at milepost 146.3.
During the investigation of the crash OSHP learned that the crash happened when the Toyota RAV4, driven by Najalee N. Rivera, drove off the right side of the road, struck a guardrail, and overturned.
The vehicle was also occupied by three children. A 7-year-old boy, a 8-year-old girl, and 4-year-old girl all from Lorain, they all suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were transported by LifeCare Ambulance to University Elyria Hospital.
Rivera was not wearing a safety belt at the time of the crash, according to OSHP.
Two of the lanes were reopened about 4:15 p.m., according to a social media post from the Ohio Turnpike.
Check back with 19 News for the latest on this story.
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
Cleveland, OH
LOOK: Remembering the Cavs championship win, victory parade 10 years later
CLEVELAND (WJW) — Ten years ago, Cleveland experienced one of the most unforgettable moments in the city’s history.
The Cavaliers became the first-ever team to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a championship. By winning the 2016 NBA Finals, they also ended a 52-year championship drought for Cleveland.
Mr. Cavalier, Austin Carr, said he still relishes that moment 10 years later.
“The odds we overcame to win that championship,” he said. “Not only did we have to win three straight games, but we also had to have the right things happen at the right moment in order to win it. And that just tells me how difficult it is … with ‘The Shot’, ‘The Block’, and the defensive move. All those. It was just meant to be.”
The victory over the Golden State Warriors catapulted LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith and the rest of the crew into essential Northeast Ohio sainthood.
When Akron’s own James screamed the now-famous phrase, “Cleveland, this is for you!” following the game, a whole legion of Cleveland fans around the country wept and cheered along with him.

When Smith refused to put a shirt on for what seemed like a whole summer in honor of the win, it felt right and proper.
Whenever the long-since traded Irving comes back to town, he’s remembered for his important 3-pointer at the end of Game 7 and not the way he left the team.
And the city made history again just a few days later, when more than 1.3 million people flooded downtown Cleveland for the championship parade. According to the Cavs, it remains the largest NBA championship parade ever.
The current Cavaliers (now in their Donovan Mitchell era) haven’t been back to the NBA Finals. They reached the conference finals this past spring for the first time since 2018. But a finals appearance has still eluded the wine and gold.
Cleveland, OH
Violent crime crackdown leads to 11 felony arrests and gets eight guns off Cleveland’s streets
CLEVELAND, OH — Cleveland police and Gov. Mike DeWine’s office touted the results of a violent crime reduction operation that led to 11 arrests and took eight illegally possessed guns off the city’s streets Wednesday.
“We got bad people off the street, and we’ll continue to get bad people off the street,” said Cleveland Police Sgt. Wilfredo Diaz.
The operation was a collaboration between police, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s deputies, U.S. Marshals Service and the Ohio Investigative Unit.
Diaz said it focused on both traffic enforcement and executing search warrants and arrest warrants targeting suspected criminals identified through ongoing investigations.
“[We] use intelligence-led policing to really saturate specific areas where we believe there’s an influx of crime, violent crime in particular,” said Diaz.
The numbers were music to the ears of Councilman Mike Polensek.
“We want this presence,” said Polensek, who chairs the council’s Safety Committee. “We want this presence in our neighborhoods. You’ve got to lay the law down. Our residents want this to take place.”
Polensek previously called on Mayor Justin Bibb to ask for help from the state and county to address what he called ridiculous levels of violence in the city.
Polensek cited numbers showing Cleveland police have lost hundreds of officers over the last two decades.
‘If we’re going to reclaim our streets, that’s what it’s going to be, all hands on deck,” said Polensek.
Diaz said more of the special details are already planned, but he would not reveal specific details.
He did offer this warning to the criminals terrorizing the city.
“If there are any bad actors that watch Channel 5, we want this message to get out,” said Diaz, “that we didn’t get you this time, we’re going to get you next time.”
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