Is Mount Pleasant Walkable? Depends on Who You Ask

Mount Pleasant is not considered a very walkable community based on the criteria from Walkscore.com.

Out of a possible score of 100 for the 47 largest cities in Wisconsin, the village was marked a 28, which might seem really low, but like Planning Director Ron Meyer pointed out, the benchmarks used by the organization don't really apply as equitably as it may seem on first glance. (See the complete Wisconsin list here.)

"If they're judging the walkability of a community based on whether or not residents can walk to the dry cleaner and the store, then of course the village will score lower than an urban environment like downtown Milwaukee," he said.

Moreover, using the information from Walkscore would automatically move urban communities higher and suburban and rural communities would rank lower. West Allis and Milwaukee scored the highest in Wisconsin with rankings of 61. Milwaukee ranked 15th out of the 90 largest cities in the United States.

Meyer said he would argue that Mount Pleasant is very walkable if different categories are applied. For example, local roads measure about 36 feet wide, giving residents more than enough room to walk, jog, and bike.

"We have signficant capacity for walking because we have low volumne traffic on our local roads," he continued. "I live on the south central side of the village and at almost any given time of day in my neighborhood people are outside walking their dogs, pushing strollers and riding their bikes."

Village President Carolyn Milkie also pointed out that unlike larger cities like Milwaukee or Madison, Mount Pleasant doesn't have a central business or shopping district or downtown.

"If there were different categories where villages similar to Mount Pleasant were being compared, then the Walkscore might make more sense," she said.

Caledonia is one of the worst cities in Wisconsin for walking, according to the Walkscore list.

Walkscore.com scored the village 19 out of a possible 100 on how easy it is for pedestrians to get around. Caledonia tied with Pleasant Prairie as the least walkable cities in the state.

New York received the highest ranking on Walkscore.com's 2011 rankings, edging out San Francisco for the top spot.

Wonder how Walkscore.com's rankings work? Learn about them here.