Most/Least Drivable Cities 2003

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LarryMullen's POPAngel

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America's Most Drivable Cities 2003
Most of the time, driving is a pleasurable and relaxing experience. But motorists sometimes find themselves at the mercy of rough roads, traffic jams, and high gas prices. The new "Most Drivable Cities" study ranks 77 U.S. cities based on how easy it is for residents to drive around their city.


America's "Most Drivable Cities" have smooth driving surfaces, free-flowing traffic, low gas prices, and a pleasant climate. So, fasten your seat belt and check out the best and worst cities in which to get around:


The 10 Most Drivable Cities


1. Corpus Christi, TX
2. Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito, TX
3. Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX
These south Texas cities share several characteristics that make them great for motorists. All three cities have very low gas prices and a good driving climate with little snow and hail, and few days below freezing. Drivers in Corpus Christi spend only 6 hours per year stuck in traffic, compared with the national average of 62 hours per year. Corpus Christi also has the lowest travel time index (an indication of free-flowing traffic) of any city in the study. In Brownsville drivers spend only 5 hours annually in congested traffic, and only 5% of the freeways are congested during peak periods. Like Corpus Christi and the Brownsville area, Beaumont-Port Arthur has little congestion. It can get hot in these cities though, and they have slightly more wind and ultraviolet radiation than average. Also, Texas' urban roads are rougher than average.


4. Pensacola, FL
5. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL
These two Florida cities score well in every category. The roads are smooth and uncongested, the weather is clear, and the gas prices are low. Both Pensacola and the Fort Myers-Cape Coral area have a low travel time index and little annual delay per peak road traveler.


6. Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma City scores well in the mobility category thanks to a low travel time index and little annual delay per peak road traveler. The climate for driving is a bit better than average and gas prices are very low, but Oklahoma's drivers have to put up with bad roads.


7. Birmingham, AL
Birmingham's scores are above average in every drivability category. It has very low gas prices and a good travel time index. The climate is good$#151;little snow, hail, and wind$#151;and the roads are smoother than the national average.


8. El Paso, TX
El Paso has very low gas prices but the roads are rough. Mobility is good too$#151;the travel time index is low and there is little annual delay per peak road traveler.


9. Memphis, TN
Memphis scores well in all the categories$#151;low gas prices, good mobility, mild climate, and smooth roads.


10. Tulsa, OK
Tulsa has very low gas prices, good mobility, and a driving climate that is better than average. Oklahoma's rough urban roads kept Tulsa from ranking higher.


The 10 Least Drivable Cities


1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
2. San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles was very clearly the least drivable city studied. L.A. has the nation's worst mobility$#151;the highest travel time index (1.9), the highest annual delay per peak road traveler (136 hours), and the highest roadway congestion index. San Francisco has the highest gas prices in the nation ($2.20/gallon). Although both cities have rough roads, they have great driving climates.


3. Chicago, IL
Although its gas prices were lower than average, Chicago scores poorly in every other drivability category. The Windy City has rough roads, a poor driving climate, and slightly worse than average mobility.


4. Denver, CO
Denver has a very poor driving climate and rough roads. Traffic congestion is slightly worse than average mobility, but at least Denverians pay less for the extra gas they use when stuck in traffic.


5. Boston, MA
Like many large cities, Beantown suffers from rough roads and slightly worse than average mobility. Low gas prices help offset a generally poor driving climate.


6. Oakland, CA
Oakland has very high gas prices, very rough roads, and a great deal of traffic congestion. Like nearby San Francisco, Oakland's only positive is its great climate.


7. Detroit, MI
The Motor City has very rough roads and a driving climate that is worse than average. Drivers who can put up with those deficits are rewarded with average congestion and low gas prices.


8. New York, NY
Motorists in the Big Apple contend with rough roads and slightly worse than average congestion. The plusses: New York has average gas prices and an average driving climate.


9. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA
The Emerald City has worse than average mobility and slightly rougher than average roads. On the other hand, it has a better than average driving climate and average gas prices.


10. Washington, D.C
Traffic congestion and rough roads make D.C. a difficult place to get around. On the positive side, the nation's capital has a better than average driving climate and lower than average gas prices.


Other Notes:


Overall, cities in the Northeast rank poorly, with Philadelphia at #44, followed by Hartford at #53 and New York at #70. Meanwhile, Southern cities enjoy high rankings due to low gas prices, little traffic, short travel times, and fair climate. The most drivable large city is Atlanta, which ranks 20th overall.
San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose have the highest gas prices in the nation.
You'll be exceeding the daily average of 2 1/2 hours spent in the car by a typical American if you live in Washington, D.C., Miami or Seattle, when it comes to traffic congestion and average travel time.
Detroit, Fresno, and Sacramento have the roughest roads.
Keep the AC on when driving in San Bernardino, Austin and San Diego, which take the top spots for warm weather climates.
Bringing up the chilly rear is Anchorage, Rochester and Buffalo, where your car's heater will be on for much of the year.


Content provided by Sperling's Best Places


Agree? Disagree?

I for one agree with the Michigan assessment. HORRIBLE roads, indeed. :tsk:
 
3. Chicago, IL
Although its gas prices were lower than average, Chicago scores poorly in every other drivability category. The Windy City has rough roads, a poor driving climate, and slightly worse than average mobility.


I agree with this one...driving here is evil. :mad:

No one here knows the meaning of "Stop Sign" or "Right-of-way".

:down: Chicago drivers.
 
1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
2. San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles was very clearly the least drivable city studied. L.A. has the nation's worst mobility$#151;the highest travel time index (1.9), the highest annual delay per peak road traveler (136 hours), and the highest roadway congestion index. San Francisco has the highest gas prices in the nation ($2.20/gallon). Although both cities have rough roads, they have great driving climates.


What good is a great driving climate when you're only moving 15 mph in another endless traffic jam? :mad:
 
MissVelvetDress_75 said:
hey char why are you complaining you don't have to drive to work. :wink:

:hmm:

I guess I would be complaing even more if I had to commute every day :reject:


But on those days I do decide to leave my office/room down the hall from my bedroom, I must sit in that :censored: OC/LA traffic, even on city streets. This is the land of perpetual roadway construction so avoiding the freeways doesn't guarantee a jam free drive.


So there! :wink:
 
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:


The 10 Most Drivable Cities

8. El Paso, TX
El Paso has very low gas prices but the roads are rough. Mobility is good too$#151;the travel time index is low and there is little annual delay per peak road traveler.


The 10 Least Drivable Cities


4. Denver, CO
Denver has a very poor driving climate and rough roads. Traffic congestion is slightly worse than average mobility, but at least Denverians pay less for the extra gas they use when stuck in traffic.



Those are the only two on the list I've driven in and I guess I'm surprised by both. El Paso is easy to drive in but the roads are indeed crappy and I'm surpised it ranked so high.

Denver is a bitch to drive in but, again, I had no idea it was unusually bad for a city that size. The traffic seems way out of proportion with the size of the city and heading in from the south it's nearly bumper to bumper any time of day once you hit Colorado Springs, an hour south of Denver.
 
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:
7. Detroit, MI
The Motor City has very rough roads and a driving climate that is worse than average. Drivers who can put up with those deficits are rewarded with average congestion and low gas prices.

Detroit is going to kill me one of these days, I swear. Only a really good concert can pull me down there so that I have to deal with that traffic.

April can vouch for the fact that I don't handle the driving situation there well. :uhoh: :laugh: But we survived...as did my dad's car. Phew!
 
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:
5. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL
These two Florida cities score well in every category. The roads are smooth and uncongested, the weather is clear, and the gas prices are low. Both Pensacola and the Fort Myers-Cape Coral area have a low travel time index and little annual delay per peak road traveler.


hhmmmmm. Have these assclowns been here in the middle of March, when there are countless northerners clogging our roads?

We are not the worst, by far, but I don't thionk we're one of the best either...
 
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:


5. Boston, MA
Like many large cities, Beantown suffers from rough roads and slightly worse than average mobility. Low gas prices help offset a generally poor driving climate.

Obviously they didn't take into consideration the INSANITY that is the big dig right now!! :crazy: :tsk:

plus those masshole drivers are nuts! :scream:

of course i'm an expection :sexywink:


Drivers in Corpus Christi spend only 6 hours per year stuck in traffic, compared with the national average of 62 hours per year.

:shocked: I think I spend 6 hours per DAY stuck in traffic. :silent:
 
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LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:
The 10 Most Drivable Cities

9. Memphis, TN
Memphis scores well in all the categories$#151;low gas prices, good mobility, mild climate, and smooth roads.
WHAT?!

what a lie! i can say with all certainty that this is indeed one of the worst cities in the nation, if not the entire world, to drive in. you can't even drive a mile without having at least two people try to hit you. and believe me, i've driven in other bigger cities as well, so i do have things to compare memphis to.

every day at 5 pm, you hear about at least three accidents in this city alone (i live in a suburb which is now technically memphis since we're annexed), not including the 4 or 5 you'll hear about in the metro memphis area, again not including the interstate areas.

let's see, the other points. smooth driving surfaces? no. there's potholes galore all over the place, and the city and county governments try to pin in on each other, saying it's in the other's jurisdiction. free-flowing traffic? hell no. every major road is overcrowded. the main road around my house needs to have two lanes added (meaning one on each side), but they don't know how to go about it, with all the urban sprawl. the traffic lights aren't synchronized. you'll literally get every red light, and if you're on poplar avenue (a really popular street around here), be prepared to sit a while since there's a stoplight every block. i'm not kidding.

low gas prices? well, i've not bought gas in a while, and i wouldn't know what to compare it to. i think it's around $1.30 a gallon (that's either regular or mid-grade, i forget) which is all right i guess.

and finally, a pleasant climate? no! it's hot and humid here. there's no places of water anywhere around here (hurr, aside from the mississippi, which you really can't swim in) to go swim in. no oceans (obviously), no public pools. you have to join a gym, live in an apartment, or get a pool for your house. there was a beach-like place about an hour away that even trucked in its sand from florida. however, it closed a couple weeks ago because the insurance was too steep. the only waterpark in this area closed before we even moved here, which was in 95. it's terrible around here.

sorry for the huge rant. :reject:
 
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It cracks me up when I'm in places like Salt Lake City or Phoenix or other cities, and they'll have their traffic reports on the local news. They'll have one accident on the single freeway they have, and then a blockage or two on surface streets. Oh, the excitement.
 
I've driven/lived in Detroit, Chicago and NYC. I have to say NYC should be up higher. I HATE driving around this place and avoid it at all costs. The roads in Detroit suck, the drivers in Chicago suck. So either I've become a really good driver from driving those three cities or I'm a really bad one.
 
:up:

I must agree that it is very easy to get around Oklahoma City and Tulsa, although Tulsa drivers tend to go below the speed limit, which can be annoying. Even during rush hour and construction, stop and go traffic is mostly go, and the tie-ups are limited to major interchanges. And I actually don't think the road conditions in the city are that bad, although once you leave the city the interstate can get a little bumpy, hence the construction. Overall, I gotta agree. Driving around here is quite pleasant! :yes:
 
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