Report: Pittsburgh among best places to live without a car

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pittsburgh is now among the top ten cities where you can live without a car, according to one analysis.

Public transit, biking and walking all add up to make the city more car-free than many.

When you're stuck in traffic on Parkway East or Parkway West, you no doubt wish that Pittsburgh was a city more like New York where cars are discouraged in the center city because other modes of transit are readily available.

A study of 331 cities by Coworking Cafe ranks Pittsburgh number ten where you can live without a car.

Boston, Newark and New York are the top three. Philadelphia is sixth. Pittsburgh is tenth, ahead of Chicago, Minneapolis, Buffalo and St. Louis.

The study measured several factors like biking to work, walking and commuting on public transit.

While nearly half of New Yorkers use public transit like subways to get to work, that drops to 21 percent in Philadelphia and even fewer -- 15 percent -- in Pittsburgh, but we're still higher than most other cities. Walking to work is more popular than ever, especially as more residential housing opens up Downtown and in Oakland and other areas around where people work.

The survey found that over 14 percent of people walked to work in Boston, over 11 percent in Washington and San Francisco, and almost 10 percent in Pittsburgh, more than walk in New York or Philadelphia.

And then there are all those new bike lanes that former Mayor Peduto expanded in the city, but it turns out Pittsburgh still lags far behind other cities if offering this alternative to the car.

While Washington, Madison and San Francisco lead the pack with 3 to 4 percent commuting by bicycle, Pittsburgh ranks ninth at 1.2 percent biking to work. 

Whatever your favorite way to get to work these days, Pittsburgh ranks higher than most in offering your more options to the car.