Best cities to take a stroll

A recent WalkScore report found New York City, San Francisco, and Boston to be the the top three most walkable cities in the United States.

Chicago, Philadelphia, and Seattle, also made the top 10, according to the survey. Cities and neighborhoods were ranked on a scale from 0-100, with any score falling in the 90-100 range signifying a Walker's Paradise.

According to the survey, benefits of a walkable city or neighborhood include a higher property value and easy access to public transit and amenities, which save money and energy. In addition, the highest-ranked cities were home to residents who weighed on average eight fewer pounds than a person in a less walker-friendly locale.

Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, Christopher Leinberger said Americans in less walkable neighborhoods spend on average 25 percent of their income on their cars.

"With Millennials entering the marketplace, volatile gas prices, and fringe suburban home prices in decline, the demand for walkable neighborhoods has outstripped supply in most of the U.S.," said. Leinberger.

While not listed on the walkable cities in the nation, Houston is showing signs of housing recovery as it experienced record high home prices in the month of June, according to the Houston Association of Realtors. The average price of a single-family home rose 3.7 percent from June 2010, while foreclosure property sales decreased 3.2 percent compared to June of last year.  

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