In 2019, Minneapolis reported 16% of all trips into or out of the city were made on foot. In the same year, the Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization reported 1.02% of commutes were done either walking or biking in Shelby County (the county containing Memphis). Commutes vs. all trips and 150 km2 city vs 2000km2 county, so it’s not a perfect comparison by any means, but I don’t think that data is indicative of a massive bias towards pedestrian activity in Memphis vs Minneapolis. Weather is not a strong indicator for pedestrian activity, infrastructure is. But infrastructure has a correlation with safety, so we don’t see high pedestrian modal share cities like New York, Chicago, or Boston on this list, but it has nothing to do with how cold their winters are
In 2019, Minneapolis reported 16% of all trips into or out of the city were made on foot. In the same year, the Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization reported 1.02% of commutes were done either walking or biking in Shelby County (the county containing Memphis). Commutes vs. all trips and 150 km2 city vs 2000km2 county, so it’s not a perfect comparison by any means, but I don’t think that data is indicative of a massive bias towards pedestrian activity in Memphis vs Minneapolis. Weather is not a strong indicator for pedestrian activity, infrastructure is. But infrastructure has a correlation with safety, so we don’t see high pedestrian modal share cities like New York, Chicago, or Boston on this list, but it has nothing to do with how cold their winters are