Most Americans enjoy bragging about their respective cities when it comes to sports, music and restaurants. But for those living in larger metropolitan areas, getting around by car can be a major hassle. If your city features daily commutes that push your stress level to the limit, driving conditions there are probably not one of its more brag-worthy qualities. But is it the worst? Recently, the personal-finance website WalletHub analyzed (1) how “driver-friendly” the 100 largest U.S. cities are. Based on what they found, these are the 10 worst for drivers.
WalletHub first selected the 100 U.S. cities with the highest population, excluding their surrounding metropolitan areas. Then, they began ranking those cities using these 4 metrics:
WalletHub’s team then took those 4 major driving categories and broke each down further for a grand total of 29 subcategories. That allowed them to consider more specific driving factors like the annual number of car thefts, price per gallon of gas, auto repair shops per capita and total number of motor vehicle fatalities.
Based on those 29 subcategories, each city was then assigned a weighted score. The higher the score, the more “driver-friendly” the city. When the list was finished it contained several of the usual suspects, and some notable surprises.
According to WalletHub, these are the 10 worst U.S. cities for drivers:
Thanks to scoring badly in traffic congestion, safety, and the average cost of ownership, it turns out that the “Motor City” is the least friendly of all for motorists.
Because it’s on a peninsula, San Francisco drivers face limited land access to the south, not enough bridges and hilly streets. For these reasons and others, the city scored poorly in “traffic and infrastructure”, along with “cost of ownership and maintenance”.
Right across the bay from San Francisco sits Oakland, which ranked near the bottom in “cost of ownership and maintenance”. And, it’s also one of the nation’s worst cities for car thefts.
Turns out that the “City of Brotherly Love” isn’t so friendly to drivers due to its poor safety rating, traffic congestion and high cost of vehicle ownership.
Downtown Seattle is surrounded by several lakes and peninsulas which force daily commuters into endless chokepoints. In addition to traffic congestion, the city also ranked low in “cost of ownership and maintenance”.
Boston’s confusing old road designs cause frequent traffic tie ups. Throw in the harsh winters and its poor showing in the “access to vehicles and maintenance” department, and you’ve got the “perfect storm” for driver frustration.
No shocker here, as New York has now leapfrogged Los Angeles when it comes to worst “traffic and infrastructure”. In fact, the city’s Friday evening commutes are legendary for their brutality.
Combine Newark’s proximity to New York City with its busy international airport and you get a recipe for traffic congestion that’s hard to beat. And, Newark isn’t exactly the safest place for drivers to be either.
The “City of Angels” earned this hellish distinction because of its infamous traffic congestion and high cost of ownership. The only real surprise is that L.A. didn’t finish lower.
Thanks mostly to its poor infrastructure and ubiquitous traffic congestion, the “Windy City” takes the “air out of the sails” for millions of Chicago drivers.
In case you’re wondering, the top 10 best cities to drive are all located in North Carolina, Texas and Florida. Visit: www.wallethub.com to view WalletHub’s complete list.
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