"My neighborhood is better than your neighborhood!" Well, the data doesn't agree.

Figure 1 shows commute trips from downtown Seattle,
color-coded by destination neighborhood.

Many Seattleites think that our own neighborhood is the best one in the city.  But, in this world of my-neighborhood-is-better-than-yours, you might be surprised at how equitable our afternoon rush hour traffic can be. 

I got curious about commuting speeds because my average speed biking to and from work regularly exceeds my average driving speed.  I live in West Seattle and work in Fremont and I wondered what the trend might be for the rest of the city.

Using the PlaceProps Analytics database of more than one million trips, made by a curated panel of 2,500 Seattleites dating back more than a year, I looked into the statistics for afternoon commutes for 12 neighborhoods around Seattle (see Figure 1).  Our data show that the average speed of rush hour trips, originating in downtown Seattle between 4:00 and 6:00 PM and longer than two and a half miles, is 14 miles per hour regardless of destination.

The map below shows the average speed of trips that originate in downtown Seattle and end in one of the twelve neighborhoods.  The bigger the blue bubble is, the faster the average speed of trips that end in that neighborhood.

The yellow circle is 2.5 miles in radius and it sorts the neighborhoods into three groups: Outside the Circle, Edge Cases, and Inside the Circle.

Outside the Circle:  For neighborhoods outside the circle, drivers are using primary roadways like SR99 and I5.  The average speed is about the same no matter where you are headed.  That is the surprising bit: north, south, or west just doesn’t matter. 

Edge Cases:  Speed decreases as folks travel to Beacon Hill and Queen Anne.  Trips shift from primary to secondary streets and the number of cyclists and pedestrians rises.

Inside the Circle:  If you live in a neighborhood within 2.5 miles of downtown, your average speed on the way home from work is pretty slow, about 5 to 6 mph.  Folks from Capitol Hill and Central District are using congested city streets or are walking home from work – which brings the average speed down and the heart rate up.  Those hills are steep. 

Figure 2 shows a map of Seattle with average speed of trips (mph) to the neighborhoods
called out with blue bubbles:  the bigger the bubble the faster the average speed.
The 2.5-mile radius circle around downtown is shown in yellow.

So, short commutes are the slowest commutes, and once you get on to a high speed road at rush hour you can expect to move at the blazing speed of about 14 mph no matter which way you are heading: it is slow no matter where you go.

Have you found any tricks to speed up your commute home?  Have any favorite neighborhood stories to share?  Please add your comments below.

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Dr. Chad W. Jennings is Chief Scientist for Avenace Incorporated, operating PlaceProps Analytics.

Find us at: http://www.placeprops.com

PlaceProps Analytics publishes proprietary, GPS-based consumer movement data for commercial real estate site selection, out of home audience measurement, retail trade area definition, and urban planning.  Available online. 

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® "PlaceProps" is a registered trademark of Avenace Incorporated, Seattle, WA.