How walk friendly were Wilmington, Dover and Newark 2 years ago?

The U.S Census Bureau conducts a major census of the United States once every 10 years. In the intervening years, the Bureau conducts a much smaller survey – the American Community Survey – of 3 million households. ACS data provides more up-to-date (but less accurate) information about U.S. communities. Because of the relatively small sample size, the accuracy of ACS data can be a big issue. But, keeping this problem in mind, it is still interesting to use this data to give us some sense of how well Delaware’s largest communities were doing (as of the last available ACS survey) at making walking a safe and convenient transportation option. The most recent 3 year average ACS data (2006-2008) suggests, for example, that Newark was way out in front of other Delaware communities in this regard. While about 7% of work commuting trips in Wilmington were done by walking, and about 3% in Dover, ACS data indicates that in Newark more than 17% of all work commuting trips were done by walking in the 2006-2008 period. We can add some context to these numbers by comparing these Delaware communities to big cities: