KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- A new report ranks Knoxville as a very "walkable" place to live.

The report figures how close grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops, and other amenities are to a given address, and Knoxville got a very good score.

Over 1,800 people live in the heart of downtown Knoxville, and that number is increasing with the amount of activities that are just a walk away.

"The YMCA, the YWCA and other gyms, we have the library, several restaurants, bars and entertainment areas several event in lawns and festivals in Market Square so you can walk to whatever you want to."

Michele Hummel works for the city, and has lived downtown since the late 90s.

"It's wonderful just to get inside and come in from work and be able to walk around town and go grab something to eat or go down to the new movie theater or walk to the Old City, it's a great area to live in."

She says in the last few years there's been a 40 percent increase in the number of downtown residents.

"It's a wonderful asset to be able to live downtown, or live really close to where you work."

But there are also benefits for folks who drive in from the suburbs.

Elizabeth Harn works downtown, and says, "After work I walk down to the Y which is a couple of blocks at lunch I go walking around the parks, down to the bridge."

Cathy and David Glover don't live or work downtown. They're on a driving vacation, but haven't done much driving since they got here.

Cathy Glover says, "We're staying right here at the St. Oliver, we just parked and have been walking everywhere."

They've found the city easy to navigate.

"We were down here for Shakespeare, and we had dinner at Oodles and we walked all the way down to Volunteer Landing and we were over at Calhoun's so it was fun."

Another benefit for Michele Hummel is the extra money in her pocket she's not using on fuel.

"It's really nice to be able to fill up every now and then and I don't have to rely on the car everyday like a lot of other people do."

There's a Web site where you can plug in your own address to see how walkable your neighborhood is. To visit that site, CLICK HERE.