how many blocks are in a mile?

Question

I looked at the previous answers and they directed you to gmap.com to measure the blocks "you" are talking about. That site doesn't work anymore so where else can I measure my blocks?

Answer 1

Reply it varies.

A great article that gets into some history of roads and city blocks
summarizes the answer in this line:

"Each city block is just as big as it is. They aren't even all the
same shape."

But the article goes on to say,

"A city block would typically be 1/16 to 1/8 of a mile..."

See the full article at

City Block
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CityBlock

---------------------------------

Here's another good historical perspective concerning Philadelphia.

According to this article, Philadelphia was the first American city
planned as a grid. Today there are about 13 blocks to a mile in an
old Philadelphia city block:

Looking for Land Measurements - City Blocks.
http://www.designcommunity.com/discussion/19066.html

----------------------------------

According to Chicago's Transit Authority, in Chicago there are 8
blocks to a mile:

System Maps
http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/systemmaps.html

-----------------------------------

From www.nyctourist.com, they say,

"...10 street blocks (east-west) are equal to 1 mile. This rule
does not apply, however, to parts of Greenwich and all of lower
Manhattan."

Getting Around New York City
http://www.nyctourist.com/nycinfo_getaround.htm

------------------------------------

Here's an article that says it is somewhere between 15 and 20 city
blocks per mile:

How Big is a City Block?
http://www.land4ever.com/block.htm

------------------------------------

Finally, probably one of the best pieces of advice for answering this
question came from the folks at Math Central where they say:

"I suggest that you call the appropriate office in the city where
you live and ask your question there."

See the entire answer here:

The Number of City Blocks in a Country Mile
http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/QQ/database/QQ.09.99/hearst1.html

Answer 2

That all depends on how large the blocks are, which varies greatly. There is no standard definition of a block. Also, blocks are usually not square, so it would depend on whether you were measuring along the longer or shorter end of the block. In Manhattan, measuring along the long side, there would be nearly 6 blocks in a mile.

Answer 3

Depending on how the city is layed-out, it can range from 8 to 12 blocks per mile. Where I grew up it was 12 blocks per mile.

.

Answer 4

Try google maps or yahoo maps and go to your neighborhood. There will be a scale at the bottom of the map showing 1 mile. You will have to zoom in to get the proper scale. Then just count.