How many city blocks are in a square mile in New York City?

Answer 1

In large cities the number varies depending upon the original grid layout. In NYC (Manhattan) the number of north-south blocks per mile is 20. East-west blocks (between avenues) are typically just under 5 north-south blocks in length, so the number of east-west blocks per mile is 4.

Answer 2

Approx 1.6km in 1 mile; 20 blocks in 1 mile.

20/3 gives you approximately 6 per .5km. So, if my math is correct, approximately 12 - 14 blocks per km.

Please note this is a very rough estimate.

Answer 3

In New York City, 17 to 20 street blocks (north/south blocks) equal a mile, and 5 to 10 avenue blocks (east/west blocks) equal a mile. As you can see, the length of the avenue blocks varies considerably. On the East Side it's more like 8 to 10 avenue blocks to a mile, while on the West Side it's more like 4 to 7 avenue blocks to a mile.

Of course, in Lower Manhattan, these estimations become worthless, since in Lower Manhattan there's no square grid pattern to the streets. They're all tiny and run in zig-zags.

Answer 4

In Manhattan, above 14th Street, 17 to 20 street blocks (north-south blocks) are equal to 1 mile, and 5 to 10 avenue blocks (east-west blocks) are equal to 1 mile.

The length of the avenue blocks varies considerably throughout the city, but, generally speaking, the blocks on the East Side tend to be shorter than the blocks on the West Side.

Square miles are a measure of area, which is length x width (length multiplied by width). So, a square mile is roughly equal to the area of 17 to 20 street blocks and 5 to 10 avenue blocks (1 x 1 = 1, so a length of 1 mile multiplied by a width of 1 mile equals 1 square mile).

In other words, a rectangle that is formed by the length of 17 to 20 street blocks and the width of 5 to 10 avenue blocks will have an area of roughly 1 square mile.