You can walk to downtown, but it's a bit of a hike, especially when the weather is bad. It's an easy bike ride and a few of my neighbors bike to down town. There is a trail by the river at the end of dunbar street that comes out by the baseball stadium and connects to a pedestrian/bike bridge that goes over to the West side.

Overall, I would say that the biggest deterrent to walking/biking is the weather. There are some bike lanes, but they aren't protected and you're going to get splashed with rain/slush in bad weather. I also don't think the Dunbar trail is cleared in the winter.

Most of the houses are newer than 1930. I've got the oldest house on my street and it was built in 1935, so you should have some luck there.