WalkScore

[pegkerr]

Saw this at poor_skills:

A free service called WalkScore instantly calculates how walkable your neighborhood is, based on the distance to various amenities, and provides a score of 1 to 100. Just input a street address, and you'll receive a WalkScore in a few seconds. http://www.walkscore.com

It's not perfect! There are problems with how it defines various locations (counting strip clubs as restaurants), and sometimes it reports nonexistent businesses (such as a phantom McDonald's). It doesn't take topography into account, such as whether something is up a steep hill. If you don't like something about it, please take a moment and tell WalkScore. Good developers appreciate helpful feedback, and perhaps it will improve the service. http://www.walkscore.com/contact-us.shtml

My neighborhood scores 58 out of 100 (50 - 70 = Some Walkable Locations: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.)

V. interesting

Comments

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

88 for me! That's about right.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Fun. Mine scores 85 "It's possible to get by without owning a car." Since I don't own a car or use a bicycle, I agree with this.

[avengangle.livejournal.com]

That's scary. I just found a link to that, as well, from someone else's blog (back in, like, April of this year).

Synchronicity and all.

My score is 71, but it's sort of not true. The nearest 'grocery store' is a UDF, which is a convenience store. Can't get real food there.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

We got 66, with some points in dispute. For example, the map totally missed one neighborhood school that our sons attended...

And they list a park that is maybe fifty miles from here as 1.5 miles.

[etakyma.livejournal.com]

See, this is so interesting!

My neighborhood scored a 48:
"25 - 50 = Not Walkable: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must."

My parent's neighborhood scored an 8:
"0 - 25 = Driving Only: Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car!"

And I agree with both! There are *no* amenities within 2 miles of my parent's house, and very few within a mile of mine (convenience store, Chinese place, laundromat, and a town park).

Thanks for the fun!

[fmsv.livejournal.com]

Our house scored 68, but that includes the grocery store that just closed, so I suspect the actual walkability is now somewhat less than that. Some of the items listed are a little suspect in other ways, too: a fitness center is listed as being on an entirely residential street (so if it actually exists, it's either private or non-advertised), and the two nearest bookstores it lists are, I suspect, book-ordering services run as part of other businesses in a particularly sleepy quasi-business district.

It's still interesting, though.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

My neighborhood scored a 78, possible to get by without a car. While that includes a bookstore I've never heard of and places I've never been, it doesn't include the police station a block away or the major bus routes that stop right here. For the first few years I lived here, I didn't own a car, and I'm currently working downtowm so take the bus.

[hamsterwoman]

Very cool link! My neighborhood scored 71, which I think is actually a little low, and looks to be missing a few places. It's definitely possible to get around without a car, and I personally don't have one, although we as a family do.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

I was surprised that my score was only 48, considering I live less than a mile from downtown Hopkins and walked for almost everything I need.

[pameladean]

It's got the same glitch as the Metro Transit Trip Planner used to: it doesn't recognize my address, or the same address on Nicollet or other adjacent streets (any of which would be roughly equivlant for measuring walkability). I wish they'd stop using that map software, whatever it is.

P.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

davidschroth linked to that a few weeks ago, and I tried it then, and again today. The mapping software thinks that Kowalski's is 0.57 miles from my house, and neither car nor bike odometer agrees with that. The distance to Kowalski's is more nearly a mile precisely. I remain unimpressed.

K.

[aome.livejournal.com]

Our neighborhood got 51, which I think is a pretty accurate assessment. There's a strip shopping center across the street, with a grocery, Hallmark, drug store, post office, dollar store, plant nursery, Marshall's, Fashion Bug and family restaurant. The health-food store is half a mile, but I usually stop there by car on the way to/from somewhere else that requires a car. Some of the items that crop up as "walkable" aren't really, given the route that you have to take to get there, but I at least try to combine those places with other errands. I admit to sometimes driving to the grocery across the street, but that's generally in winter, rain, or when I'm getting too many things to reasonably fit in my shopping cart.

[priscellie.livejournal.com]

My neighborhood got a 98! Though I feel its walkability is somewhat impaired by the fact I live across the street from housing projects and probably shouldn't walk around at night. XD

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

impressive! As for 'probably shouldn't', do you?

[priscellie.livejournal.com]

I haven't yet, but I've only lived there a month and a half. I'm a new New Yorker!

[mkaout.livejournal.com]

gah! an appalling 18.

sheesh.

[nlbarber]

Same here. Mine should really score less than that, as there are no sidewalks on sections of the busy road that leads to several of the amenities.

[snippy]

Heh, 92. And it's totally true, one of the reasons I bought in this neighborhood.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Wow, someone with a higher score than I!

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

8 out of 100! Let's see anyone less walkable!

I'm sure the farm I grew up on would score 0 (or 1 if 0 isn't possible). No retail within 10 miles. However, I spent most of my youth walking. I walked around the farm, I walked through the woods for hours at a time, I walked over and around and through things.

Similarly, people walk a lot in our neighborhood. There aren't any sidewalks, but why would there be? There's nothing wrong with walking on the road, and everyone does.

I think what they're measuring there is walking to GET somewhere. That's fine, but it's also fine to just walk because it's good to just walk.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Yup, the farm I grew up on gets 0/100. With any luck, that means they won't build any subdivisions there.

[vass]

Mine's 22. :-/

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I thought you would enjoy this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/dining/10pick.html

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Fascinating. Thanks very much for the link.

I set up a syndicated feed to the blog mentioned in the article: gastrokid. Maybe it'll give me ideas.

Drive Score

[realestate555.livejournal.com]

With the help of such service as Walk Score you can calculate how walkable your neighborhood is and using Drive Score you can buyers to find out how close establishments are by car. Homes are often located in an area where restaurants, libraries, grocery stores, hospitals and other businesses are easier to get to by car than on foot.You can try this service at http://www.fizber.com/