Monday, August 06, 2007

What's Your Walk Score?


Sometimes a walk is just a walk and, other times, it's all about business. Walk Score is an online calculator that rates how easy it is to get around on foot or the "walkability" of a particular address. Porcelain is finding this site especially helpful since she's condo shopping.

Just visit the site, plug in an address, and the site maps all the closest neighborhood amenities. Using Google as reference, Walk Score finds the nearest restaurants, libraries, bookstores, and much more. Each address is also assigned a number rating anywhere from 1 to 100. Here's how your score breaks down:

90 - 100 = Walkers' Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.
70 - 90 = Very Walkable: It's possible to get by without owning a car.
50 - 70 = Some Walkable Locations: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a car.
25 - 50 = Not Walkable: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving is a must.
0 - 25 = Driving Only: Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car!

I got a very healthy 89. Porcelain's current place got a whopping 94! What'd you get?

Photo credit: stock.xchng

7 comments:

said...

My house got a 5/100. :eek: I guess that's what happens when you live on a very large, spread out Army post. Oddly, I see soldiers walking all over this place because cabs are so bloomin' expensive and the buses are few and far between.

Anonymous said...

Whoa, we got a 75! Makes me feel a bit lazy that I don't walk around more often. Totally unexpected for good ol' Columbus, Ohio.

Leah said...

Oh, man ...

Each place we've lived has gotten progressively less walkable. We went from an 89 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn to a 71 in Noe Valley, San Francisco to a 54 in our current home in the Oakland Hills.

I love our 'hood, but the lack of a walkable commerical area nearby is a major drawback.

Anyway, cool tool!

Leah

Making it Lovely said...

Hmmm, 78. Not too bad!

B said...

92% Nice.

The Architectrix. said...

94! Hurrah for Wicker Park in Chicago!

Unknown said...

I believe that walk score is cool, but nowadays more and more people prefer to drive cars. Homes are often located in an area where some establishments are easier to get to by car than on foot. I've recently found a type of service on drivescore.fizber.com which is called Drive Score. It shows a map of what establishments are in your neighborhood and calculates a Drive Score based on the number of places within a convenient driving distance. It doesn’t mean that drive score is better than walk score – they are equal and both necessary in the modern world!