[bestbyV]

How Walkable Is Your Neighborhood?

By MAX ROOSEVELT
Published: August 8, 2008

LOOKING for a place to live in an unfamiliar neighborhood is one thing. But knowing what those neighborhoods have to offer — or what they are lacking — could make the process much easier.


MAKING STRIDES The Web site WalkScore helps users find out what amenities and services are available in their communities.

A Web site called WalkScore (www.walkscore.com) lets people find out just what amenities and services are within walking distance in neighborhoods all around the country.

“WalkScore measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle,” according to the Web site.

Founded in July 2007 by Mike Mathieu, the chairman of Front Seat Management in Seattle, WalkScore works with Google Maps and census data. Type in a street address on the site, and within seconds a list and map appear showing the nearest grocery stores, restaurants, gyms, schools and more — all for free.

The site works for any address within the United States, Canada, and even Britain. It also uses a formula to assign point values to locations within a mile of the given address. These points yield a final score from 1 to 100 for the address’s overall “walkability.”

An apartment on East 61st Street in Manhattan scored a 98 out of 100 and was labeled a walker’s paradise. It is within a quarter mile of eight grocery stores, seven schools, eight gyms and seven coffee shops.

In fact, most of Manhattan’s residential areas fall into this category. An apartment on West 80th Street scored a perfect 100.

Predictably, the scores for suburban homes tended to be far lower than those in the city. Houses in Chappaqua, in Westchester County, typically scored between a 5 and 10 on the walkability scale, earning the tag of “car dependant.”

Notable reasons for the low scores included a distance of over two miles to the nearest school and grocery store.

For people interested in neighborhoods beyond their own, the site lists what it considers to be the 40 most walkable cities in the United States.

WalkScore also lists what it doesn’t include in its searches, and chief among those is the distance to mass transportation.

“We do think mass transportation is important, but data varies widely from city to city,” Mr. Mathieu said. “In fact, some cities do not provide any data at all.”

The site also does not include, among other things, statistics on crime, topography and weather.

Mr. Mathieu said the site would incorporate transit data whenever a uniform source could be found, and he is also considering altering the formula used to calculate the walking distances.

Because the formula uses an “as the crow flies” method of measuring distance from point to point, as WalkScore puts it, “this means if you live across the lake from a destination we are assuming you’ll swim.”

This is not such a big deal in a city, which typically have fewer lakes and other water features, but could make a difference to users in the suburbs and elsewhere in the country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/re...ref=realestate

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[zzarratusstra]

I'm 98!

[biannaruh]

So am I

[vasyasvc]

Whee!

[Roneyslelry]

Mine would have to score 100.... with the added plus of being mostly closed to traffic.

Town Hall, civic offices, police station, post office, hospital, emergency ward, funeral parlor, any number of clinics, dentists, gyms, public library, every kind of shop from 99 cent to luxury brands, hardware stores, designer furniture stores, pharmacies, office supply, craftsman studios working in wood... in marble... in glass...framers... tailors.... shoe repair... small appliance repair... great resrtaurants, bars, coffeee shops... all kinds of butchers, really all kinds of food including a permanent farmers market in the very center of town... plus a train station...it goes on and on ... all with-in walking distance and a lot of it traffic free zones (or traffic reduced). AND let me mention that ...I'd say that about 90 percent of the businesses are privately owned.

An urban paradise? I think so.

[Jon Woodgate]

Wierd, I just found this walkscore site yesterday -- completely independent of WNY!

83 btw (off street parking and a backyard)

Sorry, wEIrd.

[hereiamguy]

my home now is 55 lol

in 2 weeks i'll be in 98

[Ad0i89Od]

Here is mine:

Currently:
Walk Score: 42 out of 100 — Car-Dependent In ~ 2 weeks, it will be this:
Walk Score: 45 out of 100 — Car-Dependent Not much better.

Give or take a few years ... hopefully in the 80's, 90's and if I'm really lucky ... 100.

[Broorbbub]

76 for my college town here in Scotland, Im sure it would be much higher if they took into account my university amenities and some of the smaller business' that dont show up online. The university is literally across the street from me.

[ReginaPerss]

83 here in Hoboken, but they have some shortcomings.

There is a Shop Rite within a half mile of my place, but they list it as a pharmacy and not as a Pharm/Grocery and a liquor store.....

I am not saying that this invalidates the result, but it should be taken with a grain of salt.


Maybe two!

[CreativeSuiteDown]

Oh, and it could not find the two small hardware stores, and locksmith on Washington Street!

[mloversia]

East Midtown gets a 98. No surprise there

[Annevecenqp]

This website is pretty pointless. Your neighborhood is either walkable or its not, I don't need a website to tell me if my neighborhood is "walkable" or not. This site is a product of the internet and its obsuridty, it answers a question that could otherwise be answered if people just logged off and ventured outside.

[MadMark]

I think it is more for people looking for a new place to live, not whether THEIR home is in a walkable area.

Say you wanted to move to Podunk MA. You type in the addresses of a few properties you saw listed and look at teh score.

If they all come in about the same and it is what you were looking for, you might want to go out and take a closer lok.

If it comes back that you are a mile from the nearest convenience store (such is the case in many suburbs) then maybe you wuold want to look elsewhere....


But for us Stern.... You are correct. It is but a mildly entertaining distraction.

[alenbarbaf]

It's not that accurate. I can think of at least four coffee shops closer than the Starbucks they listed as my closest coffee shop.

[Wxrxnhar]

Its a goofy, silly, trifle. Recently moved away from the Financial District, partially due to the dearth of residential services...my old address garnered a 100 including the fact that a restaurant was only .01 mile away (well, actually on the ground floor)...Delmonico's.

Uh...thanks, guys. Well done. (...the steak, too.)

[infarrelisam]

If my mom would have found this site years ago, I honestly don't think I would be living where I live now. Yes, there are parks, schools, 1-2 restaurants, and a pool...but it's certainly not the most ideal location.

Thank goodness in a ~ 1 week, my view will go from this to THIS!

If it comes back that you are a mile from the nearest convenience store (such is the case in many suburbs)...

^^ This almost applies to me. The convenience store is on one side of town, and my house is on the other.

[Pheboasmabs]

I don't know if I agree with the site in ranking San Francisco the most walkable city. Sure its a big city and has everything in walking distance like any other big city. But I wouldn't describe San Fransisco as a "walkable" city. I'm in excellent shape and found myself exhausted walking a mile or two, walking anywhere is an adventure because of the hills. That kind of goes against the idea of "walkability".

[DoniandaCoado]

Once you live there for a while you learn the best way to walk around the hills, but sometimes they just can't be avoided.

[gIWnXYkw]

Walk Score: 97 out of 100 — Walkers' Paradise

And I do have to say I quite like walking around the area. When the construction is done BPC is going to be great