What's your Walk Score?

[PlixTixiplik]

No, not a score based on how much walking you do - rather it estimates the "walkability" of your neighborhood based on the distance to various amenities such as shops, theaters, parks, etc. You can also see their ranking of 40 US cities.

So go to www.walkscore.com, type in your address, and tell us how walkable your neighborhood is (I think it only works in the US, Canada, and UK and it's contingent on the accuracy of stores in google maps - sorry everyone else...). Do you walk places when circumstances permit? Would you walk if you had the option (74% of people in Jacksonville, America's least walkable large city, live in "car-dependent" neighborhoods)?

My house has a walk score of 83, which they say is "very walkable." I would agree with that - I walk/bike to the store/bar etc. quite frequently.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Zero walkable. Nearest thing is a store like Walgreens, but the prices are very high, and it's about ten minutes walking to. Nearest grocery store is about two or three hours walk, nearest park is about 40 minutes walk, nearest theater is about five hours walk. These are all "TO", by the way.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

Walk Score:

35 out of 100 — Car-Dependent

Which is infact complete rubbish because half the amenities and shops in my area weren't shown on the map.

 

[nevermore]

89.

Of the categories of destinations within a mile, the lowest number of any of them was 6 libraries.

 

[Canadave]

My current apartment's walkscore is 94, which has a lot to do with living somewhere that looks like this. Wouldn't trade it for anything else, either.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

My score is 45. It should be worse though. The closest "school" that they list for me is a dance studio for teenage girls. The closest bar is a VFW hall. the closest park is something called 'Vinyl Concepts" and the closest library is actually a park.

Unless it is December-May it's too hot to walk here anyway.

 

[nevermore]

My current apartment's walkscore is 94, which has a lot to do with living somewhere that looks like this. Wouldn't trade it for anything else, either.

Hmm. I think they must deduct points for crime or something, as my area is far denser than that...

 

[PlixTixiplik]

Walk Score:

35 out of 100 — Car-Dependent

Which is infact complete rubbish because half the amenities and shops in my area weren't shown on the map.

My score is 45. It should be worse though. The closest "school" that they list for me is a dance studio for teenage girls. The closest bar is a VFW hall. the closest park is something called 'Vinyl Concepts" and the closest library is actually a park.

Unless it is December-May it's too hot to walk here anyway.

Yeah, it is really dependent on the accuracy of the google maps input that it uses. My closest "store" they use is a little corner store a couple blocks away - good for buying lottery tickets or candy but not so much for groceries. The Safeway is only 10 minutes walk anyway, so it's really close too.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

68 out of 100 for me.

Not bad for a society dependent on out of town shopping malls and Tesco.

 

[Spot's Meow]

45 out of 100 - Car-dependent. Sounds about right to me. Living in a college town I am close to a lot of schools, bookstores, parks, and libraries. The other categories are pretty much lacking though.

 

[Possum]

My town of 1500 got a 3 out of 100. *L*

I think it was hurt by the one screen movie theater being the next town over and the nearest bookstore being twenty miles away. Plus it listed the Casey's Gas Station as a restaurant since you can get pizza there. (It is very good pizza at least). But it didn't list the bar/restaurant as an eating place. Not entirely accurate but funny site nonetheless.

 

[trampledamage]

It's got a very short concept of walking distance. It's given where I live a score of 24 and says it's car-dependant. But I have a park across the road, two more in easy walking distance, a good drug-store/general store in close walking distance, a full shopping mall in slightly further but still easily do-able walking distance, and there's a library and a sports centre across the road from the mall.

The only reason I rely on the car is because I have to judge my walking distance as pre-schooler walking distance at the moment.

 

[PlixTixiplik]

That's partially true - I just read the description of their algorithm and your address doesn't score any points for things further than a mile away. I'll definitely walk that distance too, but I think that most people wouldn't. That's a 20-25 minute walk at average pace (less at a brisk walk).

 

[CorporalClegg]

63

Somewhat Walkable. Hmm. I walk every were.

 

[Arrqh]

60/100. It sounds about right, but it's not really typical for Edmonton.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Even "Walkable" scores don't mean anything. Some people work long hours, have to come home do chores, study (classes), want to watch TV, shower, cook and eat ... only so many awake hours in a day.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Even "Walkable" scores don't mean anything. Some people work long hours, have to come home do chores, study (classes), want to watch TV, shower, cook and eat ... only so many awake hours in a day.

This is mostly why I don't walk to places more often. If I had the time, even just an hour extra, I'd walk to the closest grocery store instead of drive. But I honestly don't have the time to spend half an hour walking somewhere. Sad, but true.

 

[nevermore]

Even "Walkable" scores don't mean anything. Some people work long hours, have to come home do chores, study (classes), want to watch TV, shower, cook and eat ... only so many awake hours in a day.

How is that relevant to how many things are within a mile of where you live? They're not measuring how walkable your lifestyle is, they're measuring how walkable your neighborhood is.

 

[tharpdevenport]

"Walkable" doesn't mean anything then if you're too busy to do it. And if you cant' do it, knowing if you neighborhood is "Walkable" is like knowing if the next town is -- useless.

 

[nevermore]

But that's your problem and utterly irrelevant to the neighborhood itself, which again, is what this website is interested in. Also, given the distance they're measuring (under a mile), its likely no faster to drive than it is to walk.