Feel free to walk here…
June 13th, 2008 by Ben Fry in Our Government, Random Acts, Urban ExplorationsYou may want to invest in a good pair of walking shoes, because we will all be walking a lot more in the near future.
The website Walkscore.com lets you input an address and calculate a score for a neighborhood based on how close it is to grocery stores, restaurants, entertainment, schools, parks and a host of other amenities. The results are listed under their respective categories on the left side of the screen along with their distance in miles. Scores range from zero (Driving only — you can only walk to your car) to 100 (”Walker’s Paradise”).
Click on an entry and it will show you where it is located on the (Google) map, as well as provide a bubble complete with an address, phone number and a clickable link to a Google search of that entry.
Walkscore.com is especially helpful if you are moving to a new neighborhood because it helps to know the likelihood of being able to leave the gas-guzzler (aren’t they all nowadays?) at home and walk.
My own Pinellas Point neighborhood got a meager score of 51, which means that some places are close by, but a car or public transportation is still required for most trips. I could easily walk down the street to a restaurant or a drugstore, but if I was feeling picky I would need the car.
On the upside I did discover a number of restaurants in my area I didn’t know of that are within easy walking or biking distance. On the downside, plenty of the listings were for places in downtown St. Petersburg, about seven miles away, that may be within walking distance by European standards but that I wouldn’t walk to myself often.
Another major drawback, and a factor that could seriously affect walkability, is that the ratings don’t take crime statistics into account when factoring the scores. The site searches under plenty of relevant categories that would be moot if the neighborhood isn’t safe enough to walk around in.
With gas prices on the rise, however, it certainly helps to know if your new neighborhood is walkable.
(photo by alexandralee).
June 13th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
My neighborhood scored an 82. Woo!
On second thought, no woo. Now I just feel lazy because I still drive far more then is necessary.
Thank you Ben and Walkscore.com for revealing to me the sloth-mark on my soul. I’m going to go sit in my car and weep now.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
COOL! But..
I put in my address and my neighborhood scored 71. I expected it to be WAY lower than that because there aren’t any sidewalks or crosswalks, and I live right off Busch Blvd., a very busy street.
They should think about adding safe walking conditions into their calculations.
June 13th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
My SoHo pad scored an 88. My typical routine is drive home from work (.08 mile) and park the car, where it sits the rest of the evening and weekensd if I’m not covering a show or writing about a non-SoHo bar.
As soon as someone donates me a bicycle I will be peddling to work. Come on all you “go green” folks (with money), who wants to give me a bike?
June 13th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Extra points to whoever gives Tatangelo a bike, provided said bike has multicolored streamers coming out of the handle bars, a really nice little bell and a vanity plate that reads “Wade In.”
June 13th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I live fairly near to downtown St. Pete, but I got a 65. I have to drive to the grocery no matter what.
June 13th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I got a 100.
Why? Because I refuse to drive,
I make Leilani drive everywhere.
That bitch is killing the environment!
June 13th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
What, you can’t just steal a bike Wade? Come on, it’s the economical AND environmental thing to do.
June 20th, 2008 at 4:17 am
Hi, I’m the founder of Metroseeq.com, I just launched it 1 month ago as a variation of yelp and walkscore but focus more on local deals. It offers a different way of searching – predominantly using Google Maps. I’d appreciate it if you can check it out and give me some feedback. Thanks a bunch!
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