Have you ever wonder how walkable is the place where you live in? Mine scored a measly 26 points. Thanks to this lovely website called Walk Score, I can tell you my neighbourhood is not walkers' paradise.
With this score, I have now got a concrete proof to show you that transportation and town-planning in NZ sucks big time. (Sorry Marcellous, I think I have to put off my plans of offsetting my carbon footprints for a wee while. :p )
All you need to do is to type in your address and click Go. Then the website will do the calculations of the distances to the nearest shops, parks and other facilities. Based on the generated list, it will give your a "Walk Score".
Here are general guidelines for interpreting your walk score:
- 90–100 = Walkers' Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.
- 70–89 = Very Walkable: It's possible to get by without owning a car.
- 50–69 = Somewhat Walkable: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.
- 25–49 = Car-Dependent: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.
- 0–24 = Car-Dependent (Driving Only): Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car!
4 comments:
My walk score is just 20 so as you see my present neighborhood is not very walkable. This service can be especially useful for those who are going to buy a house cause it can help to estimate a particular location. But how often do we walk nowadays? I ve found one more service called drive score at http://drivescore.fizber.com/ With it one can see 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.
I tried it, it's very selective.
I live just across the street from a mall, with department stores supermarkets and the like, but had to travel 85 km to go to the next post-office, while I know it's just 750 meter away.
Still I had a score of 58 which in MHO should be 98.
Thanks for the link, Helen. I shall try it with my address.
Pete, Walk Score is after all optimised for the American audience. For us who live outside the US, I guess the results would not be that accurate. Still your 58 points is so much better than my 26. :)
It obviously depends on the quality of the data they have to work with. Mine was reasonably accurate and the mistakes seemed to cancel each other out - the result: 62 out of 100 — Somewhat Walkable.
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