What's Your Community's Score for Walkability?

Caption: Walk!

Q: How often do you walk to the store or to work?
A: The chances are good that your answer to this question is directly connected to how walkable your community is.

Q: So how walkable IS your community?
A: The website Walk Score has the answer: http://www.walkscore.com/

Q: What makes a neighborhood walkable?
A: The following are the criteria Walk Score uses to rate your neighborhood:

• A center: Walkable neighborhoods have a discernable center, whether it's a shopping district, a main street, or a public space.
• Density: The neighborhood is compact enough for local businesses to flourish and for public transportation to run frequently.
• Mixed income, mixed use: Housing is provided for everyone who works in the neighborhood: young and old, singles and families, rich and poor. Businesses and residences are located near each other.
• Parks and public space: There are plenty of public places to gather and play.
• Pedestrian-centric design: Buildings are placed close to the street to cater to foot traffic, with parking lots relegated to the back.
• Nearby schools and workplaces: Schools and workplaces are close enough that most residents can walk from their homes.

Q: Is it accurate?
A: There are many important factors that Walk Score does not take into account. Here are just a few that the Walk Score website is aware it has not included in its fancy algorithm:

• Public transit: Good public transit is important for walkable neighborhoods.
• Street width and block length: Narrow streets slow down traffic. Short blocks provide more routes to the same destination and make it easier to take a direct route.
• Street design: Sidewalks and safe crossings are essential to walkability. Appropriate automobile speeds, trees, and other features also help.
• Safety from crime and crashes: How much crime is in the neighborhood? How many traffic accidents are there? Are streets well-lit?
• Pedestrian-friendly community design: Are buildings close to the sidewalk with parking in back? Are destinations clustered together?
• Topography: Hills can make walking difficult, especially if you're carrying groceries.
• Freeways and bodies of water: Freeways can divide neighborhoods. Swimming is harder than walking.
• Weather: In some places it's just too hot or cold to walk regularly.

The Walk Scores website is a fun and interesting tool that gets folks thinking about all the factors that go into making a place walkable. However, take the results with a grain of salt. Afterall, Walk Score isn't sophisticated enough to discern a store that sells books for all ages from an "adult book store".