Comments on: How walkable is your neighborhood?

By: sasha

sasha — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:09:30 +0000

Walk Score can be really helpful if you are going to buy a house but can’t choose the best region. But i think that Drive Score can be rather useful as well. I ve come across this tool at drivescore.fizber.com With Drive Score, buyers can see how close establishments are by car. My score was 50. The greater number of businesses nearby, the higher the Drive Score.

By: Christine

Christine — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 03:33:30 +0000

My apartment building got a 90 out of 100! This is why I love this neighbourhood – everything is close by.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:34:39 +0000

My house in Birmingham got a 94!! Guess I can give the Prius a rest and start walking a bit more. . .

By: Larissa

Larissa — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:32:00 +0000

Mine scored a 43, but it was missing quite a few stores, including a chain grocery store that’s 6 blocks from my house. Granted, I wouldn’t want to walk that with heavy groceries in my hand, but still . . .

The best part for me is I live 2 blocks from where I work, and my husband takes a 10 minute bus-ride, so we hardly ever use our car (

By: Christine

Christine — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:09:03 +0000

My house – in the center of my town – got a nice-ish 54. (It’s actually far lovelier than that – I’ve got a sidewalk, and right behind my house, literally 2 minutes walk, is the huge lake, in the woods, with a giant mountain backdrop.)
My parents – living a mere 7 minute drive away, in the sticks – actually got a 0. Yeah, a zero! (We’ll just say that the Appalachian Trail running through their backyard near-literally does not amount to much in walkscore world.)

It was interesting, too, that so many of the locations that came up have been closed for years!!

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:20:35 +0000

No kidding. I suspect it would be lower, if they took the hills into account.
And some of the things they showed (such as the movie theater) no longer exist.

And I don’t live in Alaska. I live in Southern California, down San Diego way.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 19:45:21 +0000

52, baby! Much higher than I expected. That makes me feel bad about myself, since there is not a single place I ever walk to besides the bus stop.

By: Flowbiscuit

Flowbiscuit — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:30:39 +0000

I always complained about the walkability of my neighborhood before i had this word!

And now i have proof! a 5 out of 100.

Other than Alaska (aforementioned), i can’t imagine a worse place to live and be a runner.

By: frumpiefox

frumpiefox — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:09:10 +0000

Interesting post! My current place is a 74 out of 100; the place I’m moving inot is a 6.

Strangely, I am far less inclined to walk anywhere near my current place–I’m a busser, or I drive places, or I just stay home. I’m very excited that the new place is near some rural areas so that I can take my dog for walks.

I hate walking where there are so many other people and cars and such. Then again, my childhood home rated a 0 (I’m a rural transplant), so maybe this rating tool was not made for people like me.

By: Michael D. Griffin

Michael D. Griffin — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 06:00:52 +0000

lmao … zero out of 100!! Sweren Loop, Two Rivers, Alaska …

Let’s see … moose — in this area, people follow roads and trails, moose follow powerlines so it’s not a problem … once you get past the ones camped in your yard, eating your shrubbery.

Black bears — not a problem … the grizzlies chased them off long ago.

Dog teams — especially large teams on blind corners where the musher can’t see the lead dogs … if you’re lucky, it’s a team coming back from a long run and have settled down to a slow comfortable trot … otherwise, it’s a fresh team, charged up and ready to roll — over you.

Minibikes, go-karts, four-wheelers, and other forms of juvenile mayhem — forget it, you can hear them coming and get out of the way … worry about the dog teams instead.

Oh, yeah — most of the stuff on the list requires trekking through virgin country, including crossing one or two major rivers …