How then, do we move backwards? How does a society, with most of the people having no clue of future events, move from being dependent on a vast and intertwined network of goods and services produced by the indigenous people of whereever, to a local resource and renewable energy based society, and do so in the timeframe available (20-30 years using the most liberal extimates, 10-20 with resonable estimates, 5-10 with worst case scenarios), all the while prices on everything increasing, world politics getting more militaristic, governments continuously reducing civil liberties, shortages of goods on the market and weather patterns resembling bad Hollywood movies?
Enter an address and it will use google maps to find nearby businesses/services in the area and give you a score from 1 to 100 in terms of walkability. It uses google maps and should work anywhere in the world that has business information available, not just the US - worked for me in NZ (I got 37/100 for my house).
This needs to be taken with a grain of salt of course - I don't really care how far away the nearest bookstore is, but the nearest doctor could be important. Schools are another problematic item - the nearest school may be single-sex only, or not the right age range, or not as good as the school 2 miles away that you'd rather send your kids to instead.
But it is at least a good start to help in your hunt for a walkable neighborhood.
Joined: Nov 26, 2007 Posts: 28 Location: Montreal (a.k.a. "Little Tehran")
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:25 pm Post subject: Re: Find a walkable neighborhood
Just 17 out of 100 for mine. I think it all depends on how far you want to walk. In my case, there is plenty around, but its about 1 km away or more. I think anyhting under 1.6 km is decent.
They really goofed up on the dardware and grocery store scores, they claim my nearest grocery is 12.4 km away!
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:33 pm Post subject: Re: Find a walkable neighborhood
Hi, thanks for posting this!
I got a 68/100 for living in a "neighborhood" in Chicago. (city proper). We're in the NS Bungalow heaven belt, so it's not all apartment complexes around here, more "neighborhood". One can't just scoot down to the corner for something, but maybe 3 to 6 blocks away. It's more of a bike situation in our neighborhood. But then again, I don't have the congestion that due East of me brings with the parking, noise, trendy shops, bars, nightlife.
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:35 pm Post subject: Re: Find a walkable neighborhood
My neighborhood scored an 80/100 (with NO sidewalks!!) and I still must dart across a 50-mph arterial to get to most of the businesses listed on the map.
Definitely take the score with a grain of salt. The site doesn't profess to do anything other than measure distance/proximity, and certainly doesn't take into account the width and speed of streets, or even the presence of sidewalks, perhaps the most important characteristic of walkability. _________________ "It's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."
Joined: May 13, 2005 Posts: 2496 Location: The Urban Village
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 4:04 pm Post subject: Re: Find a walkable neighborhood
EB has a good point, although proximity of multiple types of destinations is very fundamental. It does not address walk quality. There is a lot of factors that go into that - everything from infrastructure (connectivity, sidewalks, cross walks) to saftey (driver behavior, crime) to aesthetics (buildings, greenery etc). Walking is a very experience centric way of getting around. There are many academic papers that address it and there are some attempts at bring those factors into a rating scale such as
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 4:29 pm Post subject: Re: Find a walkable neighborhood
I was impressed that it even recognized my mere street address - but wrong town (Helsinki).
Yet more surprised when given the town name in addition to the street it actually found it!
Thing is, it scored a mere 5/100.
Maybe I'm just so used to walking that I don't mind walking to the nearest post office (1 mile about) and pavements (sidewalks) are standard. I often walk to the centre of town (2 miles), just 35 minutes walking (although bus services are good if I'm feeling lazy). I must be some sort of hillbilly according to them or just of some older generation which walked or cycled to school.
Really, where I live is very walkable, if you can walk! (Going on my example, I wonder whether that site is for the mobility challenged, which of course is another issue.)
On edit: okay in fairness, it may due to lack of data in this case.
Last edited by Andrew_S on Thu Dec 13, 2007 4:46 pm; edited 2 times in total
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:20 pm Post subject: Re: Find a walkable neighborhood
I got a 78. Google apparently is not familiar with this particular part of town. It's walkable...in the daytime...if you carry a knife...and go with a smart, loyal, viscious dog...and a gatling taser...and body armor...bring your insurance card and a medic alert bracelet, if appropriate.
EDIT: Totally wrong, its 51 _________________ If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face--for ever."
-George Orwell, 1984
______________
Accept the Facts.
Last edited by kpeavey on Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:31 pm; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:41 pm Post subject: Re: Find a walkable neighborhood
Andrew_S wrote:
I was impressed that it even recognized my mere street address - but wrong town (Helsinki).
Yet more surprised when given the town name in addition to the street it actually found it!
Thing is, it scored a mere 5/100.
Really, where I live is very walkable, if you can walk! (Going on my example, I wonder whether that site is for the mobility challenged, which of course is another issue.)
On edit: okay in fairness, it may due to lack of data in this case.
Come on everybody! All its doing is calculating distances. It's not calculating crime rate or hills or the necessity to cross a freeway or a busy street or the possibility of rabid animal attack. Nevertheless, it is an interesting little tool and I will remember it. _________________ Just another tofu-munching bike-riding Rambo(/Rambette)
Compact well planned city surrounded by a river, mountains, farm fields and...
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When shortages put this country in an iron grip, will Northampton be a "Paradise City" or a Zombie Hell? Plenty of amusement either way!
Joined: Dec 28, 2005 Posts: 294 Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 6:52 pm Post subject: Re: Find a walkable neighborhood
My house only got a score of 45 when its in probably the most walkable part of Toronto, with anything I could need within walking distance, and all modes of public transit close by. I think their database is less than complete. For instance, my closest library is listed as being 8 km away, when there are 2 within 1km of here. Their calculation also doesn't appear to take access to public transit (and the quality of that public transit) into account.
As a point of contrast, I entered a suburban location I unfortunately had to live in for 2 months that is far away from everything (and with a major arterial road between it and everything) to see how that would score, and it got a 23, which is much higher than it deserves.
Joined: Nov 24, 2007 Posts: 109 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 7:08 pm Post subject: Re: Find a walkable neighborhood
I don't think anyone would take this as a gospel truth as to how walkable a neighborhood is. It could be particularly distorted as it may miss out some facilities, or as I pointed out in the first post not consider things like doctors, which may be more important to you (older, with no children or adult children) than things like schools.
This could be a useful tool for anyone considering moving somewhere else though - gives you a quick snapshot of what's around in the area.
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