Walk score is a website that grades the walkability of cities and neighborhoods. Their calculation is on a scale from 0-100 based on the proximity to public transit and amenities such as retail, restaurants a popular destinations for work and other activities. Walk Score also has a commute calculator and works closely with many businesses to promote walkability for their employees. Recently, Walk Score has implemented a new service: apartment searching that takes the Walk Score of neighborhoods into account. This new website allows you to search for apartments based on the commute time of different travel modes such as public transit, walking, biking or driving. It also allows you to filter available apartments by the Walk Score.
Check it out for yourself, especially if you are planning on moving anytime soon:
It looks like Walkscore is coming up in the world! I used it for an assignment in my Health & the Built Environment class (co-taught at GT and Emory) last year. It still has some of the shortcomings that it did then, for example it can’t always distinguish between a corner convenience store and a more comprehensive grocery store. However, the possibility for user input can remedy this over time. And I’m very impressed with the apartment finder plugin. Thanks for this post!