How walk-friendly is your community?
March 14, 2009 by Jennifer
Why bother researching green communities? Especially for something as seemingly small as decent walkability?
There are plenty of reasons. First of all a walkable town or community means that most likely the area is greener than others. This is a major perk for the planet and your family’s health. Recent news about this includes…
- Green Spaces Beneficial for Kids Health
- Less asthma among kids – just one more reason to hug trees
- One small step: spend one mile on nature today – yup green spaces help you stay fit.
- Of course the more green there is, the more likely you are to ditch that car and walk or bike, which in turn aids in the fight against global warming.
BUT the question is, how can you actually find a walk-friendly place to live? Luckily it’s as easy as green pie with the following sites:
Walk Score -gives you a walking-friendly (or not) score for various areas. You enter your address and Walk Score spits out how your neighborhood stacks up. My own neighborhood is not so cool. It earned a 34 out of 100 (100 is best). While I actually do live in a green space complex, the reason my area is not considered walking-friendly is based on limited nearby resources like grocery stores and libraries.
Other sites to try:
- 10 least polluted areas in the U.S.
- Top 25 Towns for Clean Air, Dirty Air
- 15 Green Cities – not pollution specifically but a green overview. Same for America’s Greenest States.
- What makes a city walkable.
If your area scores low for walk-ready areas it may not be time to pack up the U-Haul though. You might be able to green your community with a little help from your neighbors. Read How to Protect Your Neighborhood Land, Go Green: How to Build an Earth-Friendly Community, or Green Infrastructure: Linking Landscapes and Communities for ideas.
Is your area green enough? OR is a lack of walk-friendly areas keeping your family inside way too often?
I tried it out and my walkable score is a big fat 0. It’s true you need to drive everywhere, we’re in a rural area.
My old NYC address was an 88, but surprisingly, my mom’s town, not a huge city, but a nice size town, is 98. I expected the city to be more walkable.
I was shocked to see a score of 66 for my neighborhood, which I consider to be very difficult for walkers due to heavy traffic, a lack of sidewalks on most streets, no crosswalks or pedestrian signals at major intersections and a somewhat high crime rate. I live in an apartment complex, alongside a major freeway and in a neighborhood between two other major highways in a suburb of a large city. We are surrounded by a large, sprawling retail/restaurant area, but the area is not at all pedestrian-friendly.
WalkScore apparently bases its scores solely on the geographical proximity of businesses, schools, etc. (as plotted on Mapquest) with no consideration for pedestrian safety.