Real Estate Virtual Assistant

It has been awhile since I first told you about WalkScore.com. This is a fun website that helps people find walkable places to live. You type in any address and Walk Score shows you a map of what's nearby - stores, movie theaters, parks, restaurants, schools and more. It then calculates a Walk Score (or 'walkability') from 0 to 100.

The reason I bring up WalkScore.com again is because of an article on Inman.com the other day talking about this website. With gas prices surging over $4.00 a gallon, the 'walkabilty' of a neighborhood has renewed interest to home buyers.

From Inman: "WalkScore.com was developed up by Seattle-based, environmentally and socially conscious "civic software" developer Front Seat, which hopes people will use the site to find homes and apartments in 'walkable' neighborhoods.

Front Seat is making a Walk Score tile available to real estate professionals -- or anybody else who wants to embed the tool in their Web sites -- that's been embraced by sites like postlets.com and is now generating 100,000 views a month.

Walk Score looks at the distance to 'walkable' locations near an address, calculates a score for each location, and combines all of the scores into a single measurement. Lerner said research shows that the average person is willing to walk less than a quarter mile to destinations they visit frequently, such as a grocery store.

A Walk Score of 25 or less means you'll probably need to get in the car to take care of the smallest errand, while a Walk Score in the 90 to 100 range indicates a "walker's paradise" where just about everything is in walking distance and many residents get by without owning a car.

What makes a neighborhood 'walkable'?

According to WalkScore, 'walkable' communities tend to have the following characteristics:

• 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 dense enough for local businesses to flourish and for public transportation to be cost effective.
• 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.
• Accessibility: The neighborhood is accessible to everyone and has wheelchair access, plenty of benches with shade, sidewalks on all streets, etc.
• Well connected, speed controlled streets: Streets form a connected grid that improves traffic by providing many routes to any destination. Streets are narrow to control speed, and shaded by trees to protect pedestrians.
• Pedestrian-centric design: Buildings are placed close to the street to cater to foot traffic, with parking lots relegated to the back.
• Close schools and workplaces: Schools and workplaces are close enough that most residents can walk from their homes.

WalkScore offers a widget or real estate tile for your website or blog which allows visitors to compare the 'walkabilty' of properties and see a map of what is nearby. With gas prices being top of mind for most Americans these days, having this information on your website or blog will probably bring visitors back again and again.

Also read:

Neighborhood Walkability