Real estate has yet another measurement. Though the walkability of neighborhoods have been a part of home buyers’ decisions for a long time, now you can find and compare an objective score for an address. Walk Score tells you, relative to other neighborhoods, how walkable your neighborhood is, or on the flip side, how often you won’t need a vehicle. So why is that a big deal?…Expectation of expenses, environmental impact of your vehicles, ability to exercise as you get your errands done, and strength of community - interaction with your neighbors.
Our Walk Score is only a 63 out of 100, probably because there’s not a lot of retail spots right in our neighborhood. But it sure is a nice place to walk for leisure and meet your neighbors. We’ll have to see how the scores play out in the long term.
I’m still finding out more about this Seattle company, but what I like already are their explanations. Walk Score tells you how it works, and how it doesn’t work. Apparently, you can find addresses in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. so far. I’m sure Walk Scores will start appearing all over real estate websites soon and I’m looking forward to it.
