I'm walkin', yes indeed

[halloweenjack]

Walk Score lets you know how far your place of residence (or really any address) is from things that you'd want to walk to, like coffeeshops, libraries, and.... well, what else is there? It's pretty crude, so far; it's Google Maps-driven, so it doesn't take into account whether or not there are sidewalks, distance is as the crow flies, etc. and some of the information is inaccurate. (They showed a hospital near my house as a "library"--I know for a fact that that hospital doesn't even have a library of its own--and ignored the nearby library branch.)

Still, a good idea if it were better executed. I didn't realize, until I had to use public transportation recently while between cars, that there's a teeny little used bookstore tucked into a strip mall down the block from me.

Comments

[justanyolname.livejournal.com]

What a cool thing to use if I ever move! I love being able to walk everywhere.

[urban-bohemian.livejournal.com]

When I first tried it, they ran out of Google map queries for the day. My address scored an 89, but not really surprising. If their listings had been more up to date, it probably would have been higher as it skipped a lot of stores and restaurants in the area.

Another factor they should include is user ratings of the services listed. There are plenty of independently owned grocery stores along my street, but they won't be an "everything in one trip" as if I'd gone to the big chain store a little further away.

[alessar.livejournal.com]

Interesting, but yeah, they definitely have some accuracy issues there.