But Can You Get There On Foot?
In most parts of the world, it’s quite natural to live in a neighborhood where most of your daily tasks can be accomplished on foot. I lived in Rome, and within one half-block of my home there was a coffee shop, a dry-cleaners, a fruit stand, a grocery store, a shoe repair shop, a hardware store, a pet shop, a bakery, and a pizzeria. (And I lived in a RESIDENTIAL neighborhood!) It’s the same situation in Paris, Amsterdam and Barcelona — not to mention small villages from Andorra to Austria. Getting into a car to buy a loaf of bread is unthinkable.
Well, none of this applies in the United States, of course. There are many cities where you cannot run EVEN ONE errand without a car. Americans like living in suburban gated communities surrounded by more gated surburban communities. The closest gallon of milk is often several miles away.
Fortunately, Boston is one of the more walkable cities in the country. Built before the advent of the car, most neighborhoods (even those outside of downtown) offer a central shopping district with at least a few bare necessities — a drug store, a convenience store, maybe a pizza shop. Still, getting around on foot isn’t always easy — even in Boston.
Well, now there’s a new tool for international buyers evaluating neighborhoods in Boston. It’s called Walk Score, and rates a property’s walkability and proximity to things like grocery stores and pharmacies. Just type in the address of the property that interests you, and Walk Score will generate a map of the neighborhood, with proximity in miles to restaurants, shops, movie theatres and bookstores. The computer also generates a “walk score” of between 0 and 100 for your property. A score of 100 would mean that the property is in a very convenient location where life can be lived without a car. A score of 0, on the other hand, means a car is mandatory for daily living.
May 10th, 2008 at 8:41 am
My walk score is 45… I was rather upset with it. And I was surprised to know that there is another score called drive score to evaluate my house. I found the way to calculate it online at Fizber site (http://drivescore.fizber.com/ ). I’ve got much better results – 83.