mondoboston.com

Posted by Pam on September 4th, 2008 in Life in Boston

One of the best things about Boston is the ability to walk from Point A to Point B without using a car. In fact, Walkscore.com named Boston as one of America’s most walkable cities. According to that site, the Back Bay, Beacon Hill and South End are the city’s most walkable neighborhoods, scoring an average of 97 points out of 100. The Fenway and Kenmore neighborhoods come in close at 96 points. Runners up in walkability are Allston-Brighton at 86, Jamaica Plain at 84 and Charlestown at 81. The city’s least walkable neighborhoods include West Roxbury at 60 and Mattapan at 61.

Considering the wide variety of walkscores within this walkable city, we thought it might be worth taking a look at the walkscores of some of the city’s newest condo projects.

DNA Lofts, 944 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester — Walkscore: 77
Schoolhouse at Lower Mills, 40 River Street, Dorchester — Walkscore: 63
The Carruth, 1910 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester — Walkscore: 72
American Brewery Lofts, 251 Heath Street, Jamaica Plain — Walkscore: 72
Willowbank Boston, 70-78 Pond Street, Jamaica Plain — Walkscore: 82
Audubon Park, 16 Miner Street, Fenway — Walkscore: 98
Waterworks at Chestnut Hill, 2400 Beacon Street, Brighton — Walkscore: 75
533 Cambridge Street, Brighton, —Walkscore: 89
FP3 Boston, 346-356 Congress Street, Seaport District —Walkscore: 86
Channel Center, 35 Channel Center, Seaport District  — Walkscore: 75
700 Harrison Avenue, South End — Walkscore: 98
285 Columbus Lofts, South End, —Walkscore: 97

What’s interesting about our short survey is that locations further out — for example, 700 Harrison Avenue, should score as well or better than much more centrally located developments, such as 285 Columbus Avenue. One of the biggest surprises of our survey is that the Fenway should score among the highest in convenience and walkability. That bodes well for anyone interested in taking a look at several other new residential and condo projects planned for that neighborhood in coming years.

And while walkability is becoming increasingly important to homebuyers these days, so is bikeability.

“People want to live, work, and go to school within a six-block radius - that’s changing the way they look at property,” says Matt Kalb, a real estate agent who shows property by bike in Boulder, Colorado.

Looks like it may not be long before we’re also calculating bikescores.