There’s a compelling new book out that makes a strong case for walkable, urban neighborhoods actually being more affordable than their suburban counterparts. Growing Coolerargues that once commute time and transportation costs are taken into account, living in less dense areas can become more expensive than living in dense communities where a car isn’t as necessary to get around.
There’s a great article supporting Growing Cooler’s point, citing evidence that housing values in denser neighborhoods are holding steady or rising. This is in contrast to the steep drop-offs seen in suburban areas outside cities.
This Growing Cooler movement really challenges the old real estate saying, “Drive ’til you qualify”.
It’s hard to quantify the nuances that make a neighborhood walkable. Are the streets shaded with trees? Are the buildings designed to cater to foot traffic? Are there other people out walking?
We just added Google Street View to Walk Score so you can see for yourself whether a neighborhood looks walkable:
Try visiting the Painted Ladies in San Francisco, Fenway Park in Boston, or maybe Times Square in New York. Click the”Go to street level view” link above the Walk Score map to check it out.
Note: Google Street View is only available in the following areas. Hey Google, why no street view love for Seattle? Was it too rainy to photograph us? Is it because Microsoft is nearby? Seattleites unite for street view!
We believe one of the best ways to promote walkable neighborhoods is to include Walk Score on every real estate listing: 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1,000 sq. feet, Walk Score 87. Kudos to www.postlets.com for promoting walkability with their superb implementation of the Walk Score tile:
Postlets also creates a nice search-optimized landing page and unique URL for every listing it hosts. Congratulations to Postlets for creating such a great integration!
Do you have a stylish Tile integration? We’d love to hear about it! Also, we’re getting a lot of requests for a Walk Score REST API so we’re considering adding this in the near future…
This award is especially cool because it’s nominated by their readers! Thanks to Planetizen and to our users for making Walk Score an instrumental resource for spreading the walkable gospel!
We like it when people brag about their Walk Score and we love it when they’re recognized for it! We found a great site that ran a Walk Score Competition with the winner receiving $50 and the pride in knowing their home is in a Walker’s Paradise.
We also love that Burke Cisco, the site’s developer and licensed Eco Broker, offers incentives for home buyers who move into a home with a Walk Score of 75 or greater. Great job on the competition Burke and congratulations to Rob Brawner with the winning Walk Score of 94!
We live in Seattle. We love Seattle. We think Seattle is a positive force in the universe. So we were thrilled when Seattle Metropolitan Magazine named Walk Score one of the 50 ways that Seattle will change the world.
And the best part? Walk Score is listed above Zillow!
We’ve noticed lots of people comparing their Walk Scores. One great thing about living in a condo (besides feeling good about your smaller environmental footprint) is that you and everyone else in the building can collectively brag about your Walk Score.
Seattle’s Trace Lofts just hung up a big Walk Score banner to advertise their perfect Walk Score of 100. Kudos to Trace Lofts for recognizing that a high Walk Score equals good living!
I also like how the designers of the banner couldn’t get a high-res image of Google Maps, so they pasted a Walk Score screenshot onto a cell phone. We’ve always wanted a mobile version of Walk Score—but why didn’t they use an iPhone?!
Here’s a great TV piece from LA analyzing the walkability of the Brady Bunch house. Apparently, momma and poppa Brady like walking to romantic dinners and Greg Brady likes walking to the gym to “stay in shape for the ladies.” Christina Cha, a real estate agent with a sense of humor, says living in a walkable neighborhood is important so she doesn’t wear down her stiletto heels walking too far. Christina also made some great comments about Walk Score and real estate. Check it out here!
