How walkable is your neighborhood?

I can see how this would have an urban appeal, but not suburban. I live in the 'burbs and when we shopped for our home, how walkable it was carried a lot of weight. But what we were looking for were sidewalks, instead of winding, blind corner roads with no shoulders. We don't walk to destinations, but walk for fresh air and exercise with small children and push baby strollers.

Unsurprisingly its not very accurate. I live above the prudential center, and not only can walk to everything, but don't even have to go outside to get to the post office or shaws.

Yet I only got a 94. I don't see how this rates as anything less than perfect, even leaving out mass transit - I can get to new york on the train without going outside.

Well, I suppose this is slightly useful, though it's based only on mileage, and not actual terrain. The #1 closest amenity to my house was 0.4 miles away, but I was expected to walk over the train tracks and wade through the river to get to it. If their system followed actual driving directions from point A to point B, the market would've been far lower on the list. Interesting concept, regardless.

Yes, it's very useful, but not particularly new (launched last July).

The major flaw, for Boston users, is that the formula doesn't consider access to rapid transit.

How could this be a flaw? If they are measuring walkability, then whether you can ride the T to the hardware store or not would correctly not be factored in.

Dedham, Ma. is the most unwalkable city on the planet. The few streets that DO have sidewalks have cars parked on them 24/7. Guess public safety is not a concern of the police since they ignore calls asking them to do their job and enforce the law. Once the ADA lawsuit is filed I bet they will pay attention then.

Wait a minute -- I live in JP and always walk to the hardware store. I agree that we're lacking a movie theater, but Centre St. has two great hardware stores: Tru Value and Ace. We can alo walk to the local theater, the vet, two flower shops, great sushi, the best Cuban sandwiches in greater Boston, and historic sites such as an 1860's octagonal house and Forest Hills Cemetary (to name just a few) -- all the while sharing the sidewalk and conversation with strangers and neighbors both (which is the best part about walking).

With respect to my personal situation, I live at the northern end of JP, near Hyde Square, far from the hardware stores down south.

I got an 86 from my condo near Ronan Park in Fields Corner...I agree that public transit should factor in somehow. I purchased here because I can get to my job in the financial district so quickly via the Red Line.

I live in the North End and I got a 98. As a north end resident I can say that the walk across the charlestown bridge to Johnnies Food(Master)Nasty is miserable, especially in the winter. Certainly that should count for more than a 2 point deduction. Also they use the terms very loosely, Improv Asylum is considered a movit theater and a small overpriced convenience store is considered a grocery store.

Hi Binyamin,

I live in "northern" JP near Hyde Square, too! and enjoy the walk into the center part of town to run errands at the post office, bank, and hardware store -- so I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Thanks for your story about walkability, which is one of the most underrecognized quality-of-life issues for any community. JP has worked hard (and succeeded) in creating a neighborly, people-centered, walkable commmunity that has not one, but TWO hardware stores, and I just wanted to make sure the record was corrected.

Perhaps our paths will cross in the Hyde Square neighborhood one of these days! Don't forget -- the very walkable Wake Up The Earth Festival is in JP this weekend.

Binyamin - Your walking experiences remind me of L.A. Story when Steve Martin gets in his car to drive next door.

I work at online real estate brokerage Redfin and a user and his wife were trying to find places in particularly walkable neighborhoods and wanted to know how far of a stroll to the nearest coffeeshop, bar, grocery store, etc. So, they "whipped up" a Walkscore widget that adds a "Show Walkability" link on Redfin's listing details' pages. If you use Redfin, check out how to add the widget.

Salem got a 92, but there aren't many stores in downtown Salem that don't cater to the affluent or the tourist, or who cater to clothing or household necessities of any kind.

I'm still bitter about this since I remember when we had downtown retail in the 60's and 70's and had WalkScore existed, it would have been a perfect 100.

i got a 100 for my office in chinatown, lol. (there are reisdences left and right though). would've score >100 if they also count availability of drugs and hookers

I got an 89 for my location in Roslindale. I found it interesting to look at the proximity of everything, and even found some things on the list of nearby establishments that I didn't know we had, such as a ... movie theater?
Hmm, I don't know what Hard-Line Productions is, but it's on a residential street and is surely not a a movie theater; I'm not sure I want to know what it is, but that is amusing!