I love this website. I discovered it a few days ago and have had fun with it. I'm surprised you were able to get a score of 100. I tried entering various addresses in Manhattan (ie 300 W 75th St or 300 E 69th St) and the best score I could get was 97.
I entered 1700 p street nw for Dupont Circle. 100 6th St. SE for Capitol Hill. 1400 and 1700 Newton Street NE for Brookland.
where I live all you need is a bicycle with baskets. It is flat terrain - and easy to carry things on a bike. The subway and grocery stores are all close by. I seldom walk unless my bike is being repaired.There really is no need for a car- it is only by habit and indoctrination that people think they need to have cars in such a place.
My apartment on Lincoln Park scores an 86. I guess I'll buy that car I've been thinking of getting...
Part of the problem in Lincoln Park is the problem with the rest of the Hill area- no effort has been made to stop the loss of the small mom & pop businesses on corners and inside blocks.There needs to be a concerted push to retain these businesses which make car-free living possible.
A bike might be all you need... As the one subpage says, the walkscore doesn't take into account transit and other things. This relates to my concept of the mobilityshed and complementary modes. Adding bike to your personal set of mobility options greatly expands your personal mobilityshed. For me, from Brookland I can get to Downtown, Capitol Hill, Columbia Heights, Dupont Circle, and Adams-Morgan in about 20 minutes, without having to wait for a bus or subway.
My place in NE also scores an 86, which is actually pretty high -- no need for a car, especially when you factor in my bike, the bus and the metro. I totally agree re: small-scale retail on the Hill. Unfortunately, the NIMBYs want the Hill to be 100% residential so that they can have plenty of parking.
NIMBYs on the Hill [ hmm..sounds like a name for a good coffee house !!] also have fought tooth and nail to prevent revival of the historic alleys and mixed use of the alleys.Yes- there has been widespread support for new bricking jobs- which are really nice and make the alleys more attractive places- but mostly they want parking parking parking only.Historically- if they really want to be accurate about it- the alleys had many more people living in them - and small businesses.Stores, shops- even bakeries and small factories were common..Renewed alley areas will make the city even more walkable- and affordable.Nice, multi- functional alley areas do not necessarily equal ghetto.
I think your website has boosted their traffic. I can get no data from them! I keep getting, come back in an hour.
My address (in Dupont) rated a 98, based on WalkScore's criteria. I won't argue with their score, because getting around from here is pretty easy (and that's why I live here in the first place).
However, one thing that detracts from my neighborhood's walkability is the speeding traffic of motorists who like to drive at well over the speed limit. So, while my neighborhood is convenient and walkable, I still have to watch out to avoid being mowed down by fast cut-through traffic.
It could be a lot worse, mind you; but I think that the city really needs to do more to calm traffic and enforce speed limits/traffic laws.
Interesting website. I believe this website is East Coast Centric. I live
in Downtown San Jose, which has the world's best weather, 356 days of walking per year, lowest crime rate of any major city in the USA, 100+ restaurants and night clubs/bars, dozens of grocery stores/pharmacies, parks, a major sports venue, light rail, buses,
etc, etc all within 2 square miles yet my address scored a 75. Many of my condo neighbors do not have cars and some have only electric vehicles. I am curious to know how the scores were determined.
Walk Score can be rather helpful. It can help you choose the best place to live or estimate your present location. You can also use such service as Drive Score. With it you can see how close establishments are by car. The greater number of businesses nearby, the higher the Drive Score. I ve found Drive Score at http://drivescore.fizber.com/
Commenting by HaloScan
